This post was sponsored by Swanson. Thank you for supporting the companies that encourage my creativity and work.
There’s no better way to end a cold winter day with a warm, comfort meal and this DIY Easy Pho Bar is just the thing!
With the daily demands of working full time and my kids’ activities, my to-do lists keep growing daily. Or, they never end. For me, as soon as I finish cleaning the kitchen from a meal, I‘m usually trying to get a head start on preparations for the next one.
Of course, we all try our best to power through our daily to-do lists, because what we really want to do is enjoy some down time with the family on the sofa with big bowls of soul-warming food.
I realize that everyone’s idea of the perfect comfort food is different, but in winter, soup always does the trick for my family. Some of our favorites are my White Chicken Chili, Mexican Soup, and Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup.
When I look at these recipes, one of the things they have in common is that they all start with a great chicken (or vegetable) broth, like my go-to: Swanson broths.
I love starting my recipes with Swanson broths and stocks because they are made with the only the highest ingredients you can recognize.
As you know, I’m a big advocate of finding ways to simplify mealtimes and for me, using high-quality broth is one of them. A few months ago, I went out to lunch with a friend to a local Pho restaurant, and I was immediately smitten by the complex and comforting flavors found in a single bowl.
When I came home, I told my kids about it, and they were skeptical. I told them that it was basically a soup with noodles and meat. “Like Chicken Noodle soup?” They asked.
“Almost, except it has all the flavors we love from our favorite Asian restaurant plus the things we love about chicken noodle soup,” I told them. They seemed like they were almost convinced.
To make it more fun for them to try for the first time, I decided to deconstruct the recipe and let them build their own bowl. Because what kid doesn’t like to build their own meal? I’m a grownup and I love to do this!
By the way, Pho is a Vietnamese soup made with fragrant broth, herbs, rice noodles, and beef or chicken. It’s one of those meals that both refreshes and fills you up! Not to mention it comes together in a matter of minutes -especially when you use the slow cooker to cook the chicken in the broth and then “set it and forget it.” and keep it warm.
The key to an awesome Pho, is a good broth, and I’ve found that using Swanson Chicken Broth as the base is a terrific start.
What my kids and I love is that everyone gets to choose from a variety of fresh ingredients, then ladle over the warm, savory broth, and there you have it! A delicious bowl of comfort food!
And this my friends is one bowl of comfort food you can feel good about eating. It’s not heavy and also happens to be gluten-free. The bonus is that Asian rice noodles don’t need cooking and they get added to the bowl before pouring the broth. My kids love watching them soften and get excited with anticipation.
I’m telling you, the aroma and combination of savory, fresh flavors will have everyone asking for seconds. Don’t be surprised if your family requests this easy meal to be added to their regular rotation.
What are some of your favorite recipes that start with broth?
DIY Easy Homemade Pho
- Yield: 8 bowls
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
- 8 cups Swanson Chicken Broth (64 oz)
- 3 cloves garlic, grated
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce (or coconut aminos or Tamari)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 12-16 ounces dried rice noodles
- 2 green onions, sliced, whites and greens divided
- 2 cups bean sprouts
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
- 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
- 1 jalapeno, thinly sliced
- 2 limes, sliced into wedges
Instructions
- Cut chicken thighs into smaller pieces and trim excess fat off.
- To the slow cooker, add the chicken and 6 cups of Swanson Chicken Broth. Grate garlic cloves and fresh ginger into the bowl, add in soy sauce, fish sauce, and stir to combine. Cook on low for 8 hours.
- Prior to serving, assemble rice noodles, sliced onions, bean sprouts, cilantro, mint, jalapeño, and limes into smaller bowls.
- Prepare individual bowls with uncooked rice noodles, top with sprouts, cilantro, and other toppings desired. Ladle chicken and broth over the rice noodles and serve. Rice noodles will cook in about 1 minute.
Leave a Reply 32 comments
This looks amazing. We LOVE pho at our house but with 6 of us it can get pricey to go out. This recipe is exactly what I’ve been wanting; a “set it and forget it” version. Thank you!
★★★★★
I just threw the ingredients in the slow cooker. I have everything!!! dinner is going to be awesome.
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UPDATE: THIS WAS A HIT!!! KIDS LOVED IT. I used Swanson’s vegetable broth (all I had in pantry) but with the chicken it took a great flavor. The kids LOVED it.
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My granny uses Swanson, my mom only uses Swanson… and guess what I ONLY buy: Swanson broth. The rest taste like “chicken flavored water” as my granny says.
Also, I use the chicken broth for my rice. Gives it a nice flavor.
★★★★★
My favorite way of using broth is in homemade chicken noodle soup.
So comforting and delicious!
I love making soups for my family, especially creamy soups with Swanson vegetable broth. We are dairy free so I use broth to thin out and make creamy veggie soups.
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I like to make a veggie broth and add rice noodles and onions and cabbage
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Who can pick just one way to use broth? I use it most in a variety of soups, but most recently we used it in risotto.
We love Swanson broth! We love the chicken, with low sodium. We also love veggie broth (but wish it could have less sodium). We use chicken broth in almost everything! We add it in mashed potatoes, cook grains in it, and sometimes even adding it to a savory smoothie for extra nutrients! Thank you.
Hi Kay! You won our slow cooker giveaway. Please keep an eye out for a separate email from us. Thank you!
GREAT RECIPE! While not 100% authentic “pho” it’s definitely full of flavor and easy to make. My whole family loved it!
★★★★★
I love to use chicken broth in chili made with ground beef and sweet potatoes! I make it pretty spicy but the sweet potatoes cut the spice with sweetness so even my six year old will eat it!
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I use broth for so many things! I always keep a few in the pantry. Most recently I used it to make homemade “hamburger helper”…one of my family’s favorites! 🙂
We LOVE pho – but I have never made it. Can’t wait to try it. And a slow cooker would make it so much easier. Thanks for the chance to win!
I love using broth to make a chicken enchilada soup or your recipe for curry lentil soup. My girls love that recipe!!
I like to use broth by replacing water in any rice or quinoa recipe to give a deeper flavor to my family’s meals.
★★★★★
I use Swanson broth for all sorts of things. My favorite is to simmer risotto and make it amazing.
★★★★★
Made this tonight. It’s not “authentic” like the Vietnamese place in my town but my family LOVED it, I didn’t slave over dinner, and it tasted really good. Also, saved me tons of money. win win.
★★★★★
Great recipe! I use chicken broth when I make Spanish rice and Thanksgiving stuffing!
My favorite way to use broth is potato soup or any soup or to cook rice. It’s so versatile.
This recipe was really good. Nothing foreign and my kids ate it. I used Swanson’s vegetable broth -was all I had on hand.
★★★★★
Easy to make and everyone loved it.
I added this to our meal plan next week. Thanks!
★★★★★
I love pho!
I use broth a lot to make yummy sauces and gravies.
We made this Pho last night. It was really good! Swanson Low Sodum Chicken broth is a staple in our kitchen. Use it for everything from rice to add flavor to soups.
★★★★★
Super easy to make and the whole family loved it. We added shaved carrots too since I had those on hand. I used the low sodium version of Swanson’s chicken broth. We always have it in the pantry.
★★★★★
Hi Laura,
I would love to finally try Pho as I hear about it all the time. Thanks for the recipe.
WHAT IS FISH SAUCE???
Hi Julie! Fish sauce is a salty “sauce” made from anchovies. A substitute would be Worcestershire sauce, even though in this case I don’t recommend it. It’s inexpensive and a little bit goes a long way in many Asian dishes.
My family loved this recipe. thanks!
★★★★★
This recipe was delicious. Added it to our monthly recipe rotation!
★★★★★
This soup was yummy. I’m 14 and I made dinner for my family with this recipe. Thanks!
★★★★★
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