This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
This easy Slow Cooker Beef Pho simmers away all day, creating a flavorful broth that you and your family can enjoy on a cold day!
Well hello! It has been awhile. Mr. Briar and I just returned from our explorations of the East Coast, visiting New York, Vermont and Boston! If you were following along on Snapchat and Instagram, you saw that we loved each place, and certainly enjoyed all the delicious food and drinks that they had to offer. I have been thinking about incorporating some travel posts into Fox and Briar, so I will probably do a few posts about our trip, look for those soon!
Disclaimer: I partnered Fred Meyer for this recipe, however, my opinions, as always, are 100% my own. Integrity is important to me, and I only share brands and products that I think are awesome. Thank you for supporting Fox and Briar!
In the meantime, let’s talk about this Slow Cooker Beef Pho! Now that Fall is on the horizon, I am starting to think about comfort food, and nothing is more comforting than a big bowl of hot soup. I first discovered pho a few years ago, and it was one of my favorite things to eat on dark, rainy Oregon days. The rich broth, laced with spices, noodles and tender meat is everything you need. Plus you get to top it with all sorts of fun things like fresh herbs, lime juice, hoisin sauce and sriracha. Each person can customize the soup to their own specifications.
To make authentic Pho, you need to simmer bones for hours in a pot to get that rich broth. I decided to try my best to make a “faux pho”, keeping all the delicious flavors but making it a little simpler for people who have busy lives. I love using my slow cooker for things like this, because you can run it all day or even overnight without having to watch the stove. My slow cooker gets heavy usage in fall and winter, and it is just perfect for this recipe.
A few notes about this recipe. First, the noodles need to be kept separate from the soup. Just like in my Easy Chicken Ramen, the noodles will disintegrate if they are left in the soup for too long. It is better to prepare them separately and then let each person take as many noodles as they want, then cover in the broth. Second, don’t skip the additional toppings! Those are what make the soup, and if you ever get pho at a restaurant and don’t get extra toppings it would be an outrage! I love the fresh herbs and lime juice especially.
I used oxtail here instead of beef bones. The meat from them after simmering all day is incredible! Plus they lend lots of meaty flavor to the broth. In addition, you add extra slices of beef to the soup, and just cook it by pouring the hot broth over it. If this freaks you out, just add the meat slices to the soup a few minutes before serving and they will be cooked very quickly. The way I actually made this soup was after I cooked the broth all day in the slow cooker, I strained it and transferred it to a large bowl. I refrigerated it overnight and then all of the extra fat solidified at the top. I removed the top layer of solidified fat and then reheated the soup. It is the easiest way to remove the excess fat. But if you don’t want to take the extra time to do that, just use a skimmer to skim the excess fat from the top of the soup.
More Soup to keep you warm!
|
|
|
|
Slow Cooker Beef Pho
Ingredients
- 2 pounds oxtail can also use short ribs, or a mix of both
- 1 pound top sirloin sliced very thin
- 8 cups beef broth
- 1 large onion peeled and cut in half
- 8 inch piece of ginger sliced lengthwise and sliced into about 8 pieces
- 3 carrots cut into a few large pieces
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 star anise
- 2 teaspoons whole coriander
- 3 cloves
- 1 cardamom pod
- 1 teaspoon fennel
- salt to taste
- rice noodles
Toppings:
- fresh herbs such as basil, cilantro, and mint
- lime slices
- hoisin sauce
- sriracha
- jalapeno slices
Instructions
- In a frying pan over medium heat, toast the cinnamon, star anise, cloves, coriander, fennel and cardamom until fragrant, stirring frequently and being careful not to burn. Add to the crock pot.
- In the same pan, add the ginger and onion with the cut sides down and cook until they start to become charred, about 10 minutes. Add to the crock pot.
- Add the carrots and oxtails (or short ribs) to the crock pot. Pour in beef stock and an additional one cup of water. Add the soy sauce, fish sauce and sugar.
- Cook on low for 8 hours.
- When done, remove meat and set aside. Strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer to remove the solids. Skim fat off of the top or you can refrigerate and the fat will solidify on the top, making it very easy to remove.
- Remove the meat from the bone and add the meat back to the broth. Taste the broth and add salt or more fish sauce if needed.
- Cook the rice noodles according to package instructions, set aside.
- To prepare each bowl of soup, add a serving of rice noodles to the bowl and add slices of the sirloin steak. Pour the hot broth over the noodles and meat, which will cook the steak slices (if you don't want to do this, just add the steak slices to the hot broth a few minutes before serving to cook it)
- Serve with the additional toppings and allow each person to garnish the soup as they wish.
Notes
**The amount of salt you will add depends on how much is in the broth and also your tastes, so it is best to add it at the end if needed after tasting the broth.
***Usually the slices of raw steak ar added to the bowl and then the hot broth is poured over it to cook them. However if you are squeamish about that, add them to the broth a few minutes before serving to cook them (don't cook them too long or they will get tough)
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Disclaimer: I partnered Fred Meyer for this recipe, however, my opinions, as always, are 100% my own. Integrity is important to me, and I only share brands and products that I think are awesome. Thank you for supporting Fox and Briar!
This is our go to recipe for pho for maybe the last 3-4 years. Absolutely love it! Nice work. We usually just try with oxtail but tonight I’m adding some sirloin strips
Good stuff!
So glad you loved it!
5 stars!!!! Made a double batch last night with neckbones and other beef bones, instead of adding beef broth… The taste is incredible, love it! Thank you so very much!!!!
My husband is allergic to cinnamon. I have substituted nutmeg for cinnamon in other recipes. Would it work in pho?
Edie
Hi, I would just leave the cinnamon out. You could use a little nutmeg but I think too much would be overpowering.
Hi Meghan,
Just a quick question:
I found most of the spices at my local grocery store, but wasn’t able to find any star anise pods at all. Do you know of a similar swap for them for this recipe? Or will it be affected kind of badly without it? I am going to make this pho in the next day or 2, so please try to let me know. Thank you!
Hi Shelby – it does lend a specific flavor that can’t really be substituted. But I think the pho will still taste great without it. You can just leave it out.
Most Asian supermarkets will have star anise.
It was absolutely delicious. Used the short ribs version and cooked it for 11 hours in the crockpot on low. Broth was superb and meat was so tender and tasty. Will try the next version with chicken or shrimp. Excellent recipe.
Yay, so glad you loved it!
What size crock pot do you recommend?
Hi, I used a 6 quart!
Hi.
I want to try his recipe.
Do you think it would it work with just beef bones?
Then just add all the meat I want before serving.
Hi Hannah – I haven’t tried it myself but I think it would be fine!
Tried this the other day and it was marvellous!
I just had to add a bit more salt, so good!
So happy to hear that! Thanks Thea!
Hi – I am wondering if it is necessary to blanch/boil the shortribs or oxtail prior to putting in the slow cooker? I know you have to with beef bones to get rid of the scum but i guess thats less of an issue using shortribs/oxtail?
Hi! I didn’t have to do that with this recipe. What I did instead was refrigerate the broth, then remove the fat that solidified at the top. That also took care of any scum there might have been, but there wasn’t a huge amount of it. Let me know if you give it a try!
Looks wonderful, but where is the recipe with picture of pot stickers with hot chilli oil?!?
Hi Marchiano – I’m not sure what image you mean, there is no photo like that in this post. If you came from Pinterest, it is possible it was a pin made by someone else. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pot sticker recipes!
I made this this weekend and it’s so good! And ridiculously easy! I used GF soy sauce, but otherwise followed the recipe pretty much exactly . It made plenty, so I gave some to my mum and she loved it too!
Will have to try your chicken ramen next!
Yay! So glad you made it and loved it! Thanks Michelle!