If you’re looking for a soup that will help your digestion recover after days of heavy Thanksgiving leftovers, look no further! Pho is a traditional Vietnamese soup that consists of a deeply flavored bone broth, rice noodles, any type of meat, tons of herbs, and other toppings. Classically the broth is cooked very slowly for hours and hours, but this shortcut Instant Pot method packs in tons of flavor in way less time. Whole spices like star anise, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and fennel all improve digestion and add that classic pho flavor to the broth. If you don’t have those spices handy, I highly recommend going and grabbing some because I’m sure you’ll want to make this again and again!
P.S. I created the recipe using bone-in chicken, but if you have a turkey carcass and/or turkey meat that you want to use up, make sure to read the recipe notes to turn it into a turkey bone broth!
Ingredient highlight
Pho! This Vietnamese soup (pronounced “fuh”), is traditionally made with a slow cooked beef bone broth, rice noodles, and thinly sliced beef. It’s typically served with bean sprouts and lots of fresh herbs. The broth is infused with whole spices that are great for supporting digestion and the broth itself extracts nutrients from the bones that also aid in digestion, immune support, and bone/join health to name a few.
Servings 4 People
Prep Time 10 minutes 
Cook Time 45 minutes Ingredients
For the broth:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, roughly chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed
- 3 inch knob ginger, sliced into rounds
- 2 star anise*
- 1 cinnamon stick*
- 3 whole cloves*
- 2 tsp fennel seeds
- ½-1 tsp red pepper flakes or use a thinly sliced fresh spicy chili peppers (for spice, optional)
- 7 cups water
- 3 lb bone-in skin-on chicken, skin and excess fat removed**
- 2 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- ½ tsp kosher salt
For the soup:
- 12-16 oz vermicelli rice noodles, cooked (or use soba)
- Leftover cooked veggies or thinly sliced raw veggies (like bok choy, bell pepper, fennel, snap peas)(optional)
- 1 ½ cups bean sprouts (optional)
- 2 cups fresh herbs (cilantro, basil, mint, and/or scallions)
- 4 lime wedges
- *These whole spices are what gives pho the classic flavor, so it’s worth buying. If you don’t want to buy, you could substitute with ground spices (1 tsp ground cinnamon, ½ tsp ground cloves, + add an extra tsp fennel seeds if not using star anise)
- **Easily substitute with 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs. The broth won’t have as much chicken flavor, but it will still work!
- Note: ~To make a turkey bone broth, add leftover turkey bones in place of the chicken. Pressure cook on high for 120 minutes, then let it naturally release for 20 minutes before manually releasing. Once the broth is made, strain it and then you can add leftover cooked turkey into the soup.
Instructions
- In a 6-quart Instant Pot, press the sauté button set to“normal” or “medium”. Add oil and once the oil is hot, add the onion, garlic, and ginger and saute until browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in the spices for about 1minute to toast them.
- Add the water, chicken, soy sauce, fish sauce, and salt. Scrape up any bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pot. Lock the lid in place and set the vent to “sealing”. Select “manual pressure” (set to high) and set the timer for 12 minutes
- Once the timer goes off, let it naturally release for 10minutes, then manually release the pressure. Remove the lid and transfer the chicken pieces to a cutting board and shred up the meat. Set a fine mesh strainer over a large heat-proof bowl (it helps if the bowl has a pour spout) and pour the broth through the strainer to strain out the solids. Taste the broth and add more salt, soy sauce, or fish sauce if needed
- Into each soup bowl, add your cooked noodles, shredded chicken, and any veggies (if using). Pour about 2 cups of broth over top. Top with bean sprouts (infusing), lots of herbs, and squeeze of lime. To increase the spice, you can stir in some sriracha or other spicy chili paste.
Stovetop instructions:
- Follow the recipe using a large pot and increase the water to 8 cups. Once you’ve added the water, etc…,cover the pot, bring to a boil, then simmer for 1 hour. Then you can follow the recipe as is.
Items you can prep ahead (optional)
- Cook rice noodles
- Roughly chop 1 yellow onion
- Smash 3 cloves garlic
- Slice a 3-inch knob ginger into rounds
- Make the broth/soup
Substitutions:
- To make vegetarian, skip the chicken and use 7 cups of veggie broth and follow the recipe as is. Substitute fish sauce with an extra tablespoon of soy sauce. Add in tofu, to serve.
Storage:
-
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer:
- Broth: in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 2 months
- Rice noodles: up to 5 days in the fridge
Leftovers + Repurposing:
- Warm up the broth and add in your rice noodles and meat. Top with lots of herbs and lime and any other add-ins you’d like.
- Put a soft-boiled egg on top!
- Stir in any leftover cooked veggies, meat, grains, and greens into the hot broth for a quick and easy soup.
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