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    Home » Side Dishes

    Published: Sep 12, 2019 · Modified: Nov 24, 2020 · By Susan

    Lazy Slow Cooker Chicken Pho

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    The easiest way to make delicious chicken pho

    Jump to Recipe

    Not sure exactly why, but the idea of attempting to make pho always intimidated me. Somehow I felt that all the delicious flavor had to the be the result of some ancient cultural magic I was not privy too. When I combined that with the idea of trying to translate it into an easy and workable slow cooker recipe, I shied away. I just couldn’t imagine being able to figure it all out.

    Bowl of pho with chop sticke

    But ultimately, curiosity got the best of me. So, I decided to do some research and conducts some trials. The result: this delicious and quite easy recipe. No ancient magic involved. At least not in my version. Can’t speak for what happen in the kitchens of some of the restaurants that make this delicious soup....

    Either way, I feel confident saying that this is the easiest way to make delicious chicken pho

    Bowl of pho with lime wedge on top

    Lazy Slow Cooker Chicken Pho Hacks

    1. In keeping with my usual lazy self, I put frozen chicken breasts right from the freezer into my slow cooker. Some people have expressed concern about the chicken fully cooked this way. I have never had an issue with it, but to be on the safe side, it is always best to have a meat thermometer on hand. Chicken must reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees before it is considered safe to eat. You can find my favorite meat thermometer here. There are even slow cookers out there that come with built-in thermometers which will automatically switch your slow cooker to the warm setting once your meat has reached its desired internal temperature! Click here to see. I don’t have one of these (just mentioning that in case anyone wants to buy me a gift 😂😂).
    2. I like to use frozen prechopped onion. Just recently, I realized that this is available in the frozen vegetable section of the market, and (at my store) it was less expensive than fresh onion. Plus...no tears were involved! 😉
    3. This recipe calls for dried shiitake mushrooms. Allowing them to re-hydrate right in the broth while it cooks adds an intense, earthy flavor. The mushrooms I used were so huge, that I wound up removing some of them from the finished product. The rest I cut up into smaller pieces.
    4. This recipe calls for the cooked chicken breasts to be shredded after cooking. I prefer to shred with two large forks. I have read about some interesting alternative methods, though. One involved a potato masher. The other used the beaters on a hand held mixer. If you have any thoughts on this, please comment below. I am curious!

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    Finished soup with toppings

    Lazy Slow Cooker Chicken Pho

    Easy slow cooker Chicken pho is made of warm golden chicken broth, rice noodles and bean sprouts
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Pin Rate Save Saved!
    Prep Time: 10 minutes
    Cook Time: 8 hours
    Total Time: 8 hours 10 minutes
    Servings: 6
    Calories: 177kcal
    Author: The Lazy slow cooker
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    Equipment

    • 6 qt or larger slow cooker

    Ingredients

    • 8 cups chicken or bone broth
    • 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
    • ½ cup chopped onion
    • 1 oz dried shiitake mushroom
    • 1 tablespoon mined garlic
    • 1½ tablespoon fish sauce
    • 3 oz rice sticks or thin rice noodles
    • 1 teaspoon dried Thai basil
    • 8 oz bean sprouts
    • salt and pepper to taste if needed
    • chopped scallions
    • lime wedge

    Instructions

    • I always use a slow cooker liner first to save on clean up
    • Put broth and chicken breasts into pot
      Broth with chicken and onion in a lined slow cooker
    • Add onion, shiitake mushrooms, fish sauce, garlic and basil
      All pho ingredients in crockpot before cooking
    • Stir to submerge mushrooms
    • Cook on low for 7 - 8 hours
    • Remove chicken from pot, shred and return to pot
    • If your mushrooms are overpowering the soup (as mine were) you can remove some at this point. If they are in large pieces, I would suggest cutting them in to smaller pieces.
      Close up of mushrooms in broth in slow cooker
    • Add noodles and bean sprouts for last half hour or so of cooking.
    • Top with chopped scallions and a wedge of lime (optional)
      Finished soup

    Nutrition

    Calories: 177kcal

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Nichole says

      December 20, 2020 at 12:39 pm

      Can it be cooked on high for less time?

      Reply
      • admin says

        December 20, 2020 at 5:14 pm

        I have only cooked it only low, so I have no personal experience. However, I think it would be fine on high for 4-6 hours depending on how hot your slow cooker runs. The two important things to check would be that the chicken reaches an internal temperature that is considered safe to easy (165°F) and that the dried mushrooms are soft and cooked all the way through. If you try it, I would love to hear how it goes! Thanks for taking the time to ask!

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    Welcome to The Lazy Slow Cooker. I am so happy you are here! My name is Susan (yep - I am Lazy Susan!) and I am the recipe developer/blogger behind these posts. I am the mom of three amazing but super busy kids and the wife of one awesome and also super busy guy. All 5 of us have very different schedules and I would not survive mealtime without my crockpot. Read More…

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