Instant Pot Chicken Pho (Vietnamese Pho Ga Recipe)

This easy recipe for Instant Pot Chicken Pho makes traditional pho ga in a fraction of the time with the help of your pressure cooker. This delicious pho recipe results in a flavorful broth and tender chicken. Combined with rice noodles, toasted spices, and fresh herbs, this soup packs so much flavor!

PS – Obsessed with brothy soups? You’ve got to try my Instant Pot chicken broth too!

You all probably know my kitchen obsession by now – The Instant Pot.

Like, I seriously sit at my desk all day thinking up new ways to use this little pot. Tonight, I’m dreaming of Red Beans & Rice, for Taco Tuesday, Instant Pot Chicken Tacos, and Wednesday – Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana is exactly what needs to happen.

Bowl of pho next to instant pot.

If you haven’t heard of the Instant Pot yet, let me introduce you. It’s like an electric pressure cooker that has all these handy little buttons on it for cooking different things:

  • Hard boiled eggs: Just add a little water to the pot, place your eggs on the cooking rack (as many as you’d like), and press the “EGG” button – Perfect hard boiled eggs in just about 10 minutes. You can even adjust the cooking time to make them as hard boiled or soft-boiled as you’d like. (I also love making these Sous Vide Egg Bites.)
  • Rice: As easy as it is to make on the stovetop, with the Instant Pot there’s no babysitting. Just use a ratio of 1 cup water to 1 cup rice and push the “RICE” button. Easy! (Here’s my foolproof method for Instant Pot rice.)
  • Quinoa: Make quinoa in a flash with no fuss! (Here’s my foolproof method for Instant Pot quinoa.)
  • Meat: You can cook from frozen or fresh and amazingly it’s the most moist, tender meat – So yummy!
  • Slow cooker: Use the Instant Pot just like you would use your crockpot – Set it to cook low and slow for any amount of time that you’d like. This Instant Pot Shredded Chicken is perfect for meal prep!
  • Dried beans: Cook them in a flash with no pre-soaking. (I’ve made Instant Pot Pinto Beans, Black Beans, and Refried Beans)

As handy as it is for all the above, the main reason I bought the Instant Pot was to make instant pot pho.

I’ve wanted to try making Pho at home pho-ever. Ahem… However, there was one thing preventing me from trying it – time.

Traditional Vietnamese pho ga is so super tasty. But, it typically simmers away all day, often for 12 hours or more. You have to roast the bones for the broth, toast the spices and char the veggies!

With the Instant Pot, pho took me an hour from start to finish! And while it won’t take the place of my local Vietnamese takeout restaurant, this is a way to make the dish at home. But of course, it’s much simplified from the traditional, authentic pho recipe.

Hand dipping spoon into pho

A key highlight of the Instant Pot, and how it may differ from a slow cooker is that you can sauté in it, making it possible to do everything with just one appliance.

This pho ga starts by charring the onion and ginger, letting it get nice and toasted without stirring it, to that we add the spices, let them get fragrant, and then the broth gets started by adding in the chicken thighs and some water, along with a couple other key ingredients that lend that sweet, salty umami flavor – namely fish sauce, a fuji apple, and a bit of sugar in my version.

Pop the lid on the pot and set the cook time for 15 minutes at high pressure.

My version comes from a few recipes that I gathered around the internet – Like this one from Nom Nom Paleo and this one from Epicurious. I liked the blend of spices that the Epicurious version incorporated – ones that I can remember tasting in phos of my past – coriander seeds, cloves, a cinnamon stick, cardamom and star anise. The Nom Nom Paleo version only calls for coriander and cloves.

The Nom Nom Paleo version added a fuji apple into the mix, and I thought that was a great way to add in some additional sweetness and flavor, similar to my Korean Bulgogi Tacos which seasons the meat with a bosc pear. The apple ended up lending a delicate flavor to the pho broth and I’m happy I made that addition.

The final question was – how much fish sauce? The Epicurious version called for twice as much as the Nom Nom Paleo version… So I started off with just 2 tablespoons… And then I decided it needed more – 3 tablespoons of that potent stuff ended up being just perfect.

The result? An umami-filled pot of pho that was seriously ready in under an hour. I mean, how pho-reaking cool is that?

Ingredients needed

  • Rice Noodles – I’m using rice pho noodles in this recipe. But, you could also swap in regular pasta or ramen noodles.
  • Chicken Thighs – Use bone-in, skin on thighs to add the most flavor to your broth.
  • Olive oil – Extra virgin is best.
  • Onion & Ginger
  • Dried Spices – Cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, coriander seeds, star anise pods, cloves.
  • Apple – I used a fuji apple, buy any type will work here. It lends sweetness to the broth.
  • Fresh Cilantro
  • Fish Sauce – This is sold in the asian foods aisle of major grocery stores.
  • Sugar + Salt – I used white sugar, but brown sugar will also work.

Pro Tip: Head to the bulk section of your grocery store to shop for the spices. That way you can grab just what you need, a few cardamom pods, a few cloves, etc. No need to buy the whole bottle, as spices tend to lose their flavor quickly anyway.

Toppings for pho ga

Garnish your bowl of pho with some of these yummy toppings:

  • Fresh herbs – Thai basil, mint, cilantro
  • Thinly sliced red onion or green onions
  • Jalapenos – for some heat
  • Sauces – Sriracha, hoisin sauce, soy sauce
  • Lime wedges
  • Crunchy bean sprouts

How to make ahead & store

  • This chicken pho will last in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Or, you can freeze the broth (without the noodles) for up to 3 months.
Two bowls of pho on counter

Wine pairings

  • Gewürztraminer and dry-Riesling are both great options because they will compliment the sweetness in the pho while downplaying its spiciness.
  • Try a Sparkling Rosé – The bubbles will play nicely with the rich broth and balance nicely with the fragrant spices.

More Instant Pot soup recipes

More Asian-inspired soup recipes

Did you try this instant pot chicken pho recipe?

If you loved this instant pot pho with chicken, I would appreciate it so much if you would give this recipe a star review! Also, be sure to snap a picture of your finished dish and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #platingsandpairings and tagging me @platingsandpairings.

For more great Platings and Pairings recipes, be sure to follow me on  InstagramTikTokPinterest and Facebook.

Overhead close up of bowl of pho with toppings.

Instant Pot Chicken Pho

This Instant Pot Chicken Pho makes the traditional Vietnamese chicken noodle soup (Pho Ga) easy to make at home in around 30 minutes with the help of your pressure cooker.
5 from 140 votes
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Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Time for pressure to build & release: 25 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients

Toppings

  • 1 lime (cut into wedges)
  • 2 jalapenos (thinly sliced)
  • 1/2 red onion (thinly sliced and soaked in cold water for 10 minutes)
  • Fresh herbs ((mint, cilantro, basil))
  • Bean sprouts
  • Sriracha sauce
  • Daikon radish sprouts ((optional))

Instructions

  • Soak the noodles in large bowl of warm water for 30-45 minutes. Set aside while you prepare the pho broth.
  • Add the oil to your Instant Pot and select the sautee option. One hot, add onion cutside down, and ginger. Cook, without stirring, for about 4 minutes, until slightly charred.
  • Add cardamom, cinnamon stick, coriander, star anise and cloves and cook for 1 minute longer, until fragrant. Add the water to the pot along with apple, cilantro, chicken, fish sauce, and sugar. Secure the lid.
  • Select Manual and cook at high pressure for 15 minutes.
  • When done, turn off the Instant Pot and let the pressure decrease naturally for 10 minutes. Set a timer and if the pressure hasn’t completely released when it goes off, turn the valve at the top to release any remaining pressure.
  • Remove chicken from the pot and set aside. Strain the broth and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Skim some of the fat from the broth.
  • When the chicken is cool enough to handle, separate the meat from the bones and divide the meat among 4 large soup bowls. (Reserve the bones for making bone broth.) Strain the noodles and divide them among the 4 bowls. Top each of the bowls with the broth and your desired toppings.
Did you make this recipe?Mention @platingsandpairings or tag #platingsandpairings!

Nutrition

Calories: 842kcal | Carbohydrates: 102g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 32g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 166mg | Sodium: 2272mg | Potassium: 606mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 230IU | Vitamin C: 19.6mg | Calcium: 96mg | Iron: 2.7mg

This post was originally published in 2020. It was updated in 2023. The instant pot pho recipe remains the same. Enjoy!

97 thoughts on “Instant Pot Chicken Pho (Vietnamese Pho Ga Recipe)”

  1. I haven’t jumped on the Instant Pot bandwagon yet…I think I’m hoping it will pass, mainly because I don’t have room for one more appliance! 😉 However, recipes like this one look SO good and make me seriously consider getting one!

    Reply
  2. I’ve been waiting for this since I saw it on Instagram! You’ve pretty much sold me on the Instant Pot. I make stuff from scratch a lot but I’ve actually avoided pho because it takes so long. I don’t know when I’ll actually get one but I’m on the bandwagon now.

    Reply
    • You sound just like me Meg! It took me a while to jump on the bandwagon (at least a few months of thinking about it) – BUT, I seriously use my Instant Pot almost every single day! And, Pho is what convinced me to try it out. I say go for it! 🙂

      Reply
  3. I received an Instant Pot for Christmas and this is the first thing I want to try to make with it! If I have time and wanted to cook it for longer, should I cook it at a low temperature or leave it on high for several hours?

    Thanks! Excited to try!

    Reply
    • Hi Hannah – You can complete the cooking process as the recipe states, but then you can leave it in your Instant Pot – It will keep it on the “WARM” setting until you’re ready to eat. Hope this helps!

      Reply
  4. 5 stars
    Hi! I am getting ready to make this for the 2nd time and I’m confused about which rice noodles to use. The first time I bought a package of very thin, straw like noodles and the texture wasn’t right after soaking per instructions. Today I bought something called “stir-fry rice noodles” that are a little thicker and look more like pasta but the instructions say to put them in boiling water and turnoff the heat for 8=10 min. Which are the right ones? Is there a brand you can reference? Thanks!!

    Reply
  5. Have you ever used essential oils instead of spices? I have all those listed (except Anise Star). I don’t have an Instant Pot but being we eat very clean and need no sugar, gluten, etc., I like to control the ingredients more. How many of Instant Pot lovers also have special dietary needs?

    Reply
  6. 5 stars
    I made this last night and it’s wonderful! Quick tip: I used a blender (Vitamix) to measure the water and put a mesh strainer over the blender to capture the strained broth later. Then it was easy to pour broth into individual bowls. This is definitely now my go-to pho recipe. Thank you!

    Reply
  7. I’m checking out Penzey’s for some of the harder-to-find spices, and I thought when I looked up Cardamom pods, there’s be one result. Hell no. There are black pods, white pods, and green pods. Any idea which would be best for this recipe? I love pho and have always wanted to try making it. But the recipe always seemed over my head. Hoping to give this one a go with the Instant Pot that was just delivered. 🙂

    Reply
  8. 5 stars
    Thank you for sharing your recipe & helpful hints! I just made chicken pho soup for the first time & it was delicious, inexpensive, and very filling! Your hint to buy spices in the bulk aisle was key. Whole Foods had the cardamom, cloves, star anise, etc at pennies compared to what I’d paid in the bottled spice aisle. I’m new to the Instant Pot & hadn’t been that impressed with it so far, but your recipe has me a believer! Thanks so much for helping me succeed!

    Reply
  9. 5 stars
    Let me start by saying Pho is my favorite food but I cannot eat it usually because I am allergic to MSG which most restaurants add as a stewing agent. We made this for my birthday tonight and it was easy! This will now be a staple in my house. I recommend adding Kosher salt with the liquid before cooking. After cooking mash the strained ingredients in seive or cheese cloth and squeeze all the juices once cool enough to handle to get all that wonderful spice. Thank you for this recipe!

    Reply
  10. 5 stars
    I made this Pho dish and it was amazing! The flavours were perfect. My whole family loved it! Thank you for posting. I will definitely try with beef as well. Thank you for this recipe!

    Reply
  11. We just got back from Vietnam Nam, so I am hunting for a good Pho recipe! I prefer chicken breast meat to thighs… if I substitute, are there additional seasonings Inshould add?

    Reply
    • Hi Peggy – I think that you’ll be good without adding any additional seasonings! I’d love to hear back on what you think after you give the recipe a try!

      Reply
  12. HELP? I WANT to love my new I.P. and your Pho recipe sounds amazing – but so far all I’ve made that’s been any good is hard-boiled eggs. I even turned my rice mushy because I mixed it with quinoa and then had to GUESS at the amount of water. I’ve tried sous vide in it – filet mignon – and it over-cooked it. I even over-cooked my artichokes (but finally did them right last night). Do you have any other recipes I can try? I’d like to stay away from beans (my husband already farts too much), and we don’t do a lot of gluten – no lactose or soy. You seem like the person who can help me learn to love my I.P….

    Reply
  13. 5 stars
    I have made this every week for the last four weeks (since I got my Instant Pot). It’s delicious. And once you have all the spices, it’s quite easy to prepare. My kids love it. Thank you!

    Reply
  14. I saw one of your recipe had nutrition ingredients. I know it’s a pain, but if you have the ability to estimate calories, that would be so helpful.

    Reply
  15. 5 stars
    Hi
    Just got my pot but since I am alone, I got the 3 qt mini. I assume your recipes are for the larger pot? For those of us who have the smaller size, it would be helpful if you gave the total volume of the completed recipes so we would know how much to decrease ingredients for our pots. This recipe sounds so yummy that I can’t wait to try it!

    Reply
  16. 5 stars
    Made this tonight and it was DELICIOUS! Used chicken breast instead of thighs because that’s what we had and it still turned out great. Definitely saving this recipe.

    Reply
  17. 5 stars
    This was very very tasty not too difficult to prepare… my husband said we will never need to go out for pho again! now I need to try my hand at the beef version. Thank you! 🙂

    Reply
  18. I made this for the first time last night and it was AMAZING! We also added a quick pickled cucumber and shallot topping. I have yet to taste a pho this good outside of a Vietnamese restaurant. I’m telling all my IP-owning friends about this. Can’t wait to make it again. Thank you!

    Reply
  19. Hi Erin! Trying your recipe out for the first time, and just wanted to know if you use both halves of the halved onion or just one?

    Best,
    Bre

    Reply
  20. This is almost exactly the recipe from the Instant Pot Cookbook by Laurel Randolph. We made it for the first time tonight and it was pretty good, but we are going to change it up a bit for next time and add some heat. But it was a nice fresh tasting healthy soup!

    Reply
    • Hi Jennifer – I haven’t yet tried that, but I believe it should be just fine stored in the freezer for a few months. If you’re able to, I would maybe reserve the noodles (skip that step) to ensure that they don’t get soggy. Then, when you’re ready to serve, soften those noodles in warm water and add them to the reheated broth. Hope that helps!

      Reply
  21. 5 stars
    This was really good and SO EASY! I only had boneless skinless chicken thighs so I used bone broth instead of water and it was perfect.

    Reply
    • 842 calories per serving? I could eat half a chocolate cake for that. 4 servings =approx 1.5 chicken thighs and veggies. The noodles couldn’t add up to approx 500 calories. Maybe the whole package. You should recheck the nutrition.

      Reply
  22. Is the nutritional info based on the whole pot or per serving? If per serving the sodium content noted seems really high with only 3 TBLS of fish sauce. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Hi Lynne – This is per serving, but unfortunately I’m not a nutritionist. The program I use to create my recipe card calculates the nutrition facts, but I can’t guarantee its information. But unfortunately, yes, pho is quite high in sodium.

      Reply
  23. Pho is amazing, and this is such a great way to make it. Guess what I’ll be using my Duo Nova for next? Honestly, I’ve been having a craving for pho and that’s how I came across your website. Sure, I could always buy it, but that doesn’t have the “I made this myself!” factor. Thanks for this recipe, I’m going to try it soon!

    Reply
  24. 5 stars
    My first time ever trying to make this kind of pho in an instapot. I followed it to the letter and it was OFF THE CHARTS who needs restaurants!! Thank you for such clear instructions! I also added mini chunks of zucchini, the best shiitake mushrooms in mini slices, radishes thinly sliced and julienned carrots to give it more colour. My boyfriend and I loved it!!! 💖💖

    Reply
  25. Hi. Thank you for the recipe. It looks amazing! I have a question about your comment about saving the bones to make bone broth. I would have thought that cooking this soup would have used up all of the goodness of the bones so they wouldn’t be useful for making bone broth after making this soup.

    Reply
  26. 4 stars
    The recipe is great, it was my first time making Pho at home but it is one of my favorites to go out for. I used ground cloves instead of whole cloves, and found the equivalent on Google (To use ground cloves instead of whole cloves, use ¾ teaspoon ground cloves for every 1 teaspoon whole cloves called for in the recipe) which made the smell to overwhelmingly too clove-ish, although it still tasted okay. Next time I’ll use less cloves. Other than that, it was a great recipe! Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

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