Looking for an easy Pressure Cooker Pho Recipe?
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!
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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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
Yields 4-6
10 minPrep Time
50 minCook Time
1 hrTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 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
- Bean sprouts
- Fresh Thai basil leaves
- Fresh cilantro leaves
- Jalapeno, sliced
- Lime wedge
- Sriracha, Hoisin sauce, or Sambal (Chile paste)
Instructions
- With the cooker’s lid off, turn your Insta Pot to Saute/High and add avocado oil.
- While oil is heating up, instead cloves into onion slices so they will be easier to remove later.
- Add onion and ginger root to the oil and saute until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Stir often.
- Season cubed beef roast or short ribs with salt and pepper.
- Add seasoned beef to the pot and brown the meat on all sides.
- Add beef broth to deglaze the pot.
- Stir in water, cinnamon sticks, and whole star anise to the pot.
- Put the lid onto your Insta Pot and lock in place.
- Select the Meat/Stew button on the Insta Pot and set timer for 40 minutes.
- Allow the cooker to naturally release pressure for 10 minutes before doing a quick release.
- Remove cooker’s lid and stir in fish sauce.
- Remove spices, onion slices, and bones (if any). Strain broth through cheesecloth or fine strainer.
- If there is excess fat/oil, you can skim it off now.
- Cook your rice noodles to package directions and drain. Set aside.
- Divide noodles amount 4-6 serving bowls.
- Top with sirloin steak, cilantro, and basil.
- Ladle hot broth over the noodles.
- Allow to sit for 1-2 minutes, until the beef is partially cooked and no longer pink.
- Serve with bean sprouts, additional Thai basil, cilantro, lime wedges, sliced jalapeños, Hoisin, and/or Chile sauce on the side.
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.
- Kids Learning Chopsticks (not shown) – Since I mentioned the textured above, I wanted to mention these. When my kids were learning to use chopsticks, we got these from Amazon. They helped them learn finger placement and mechanics. You can also convert any pair of chopsticks with this chopstick helper.
To complete your meal, make these Vietnamese Spring Rolls with many of the same ingredients as the soup.
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.
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