Instant Pot Beef Pho - Delicious & Super Easy Pressure Cooker Recipe (2024)

Instant Pot Beef Pho - Delicious & Super Easy Pressure Cooker Recipe (1)
Jump to Recipe

Instant Pot Beef Pho - Delicious & Super Easy Pressure Cooker Recipe (2)

This Instant Pot Beef Pho recipe is a definite crowd pleaser. The fragrant broth will really make your taste buds sing and get the family running to the dinner table. Instead of spending all day in the kitchen created this delicious Vietnamese noodle soup, you can go out and have a little family adventure. Meanwhile your Instant Pot does almost ALL the work to create a fragrant pressure cooker pho broth!

This article contains affiliate links. We earn from qualifying purchases.

Instant Pot Beef Pho - Delicious & Super Easy Pressure Cooker Recipe (3)Instant Pot Beef Pho - Delicious & Super Easy Pressure Cooker Recipe (4)

Disclosure: This blog contains affiliate links. They help pay for the coffee that keeps us turning out adventures week after week. I’ll only recommend and share products that I use and love myself. Thanks!

Instant Pot Beef Pho - Delicious & Super Easy Pressure Cooker Recipe (5)

Traditional Beef Pho

A traditional bowl of Vietnamese Pho is a bowl of rice noodles served in a fragrant, full bodied broth. The secret to a great bowl of pho is the broth. Traditionally, it’s slow simmered for hours and hours. In some places, the broth is even cooked overnight. Spices like clove, star anise, and cinnamon give the broth a rich flavor that is nothing short of love in a bowl.

Instant Pot Beef Pho - Delicious & Super Easy Pressure Cooker Recipe (6)

Homemade Broth is Best…but

The pressure cooker pho recipe I use and will share in a minute uses 6 cups of beef broth. You can use homemade beef bone broth or a store bought version. Both will work in this recipe. If you opt for store bought broth, look for a version with lower sodium and no MSG. I like and use this broth because of the simple ingredients.

Instant Pot Beef Pho - Delicious & Super Easy Pressure Cooker Recipe (7)

Create a Custom Pho Bowl with Garnishes

What sets your bowl of pho apart from anyone else is how you garnish it. Pho is traditionally served with bean sprouts, fresh cilantro, fresh Thai basil, lime wedges, jalapeños, chile sauce, Hoisin, and green onions. There is no right or wrong combination for your bowl. I think it with everything, but the kids like their bowls with cilantro and lime only. Find your favorite flavor combination and enjoy!

Instant Pot Beef Pho - Delicious & Super Easy Pressure Cooker Recipe (8)

Cooking Pho in an Instant Pot

I am now an Instant Pot Convert! For months, friends have mentioned how much they LOVE cooking in their Instant Pot. I didn’t quite believe that it was THAT good until I got my own. What sold me was that you could steam/hard boil farm fresh eggs and have the shell peel off easily. OMG!! It works beautifully! If you have egg laying chickens, you’ll know how impossible that is. But I’ll save that story for another day.

Instant Pot Beef Pho - Delicious & Super Easy Pressure Cooker Recipe (9)

Fast forward a few weeks and I’m cooking this Pressure Cooker Pho. It’s really easy to cook in an Instant Pot. I’ve made everything oatmeal to this recipe. In just 1 hour, you get a beef pho broth that rivals anything you can get at a noodle house or pho shop. If you have been on the fence about getting an electric pressure cooker or have one and need ideas on how to use it, print this recipe and cook up this recipe. You’ll love it just as much as we do.

Instant Pot Beef Pho - Delicious & Super Easy Pressure Cooker Recipe (10)

Instant Pot Beef Pho - Delicious & Super Easy Pressure Cooker Recipe (11)

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

  • 1 large onion, halved and sliced into 1” slices
  • 4” piece of fresh ginger, sliced in half lengthwise
  • 8 whole cloves
  • 1 teaspoon avocado oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 2 pounds beef roast cut into 2” cubes or short ribs
  • 6 cups beef broth
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 4 whole star anise
  • 2 1/2 cups water
  • 1 Tablespoon fish sauce, more if desired
  • 12 ounces Bahn Pho (flat rice) noodles
  • 1/2 pound thinly sliced beef sirloin steak

Garnishes

  • Bean sprouts
  • Fresh Thai basil leaves
  • Fresh cilantro leaves
  • Jalapeno, sliced
  • Lime wedge
  • Sriracha, Hoisin sauce, or Sambal (Chile paste)

Instructions

Making the Pho Broth

  1. With the cooker’s lid off, turn your Insta Pot to Saute/High and add avocado oil.
  2. While oil is heating up, instead cloves into onion slices so they will be easier to remove later.
  3. Add onion and ginger root to the oil and saute until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Stir often.
  4. Season cubed beef roast or short ribs with salt and pepper.
  5. Add seasoned beef to the pot and brown the meat on all sides.
  6. Add beef broth to deglaze the pot.
  7. Stir in water, cinnamon sticks, and whole star anise to the pot.
  8. Put the lid onto your Insta Pot and lock in place.
  9. Select the Meat/Stew button on the Insta Pot and set timer for 40 minutes.
  10. Allow the cooker to naturally release pressure for 10 minutes before doing a quick release.
  11. Remove cooker’s lid and stir in fish sauce.
  12. Remove spices, onion slices, and bones (if any). Strain broth through cheesecloth or fine strainer.
  13. If there is excess fat/oil, you can skim it off now.

Assembling Your Pho Bowl

  1. Cook your rice noodles to package directions and drain. Set aside.
  2. Divide noodles amount 4-6 serving bowls.
  3. Top with sirloin steak, cilantro, and basil.
  4. Ladle hot broth over the noodles.
  5. Allow to sit for 1-2 minutes, until the beef is partially cooked and no longer pink.
  6. Serve with bean sprouts, additional Thai basil, cilantro, lime wedges, sliced jalapeños, Hoisin, and/or Chile sauce on the side.

Nutrition Information:

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 2927Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 3757mgCarbohydrates: 644gSugar: 1gProtein: 54g

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Facebook

Instant Pot Beef Pho - Delicious & Super Easy Pressure Cooker Recipe (12)

Favorite Things Shown in this post : (No one paid us to write this. I just love this stuff)

  • I have the Instant Pot 6 in 1 programmable 6 quart, electric pressure cooker. This is the one without the yogurt maker. We love our Stonyfield yogurt, so I saved a little money not getting that feature.
  • Textured Ramen Chopsticks – When you eat noodles, they are a god-send. The ribbed tips on these chopsticks make eating noodles SOOOO much easier.

To complete your meal, make these Vietnamese Spring Rolls with many of the same ingredients as the soup.

If you like curry dishes like this, you may also like these:

  • Easy Thai Coconut Soup Recipe
  • Easy Yakisoba Noodles

Are you an Instant Pot lover yet? If you are, what are some of your favorite things to cook in it? Share with me in the comments below. Since I’m still new to mine, I’d love to hear what you do.

Instant Pot Beef Pho - Delicious & Super Easy Pressure Cooker Recipe (14)

About Nicky Omohundro

Nicky Omohundro is a travel and active family lifestyle blogger and social media influencer based out of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She shares stories, destinations, and ideas on food, family, health, and outdoor recreation to help families find their own adventures. Her spirit animal is a caffeinated squirrel fueled by coffee, real food, and the desire to seek new adventures.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Instant Pot Beef Pho - Delicious & Super Easy Pressure Cooker Recipe (15)Kim

    My old boss used to eat Pho every day for lunch. I’ll never forget that aroma! On a separate note,
    I think I need one of those instant pots. ?

    Reply

  2. Instant Pot Beef Pho - Delicious & Super Easy Pressure Cooker Recipe (16)Helene Cohen Bludman

    Now that fall is nearly here, I will be getting back into my weekly soup routine and this recipe is going in my files for sure.

    Reply

  3. Instant Pot Beef Pho - Delicious & Super Easy Pressure Cooker Recipe (17)kallee

    I haven’t heard of this before, but it looks like it is delicious. A perfect recipe for fall soup weather.

    Reply

  4. Instant Pot Beef Pho - Delicious & Super Easy Pressure Cooker Recipe (18)katrina gehman

    omg that looks so good. i need to make this soon, like this week.

    Reply

  5. Instant Pot Beef Pho - Delicious & Super Easy Pressure Cooker Recipe (19)Ashley Mullins

    This sounds delicious! Thanks for the recipe, I bet my husband would love this

    Reply

  6. Instant Pot Beef Pho - Delicious & Super Easy Pressure Cooker Recipe (20)Kent

    After straining you discard the 2 lbs of beef?

    Reply

  7. Instant Pot Beef Pho - Delicious & Super Easy Pressure Cooker Recipe (21)MaryL

    I had all the ingredients together and ready to make this and then the weekend got busy. We had the little grandkids and husband watching football, but I was determined to make this.

    WOW, great tasting pho! I was too busy to round up garnishes so I just had sirloin strips and some noodles. And it was wonderful. Best part is I have lots of leftovers as everyone here else ate pizza. I just love having great dishes to fix in the Instant Pot.

    Thank you for a well thought out recipe. It will be added to my list of favorite soups. Now I don’t have to be sad that we don’t have a Vietnamese restaurant within 50 miles!

    Reply

  8. Instant Pot Beef Pho - Delicious & Super Easy Pressure Cooker Recipe (22)May Bingham

    I do not have an IP, but do have two pressure cookers that I use frequently.
    About the Pho… I had a pork pho just last week for the first time.
    I loved it… we also had spring rools with the mist delicious dipping sauce.
    I want more Vietnamese recipes …
    Do I just look online? Kindly advise and thanks.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Instant Pot Beef Pho - Delicious & Super Easy Pressure Cooker Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the best beef for pho? ›

Thinly sliced raw beef for Pho – best cut

I like to use beef tenderloin for the raw beef slices. While that's a premium cut that is a bit costly, you only need about 30g / 1 oz per serving so a bit goes a long way! TIP: To thinly slice the beef, just partly freeze the beef then slice.

Is there instant pho broth? ›

BEEF PHO BROTH: Feel the warmth in every sip of our instant pho soup bundle Snapdragon Vietnamese Pho Broth is made with beef base to give an exquisite blend to the Vietnamese Spices. Snap Dragon Pho is the ideal cup of soup for the cold weather.

What can I add to pho? ›

Add toppings: The hot steaming bowl of pho is traditionally accompanied by a plate of fresh toppings such as Thai basil, cilantro, mint, bean sprouts, chili slices, and lime. You'll want to add a generous amount of each, then continue to add more as needed throughout eating.

What is the secret ingredient in pho? ›

Sa sung—dried peanut worms—have been described as the secret ingredient of great pho.

What makes pho broth taste so good? ›

Broth - the soul of Pho. Beef bones play a crucial role in influencing the quality of the broth. Combined with spices such as ginger, charred onions, star anise, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and coriander seeds, the broth gains a distinct aroma.

Is pho broth the same as beef broth? ›

Pho broth is traditionally made with beef or chicken bones and a variety of spices and aromatics, including star anise, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and onions. This gives Pho broth its unique flavor and aroma, which sets it apart from other types of broth.

What cut of beef is used for pho broth? ›

Pho Broth Ingredients

Stewing beef: such as brisket or chuck, which will be stewed until tender right in the broth. Oxtail: aside from the marrow and connective tissue that results in a delicious broth, oxtail meat is also one of the best cuts for stew. If omitting, use more bones and more stew beef.

Can you put raw beef in pho? ›

Pho is often served with meatballs, sliced cooked brisket (don't be afraid to try it with smoked brisket, though it isn't traditional), and, as mentioned above, raw sliced beef that is added to the bowl to be cooked by the hot broth. The result is a fragrant symphony of unparalleled restorative goodness.

Is pho broth anti inflammatory? ›

Pho is very nutritious. From its ingredients, it's been shown to reduce inflammation and improve joint health. If you suffer from something like chronic pain or arthritis, you may want to entertain the idea of enjoying more pho. The broth particularly can be very anti-inflammation.

Why is my pho broth slimy? ›

One very important note for restaurant pho is that the tendons are never cooked/simmer together in the pho broth. Tendons are always cooked separately in restaurant environment. If we cook tendons together in the broth, then the collagen will come out as gelatin, making the broth murky and turning it into aspic.

Is instant pho healthier than instant ramen? ›

Pho is often healthier than ramen

Pho is also made with gluten-free rice noodles, is often lower in fat, contains fewer carbs, and has more protein per serving. Lastly, pho features a plethora of fresh veggies and herbs.

What makes pho unhealthy? ›

The one thing to be extra conscientious with pho is that it's very high in sodium, which can cause increased blood pressure and contribute to cardiovascular issues. 1 (Some bowls have more than 1,000 mg, which is practically the entire allotment of recommended sodium intake for the day.)

What vegetables are good in pho? ›

Decorating Your Pho Broth

My favorites are broccolini, carrots, bok choy, rice noodles, shiitake mushrooms, baked tofu, cilantro, sliced jalapenos, mint and thai basil. I'm also not one to stand on ceremony here with just traditional options. I'll throw in sliced radishes, kale, spinach, cauliflower, squash, zucchini…

What sauce do you put in pho? ›

Onions (optional): Either sliced green onions or super-thinly-sliced white onions as a garnish. Sauces (optional): It's also traditional to serve pho with hoisin sauce and/or sriracha to use as a garnish if desired.

How do you make instant noodles broth better? ›

What Can I Add to Instant Ramen To Make It Better?
  1. Switch up Your Broth. The first thing is to change up your broth. ...
  2. Add an Egg. ...
  3. Toss in Some Veggies. ...
  4. Stir in Togarashi Chili Pepper or Chili Oil. ...
  5. Add a Splash of Soy Sauce. ...
  6. Add Some Peanut Butter. ...
  7. Peruse Your Spice Cabinet. ...
  8. Butter and Brown Sugar.

How do you make pho broth taste better? ›

For the most flavorful and clear broth, your pot needs to be in a constant simmer. Take your time in the first 15 minutes or so to make adjustments to your temperature. This ensures that you have true simmering in the next 3-5 hours; no rolling boiling water, no dead still water either.

How to spice up microwave pho? ›

The first thing you want to add to your pho is the white vinegar with garlic pickle. This will give the pho a really rich smell and flavor. After that you can add lime juice, fresh chilly or siracha, depend on how sour and spicy you want the soup is.

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Msgr. Refugio Daniel

Last Updated:

Views: 6301

Rating: 4.3 / 5 (74 voted)

Reviews: 89% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Msgr. Refugio Daniel

Birthday: 1999-09-15

Address: 8416 Beatty Center, Derekfort, VA 72092-0500

Phone: +6838967160603

Job: Mining Executive

Hobby: Woodworking, Knitting, Fishing, Coffee roasting, Kayaking, Horseback riding, Kite flying

Introduction: My name is Msgr. Refugio Daniel, I am a fine, precious, encouraging, calm, glamorous, vivacious, friendly person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.