This Slow Cooker Vietnamese Chicken Pho is a refreshing and fragrant chicken noodle soup cooked in a delicious broth, topped by an abundance of fresh herbs, green and red onions. It’s a hearty, simple and healthy meal that is full of vibrant flavors.

Recipe originally printed in Bon Appetit Magazine. Thanks for featuring our Slow Cooker Chicken Pho recipe!

top down shot of slow cooker vietnamese chicken pho

Why This Slow Cooker Vietnamese Chicken Pho Is So Good

  • Flavor Explosion: Fresh ginger, whole cloves, and star anise join forces to create a broth that’s not just clear, but as deep and complex as the plot of your favorite mystery novel.
  • Batch Cooking Dream: If you a got crock pot, you got a plan! This Vietnamese noodle soup is perfect for cooking in bulk. Whip up a large pot, and you’ve got meals for 3-4 days. It’s one of those easy recipes that keeps on giving.
  • Perfect for Any Weather: Whether it’s a cold day that needs warming up or just a regular dinner table affair, a steaming bowl of this chicken pho is like a cozy hug. It’s a flavorful soup that turns chilly days into a chance for heartwarming, belly-filling joy.
  • Easy Prep, Big Rewards: Don’t let the long cook time fool you. This is easy soup magic. Toss your ingredients in the slow cooker and let time do its thing. The finished product? A Vietnamese chicken pho that tastes like you’ve been slaving over the stove all day.
  • Adaptable and Forgiving: Got leftover chicken or a rotisserie chicken lounging in the fridge? Toss it in. Want to switch up the noodles? Egg noodles or rice noodles – it’s all good. This recipe is like your chill, easygoing friend who’s up for anything.

Ingredients For This Slow Cooker Vietnamese Chicken Pho

For The Chicken Pho Broth

  • Chicken bones
  • Onion
  • Ginger, coriander, cilantro, clove, star anise
  • Sugar
  • Fish sauce

For The Bowls

  • Chicken meat
  • Dried rice noodles
  • Green onions
  • cilantro

For The Table

  • Fresh bean sprouts
  • Onions
  • Chiles
  • Lime wedges
  • Sriracha
  • Hoisin sauce

How To Make This Slow Cooker Chicken Pho – Step by Step 

Make the Chicken Pho Broth

  1. To the slow cooker, add the chicken, onion, ginger, coriander seeds, cloves, star anise, sugar, fish sauce, and cilantro stems. Fill with water to the max level of your slow cooker. Turn slow cooker to high for 4-6 hours or low for 8-10 hours. Remove all chicken and cilantro stems, strain broth through cheesecloth. Taste and adjust with additional fish sauce and sugar if needed.

    cheesecloth in pot

    broth in pot

Prepare the Ingredients for Table

  1. If using yellow onions, soak the onion slices in ice cold water for 10 minutes. I find that red onions are milder and do not need soaking. Prepare the rest of the ingredient for the table, including bean sprouts, sliced jalapeño and sauces. 

Prepare Chicken Meat & Noodles

  1. Chicken Pho is best when the broth is boiling hot, and the noodles are freshly cooked. When you’re ready to cook the chicken meat and noodles, go ahead and put the Chicken Pho broth back on the stovetop and turn the heat to low, so that it’s ready. Alternatively, you can return the broth to the slow cooker and turn onto “simmer” if you have that function.

  2. Soak rice noodles in cool water for 10 minutes. Drain. In the meantime, bring a big pot of water to a boil and then turn to low. Add the chicken meat and let cook for 1-3 minutes or until cooked through–timing depends on how thin slices are. Remove the chicken slices, and set aside. Next, add the rice noodles to the water and cook for 1 minute. Remove noodles and divide amongst 6 serving bowls. Also, add to the bowls, the chicken meat, green onion and cilantro leaves. 

    noodles in water

    noodles drained

  3. Ladle hot Chicken Pho broth into each bowl and serve immediately.

    bowl of slow cooker vietnamese chicken pho

Slow Cooker vs Stovetop Vietnamese Chicken Pho Recipe

The slow cooker version of Chicken Pho (or Pho Ga) is a bit different than the stove-top version. After testing numerous batches of broth, I found the best combination of chicken parts: 1 1/2 pounds any cut up chicken parts + 1/2 pound chicken wing tips. In fact, the more wing tips (or even feet), the better.

The reason why? Most slow cookers don’t hold that much, and my goal was to get maximum flavor from the least amount of chicken. Keep in mind: The bigger the mass (i.e. large chicken parts), the less broth you’ll have in the end. Enter the wing tips (not the whole wing, just the tips–a part that you never eat anyways), neck bones and even chicken feet.

Chicken Bones for Slow Cooker Vietnamese Chicken Pho 

The best type of chicken bones for broth are wing tips, necks and chicken feet. The wings and feet have a high amount of gelatin, which makes the broth richer and more flavorful.

For Chicken Pho Broth: use 2 pounds of chicken parts. Of the 2 pounds of chicken, 1/2 pound of that should be wing tips. Most slow cooker have capacity of 7 quarts. The chunkier the chicken, the less room you have left for broth. This is important if you’re trying to make pho for 6 people! A 7-quart slow cooker will make enough Chicken Pho soup for 6 large bowls.

Chicken wing TIPS (the section that really has no meat anyways) have maximum flavor, minimum size. That’s why I love using wing tips. Or chicken feet, if you can find them (did I hear someone squeal?! Chicken feet is great for soup!)

Noodles for Chicken Pho

To make Slow Cooker Chicken Pho low-carb, substitute the rice noodles for Shirataki noodles, which are made from yam. Also, Korean sweet potato noodles make a fine low carb option, too! Here’s a recipe for Paleo-Friendly, low carb Vietnamese Pho (beef), and a recipe for Korean Japchae Noodles, which uses the sweet potato noodles.

Vietnamese rice noodles cook differently than dried pasta or other Western noodles. Soak the dried rice noodles in COOL water first then DRAIN. This helps make them pliable and soft, and they will cook better.

Garnish for Slow Cooker Chicken Pho

I love garnishing with shaved onions, fresh bean sprouts, cilantro and a squeeze of lime. No Sriracha or Hoisin for me, though many people do enjoy those condiments in their Pho Ga, I think it totally overpowers the beautiful broth.

Top Tips For This Slow Cooker 

  • You can use dark meat for chicken pho, if you like. 
  • Don’t cook the rice noodles in the Slow Cooker Chicken Pho broth. I always cook noodles for soup separately, in water, and never in my precious broth. That’s because the dried noodles are starchy and release starch into the water while cooking. That’s why your pasta water is cloudy. You don’t want that extra starch in your soup!
  • The secret to moist, tender and juicy chicken meat for eating in pho is to separate out the chicken bones from meat. Chicken bones are used for making the Chicken Pho broth. Chicken meat, for eating, needs to be cooked separately, and only for a short amount of time. Overcooked chicken meat is gray, tough, and tasteless.

overhead shot of beansprouts and limes

More Vietnamese Pho Recipes

Have you tried this Slow Cooker Vietnamese Chicken Pho? Feel free to leave a star rating and I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

chicken pho in a white bowl with chopsticks

Slow Cooker Chicken Pho Recipe (Pho Ga)

Jaden
5 from 13 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 6 hours
Total Time 6 hours 10 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Vietnamese
Servings 6 people
Calories 470 kcal

Ingredients
  

For the Chicken Pho Broth

  • 2 pounds chicken bones
  • 1/2 onion
  • 3 inch piece of fresh ginger sliced
  • 2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds
  • 4 whole cloves
  • 2 whole star anise
  • 1 bunch fresh cilantro, stems only tied with twine (reserve leaves for bowls)
  • 2 tablespoons sugar or rock sugar
  • 2 tablespoons fish sauce

For the Bowls

  • 1.5 pounds chicken meat breast or thigh
  • 1.5 pounds dried rice noodles about 1/4" wide
  • 1 green onion, green tops only sliced
  • 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves

For the table

  • 2 cups fresh bean sprouts
  • 1/2 cup very thinly sliced onions red onion or yellow onion
  • 1-2 jalapeño or serrano chiles sliced
  • 1 lime in wedges
  • Sriracha hot sauce
  • Hoisin sauce

Instructions
 

Make the Chicken Pho Broth

  • To the slow cooker, add the chicken, onion, ginger, coriander seeds, cloves, star anise, sugar, fish sauce, and cilantro stems. Fill with water to the max level of your slow cooker. Turn slow cooker to high for 4-6 hours or low for 8-10 hours. Remove all chicken and cilantro stems, strain broth through cheesecloth. Taste and adjust with additional fish sauce and sugar if needed.

Prepare the Ingredients for Table

  • If using yellow onions, soak the onion slices in ice cold water for 10 minutes. I find that red onions are milder and do not need soaking. Prepare the rest of the ingredient for the table, including bean sprouts, sliced jalapeño and sauces. 

Prepare Chicken Meat & Noodles

  • Chicken Pho is best when the broth is boiling hot, and the noodles are freshly cooked. When you're ready to cook the chicken meat and noodles, go ahead and put the Chicken Pho broth back on the stovetop and turn the heat to low, so that it's ready. Alternatively, you can return the broth to the slow cooker and turn onto "simmer" if you have that function.
  • Soak rice noodles in cool water for 10 minutes. Drain. In the meantime, bring a big pot of water to a boil and then turn to low. Add the chicken meat and let cook for 1-3 minutes or until cooked through--timing depends on how thin slices are. Remove the chicken slices, and set aside. Next, add the rice noodles to the water and cook for 1 minute. Remove noodles and divide amongst 6 serving bowls. Also, add to the bowls, the chicken meat, green onion and cilantro leaves. 
  • Ladle hot Chicken Pho broth into each bowl and serve immediately.

Notes

To the slow cooker, add the chicken, onion, ginger, coriander seeds, cloves, star anise, sugar, fish sauce, and cilantro stems. Fill with water to the max level of your slow cooker. Turn slow cooker to high for 4-6 hours or low for 8-10 hours. Remove all chicken and cilantro stems, strain broth through cheesecloth. Taste and adjust with additional fish sauce and sugar if needed. Soak rice noodles in cool water for 5 minutes. Drain. In the meantime, bring a big pot of water to a boil and then turn to low. Add the chicken slices and let cook for 1-3 minutes or until cooked through--timing depends on how thin slices are. Remove the chicken slices. Next, add the rice noodles to the water and cook for 1 minute. Remove noodles and divide amongst 4 serving bowls. Fill each bowl with chicken slices, bean sprouts, cilantro leaves, red onions and broth. Have the lime, Sriracha and hoisin at table as condiments.

Nutrition

Calories: 470kcalCarbohydrates: 44gProtein: 30gFat: 19gSaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 85mgSodium: 717mgPotassium: 603mgFiber: 1gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 295IUVitamin C: 14.1mgCalcium: 46mgIron: 2.4mg
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