Meet Phở Gà, savoury Vietnamese noodle soup made with chicken instead of beef. Easier to cook at home than beef pho, especially in the Instant Pot. Pressure cooking cuts down on cook time and extracts maximum flavour, so this Instant Pot Chicken Pho is ready in just over an hour.
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How Garlic Fits In
We admit it. Garlic isn’t a traditional ingredient in pho—but it sure as hell doesn’t hurt it. We’re a garlic fan club first and foremost, so of course we like some garlic in our pho.
Also, dam toi (garlic vinegar) is a classic condiment for pho. Not so well known outside of Vietnam, but it’s a staple in Northern Vietnam, where pho originates.
Ingredients + Substitutions
A few important notes on some of the ingredients used in this Instant Pot Chicken Pho recipe:
Onion, Scallions, Garlic, Ginger, Cilantro: These aromatics form the base of pho broth. One thing I love about pho is there’s no complicated chopping or dicing required. You just give all the aromatics a rough big chop and toss them into the broth, then strain them out at the end to leave a clear, flavour-infused soup.
Bone-In Chicken Legs: Dark meat is best for Vietnamese chicken pho. You can use either chicken legs or chicken thighs. Chicken breasts are a bit too lean. We recommend bone-in for the best flavour and a richer broth.
If your chicken comes with skin on, we suggest removing the skin or it will make the soup too greasy. But don’t waste the skin! Check out our Top Tip further down the post on using the air fryer to make a crispy chicken skin topping.
Spices: Pho spices are fennel seeds, coriander seeds, cloves, star anise, and cinnamon.
Fish Sauce: Adds saltiness and umami, important to create the right depth of flavour. Three Crabs is our preferred brand. If you can’t have fish products, we’d recommend adding more of the chicken bouillon powder.
Chicken Bouillon Powder: Knorr or LKK chicken bouillon powder is a staple of the Asian kitchen. It’s basically a concentrated punch of chicken flavour and MSG. Haters will say it’s cheating, but it elevates and intensifies the flavours of the chicken broth. We dare you to find a Vietnamese restaurant that doesn’t use this stuff.
Rock Sugar: This one is down to your personal preference. Every pho restaurant chooses a different sweetness level for their broth. Start with a small lump of sugar, then add more to taste at the end of cooking if needed.
Rice Noodles: Use “medium-width” rice stick noodles, usually labelled as bánh phở or pad thai noodles.
See recipe card for quantities.
Toppings are optional, but strongly recommended!
Here are some of the common pho toppings:
- Thinly sliced onion
- Fresh cilantro or basil, or a mix of both
- Bean sprouts
- Thai chile peppers
- Lime wedges
- Hoisin sauce
- Sriracha
- Dam toi: this is a spicy garlic vinegar that’s all the rage in Northern Vietnam. It takes the place of sriracha and lime, adding a pungent, funky tanginess to round out the soup.
Directions
Step 1. Press the Sauté button twice on the Instant Pot to set the temperature to High. Once the Instant Pot display reads HOT, pour in oil.
Step 2. Add onion, scallions, garlic, and ginger to the pot, cut side down, without overlapping each other. Let them char until blackened.
Step 3. Pour water into the Instant Pot. Add chicken legs, cilantro, star anise, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, cinnamon stick, cloves, fish sauce, chicken bouillon, sugar, and salt.
Step 4. Close the Instant Pot lid. Press the Pressure Cook button (or Manual if you have an older Instant Pot model) and set the mode to High Pressure. Set it to pressure cook for 10 minutes.
Step 5. Meanwhile, boil noodles according to package directions (usually around 7 to 10 minutes). Drain and submerge in cold water while you wait for the broth to finish cooking.
Step 6. Once the Instant Pot turns off, allow pressure to naturally release for 20 minutes. Then release any remaining pressure. Carefully remove the chicken legs and strip the meat off the bones.
Step 7. Next, pour the Instant Pot chicken pho broth through a strainer into a large bowl. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and sugar, if needed.
Step 8. Portion the cooked rice noodles into bowls. Ladle strained pho broth over each bowl. Serve with toppings of your choice.
Equipment
Our authentic pho chicken soup recipe works in any 6-qt or 8-qt pressure cooker.
I have tested this recipe in a 6-qt Instant Pot Duo, 6.5-qt Ninja Foodi, and 8-qt Instant Pot Pro.
Storage
It’s best to assemble Vietnamese pho immediately before eating, or else the rice noodles become mushy.
Meal Prep: For meal prepping, just cook and store the noodles and soup separately so that the noodles won’t get soggy from sitting in the broth.
Fridge: Chicken pho can be refrigerated for up to four days.
Freezer: Pho broth freezes well. Freeze the meat and soup together for up to three months. I don’t recommend freezing cooked rice noodles.
Top Tip
If your chicken comes with skin on, we recommend removing most of the skin or else it will make the soup too greasy. But don’t waste the skin!
Crisp up chicken skin in the air fryer at 400 °F for 12 minutes. It'll get nice and crunchy, and you can break it into pieces to use as toppings for your pho.
Two chicken legs will yield 1 to 1 ½ tablespoons of schmaltz (chicken fat), which you can use like regular cooking oil. Try using it to make Air Fryer Roasties, Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes, or Better Than Bouillon Ramen.
More Flavourful Asian Recipes
Looking for more savoury Asian flavours? Try these:
Did you make this recipe? Please leave a rating or comment below to give me feedback and help out other readers.
Recipe Card
Instant Pot Chicken Pho (Phở Gà)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 large yellow onion sliced in half
- 2 scallions sliced into 2-inch segments
- 1 head garlic around 10 to 12 cloves, roots trimmed off
- 5 inches fresh ginger root sliced thin
- 2 quarts water
- 1 ½ pounds bone-in chicken legs or chicken thighs 2 leg quarters or 4 thighs; see Note 1
- 1 small bunch cilantro great way to use up cilantro stems!
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 4 whole cloves
- 3 whole star anise
- 1 to 2 inches cinnamon stick
- ¼ cup fish sauce plus more to taste
- 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon powder
- 1 tablespoon sugar we used rock sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt plus more to taste
- 8 ounces dry rice noodles 2 to 3 ounces per person, or more as desired
Instructions
- Press the Sauté button twice on the Instant Pot to set the temperature to High. Once the Instant Pot display reads HOT, pour in 1 tablespoon oil. Add 1 large yellow onion, 2 scallions, 1 head garlic, and 5 inches fresh ginger root to the pot, cut side down, without overlapping each other. Let the aromatics char for five minutes—don’t move them at all during this time.
- Meanwhile, if your chicken pieces come with skin on, remove this skin to prevent the pho broth from becoming too greasy.
- Pour 2 quarts water into the Instant Pot. Add 1 ½ pounds bone-in chicken legs or chicken thighs, 1 small bunch cilantro, 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, 1 teaspoon coriander seeds, 4 whole cloves, 3 whole star anise, 1 to 2 inches cinnamon stick, ¼ cup fish sauce, 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon powder, 1 tablespoon sugar, and ½ teaspoon salt.
- Close the Instant Pot lid. Press the Pressure Cook button (or Manual if you have an older model) and set the mode to High Pressure. Set it to pressure cook for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, boil 8 ounces dry rice noodles according to package directions (usually around 7 to 10 minutes). Drain and submerge in cold water while you wait for the broth to finish cooking.
- Once the Instant Pot turns off, allow the pressure to naturally release for 20 minutes. Then release any remaining pressure. Carefully remove the chicken legs and discard the bones.
- Next, pour the pho broth through a strainer into a large bowl. Taste for seasoning and more salt, if needed.
- Portion the cooked rice noodles and deboned chicken meat into bowls. Ladle strained pho broth over each bowl. Serve with toppings of your choice.
Notes
- Chicken: Use bone-in chicken for the biggest flavour and most tender chicken meat.
- If using skin-on chicken legs, we recommend removing the skin to avoid making the soup greasy.
- Optional: Crisp up the chicken skin in the air fryer at 400 °F for 12 minutes. They'll get nice and crunchy, you can break them off and use them as toppings for your pho. 2 chicken legs yields 1 to 1 ½ tablespoons of schmaltz, which you can use like regular cooking oil!
Nutrition
Food Safety
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw chicken.
- Wash your hands with soap and water after handling raw chicken.
- Don't leave the Instant Pot unattended when charring the onion, ginger, and garlic. Distracted + cooking on high heat = bad combination. You want the aromatics blackened, not burnt to a crisp.
Sarah says
This was easy and yummy! Took me closer to 2 hours to make, but worth the time!
Kelly Zhang says
Yes, it's so worth the time 🙂