Slow-Cooker Chicken & Rice Noodle Soup with Star Anise

Do not recommend. Please do not use this recipe. Entirely too much anise and cloves, chicken is dry, and noodles will turn to goo in crockpot. Go back to google and find a quick Pho recipe that uses 1/2 the amount of cloves/anise and properly cooks the chicken and noodles. After 3 hours on high I took the chicken out, threw the broth away, and started from scratch on the stove top to salvage the meat. Will NEVER use the crock pot for Pho again. Will slice and cook chicken in properly seasoned broth on cooktop then add rice noodles in last 2 mins.

I really liked this although my family did not. :(

This turned out great, I only had boneless chicken breasts so will use bone-in next time for a more flavorful broth but we were very happy with it. I skipped the bok choy, soaked my thin rice noodles in hot water for 10 minutes then dropped them into the slow cooker for 5 minutes to get them tender.

I've been looking online for good, not complicated recipe and found this. Tried it and loved it. I do toast star anise,ginger and cloves first, as suggested in other recipes. I use bone-in chicken (thighs,drumsticks)- they give more flavor in my opinion. Bit salt to taste after straining. And definitely- noodle should be cooked separately. But in general- this is great recipe for a Pho addict like me!!!

I have made this twice. Enjoyed it both times. I used shiritake noodles and they worked very well when left in the broth. Very low calorie.

This is my go-to recipe for the spices needed. I use the chicken back and necks to make broth in the crock pot and then can it. This makes for a quick soup base. I agree that cooking the noodles and bok choi for 30 minutes is way too long.

Perfect! I'm really glad I threw in an extra chicken breast and a few more noodles because my family ate every last bite. I've never seen my husband have seconds AND thirds until I made this. My stepsons claimed that it was better than their favorite local pho joint. My chicken wasn't overcooked at all, but my chicken breasts were very large and totaled about 3.5lbs. My grocery store didn't have whole star anise, I'm sure that would've made the broth even better. I'll be making this again. I garnished with what was available to me: fresh jalapeno, mint and lime.

Threw this out - very disappointed My husband and I regularly eat Vietnamese food, so I wanted to try out this recipe. I used all fresh and/or new ingredients, and followed all measurements. I cannot place what it was, but something in the broth was way too pungent (too much star anise, maybe?). When my husband smelled the broth, he told me that it reminded him of places that do not make good pho, and that he did not want to even try tasting it. Ended up dumping the mess and went out to eat. This was disappointing, as every other recipe that I have tried from Eating Well has been wonderful. Pros: easy to put together Cons: the broth

A keeper I have been experimenting with Pho recipes. They are sometimes somewhat complex and, done right, time consumptive. I gave this a shot as my recent Pho recipe that failed also yielded a surplus of Pho components. I gave this a shot and was pleasantly surprised. This is a doggone competitive Pho Ga (chicken) recipe. We intend to make it again and often.This is a keeper and quite delicious. The recipe itself is very easy and was a good Sunday evening recipe. I put it in the crock pot after church and it was ready for supper. There is really little prep work, mostly just throwing ingredients into the pot and letting it go. I used boneless, skinless breasts. It turned out fine, but I expect bone-in breasts would provide more flavor. Don't worry about deboning, the meat will shred easily from the bone. I will change that next time. The components may be daunting to some. Once you have made this once, you will realize the flavors that star anise, fish sauce, whole cloves, etc. provide. Buy them in bulk and have them at hand for more editions of Pho in the future. Fish sauce in very small amounts can boost flavor in almost any dish. Note: The most traditional Pho has a spicy beef stock base (Pho Bo) unlike this one. It too is excellent and I am continuing my experiments with it. Pros: Easy Cons: Some ingredients are not common Western pantry items. Buy them and keep them on hand