slow cooker

Slow Cooker Chicken Pho

This slow cooker meal is easy to make and often has leftover chicken you can use next day to kickstart another healthy and easy meal (think gluten-free chicken wraps and salads). When cooking Asian inspired meals, consider using liquid coconut aminos instead of the traditional soy sauce to bring down your sodium intake & increase your nutrients. (read more here).

The Basics

Prep Time: Less than 30 mins
Cook Time: 4 1/2 hours
Serves: 4
Dietary Considerations: Dairy-free, Egg-free, Nut-free, Pregnancy-friendly
Equipment and Preparation: For this recipe, you will need a medium-sized electric slow-cooker.
This Meal Provides: 447 kcal, 58g protein, 43g carbohydrate (of which 3.5g sugars), 3g fat (of
which 0.7g saturates), 1g fiber and 4g salt per portion.

Ingredients

1 onion, peeled, finely chop
4 garlic cloves, halved
¾oz fresh root ginger, peeled, thinly sliced (I like to use a garlic grater)
2 long fresh red chilies, sliced (or 1 tsp dried chili flake)
1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
4 tbsp coconut aminos, plus extra to serve
2-3lb whole chicken
1 tbsp Thai fish sauce
200g/7oz dried flat rice noodle (you could also use buckwheat noodles or even edamame ones, just be mindful of cook times on the different varieties)


Options to top it off and serve:
6 spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced
beansprouts, rinsed and drained
fresh coriander sprigs
1 long red chili, thinly sliced
1 lime, cut into wedges

Step by Step

  1. First, place the vegetables in the slow cooker. Then stir in the five-spice powder, 1¾ pints water
    and aminos until well combined.
  2. Cut any string from the chicken, remove the skin by pushing your fingers between the breast
    meat and the skin and easing off the skin. Do likewise with the legs, snipping off any
    around the wings or leg tips with scissors.
  3. Place the chicken, breast-side up, in the slow-cooker, pushing it down among the
    vegetables. Then season all over with salt and pepper.
  4. Cover and cook on high for 4½ hours, or until the chicken is completely cooked through and
    very tender.
  5. Drain the contents of the slow cooker into a large bowl. Place the chicken on a chopping
    board and strip the meat from the carcass, thickly slice.
  6. Skim off the fat from the stock collected in the bowl using a large metal spoon. Pour the
    stock into a clean saucepan and then stir in the fish sauce and place on a gentle simmer.
  7. Half-fill a separate saucepan with water and bring to the boil. Next, add the noodles and cook until just tender, stirring regularly to separate them. Drain well.
  8. Finally, divide the noodles equally among 4 deep serving bowls. Top each with chicken followed by spring onions, beansprouts and coriander. Ladle over the hot stock and season with aminos. Garnish
    with the remaining sliced chili and lime wedges- to your liking. Voila!!

Tips & Tricks

  1. Removing the skin from the chicken prevents the stock from becoming too fatty, although you can leave it on if preferred.
  2. If you haven’t got your timings quite right and the noodles are ready too early, run them under the cold tap and re-heat in the hot stock for 30 seconds just before serving.
  3. Any leftover cooked chicken can be chilled in the fridge and used in GF wraps and salads.

Check out more of my postpartum friendly recipes here!

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