Enjoying the outside world

This summer has been a mixed bag so far, with more rain than I personally appreciate, even though my herbs like it. So whenever possible, I’ve been getting out and about as much as I can and using my fast-growing herbs when I get home from my adventures. After some adventuring, I never have much energy for cooking, so my Instant Pot is a lifesaver, and the pressure cooking setting means something like a tasty soup that should take hours to make can be ready to eat in less than an hour. 

Loving soup right now

As much as I love a good BBQ in the summer, this year I’ve been loving sitting down to a bowl of soup for dinner over the last few weeks, and this Pho has been my go-to. I’ve been making a pot and grabbing a bowl post-workout for a high-protein meal that doesn’t make me feel overfull or climbing the walls for a snack an hour later. If you are looking for an easy meal that is full of flavour and helps you hit your protein goals, I can highly recommend it.

Instant Pot Pho Soup

Ingredients

• 500g Chicken thighs 
• 1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tbsp ginger peeled and minced
• 2 tsp garlic crushed
• 1 stem Basil 
• 1 tsp cloves whole 
• 1/2 tbsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup spring onions 
• 1.5 ltr chicken bone broth 
• 1 tbsp Sriracha 
• 1 tbsp fish sauce, or more to taste 
• 250g konjac noodles
• 2 1/2 cups baby spinach
• 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• Garnish
• 1/4 cup fresh coriander, coarsely chopped 
• 2 tbsp mint leaves, chopped
• 4 Lime wedges to taste
• 1/4 cup Jalapeno slices

Instructions

Place the chicken thighs, coriander, ginger, garlic, basil, cloves, pepper, salt, spring onions, and broth into the instant pot and cook for 35 minutes on high pressure.

While it is cooking, rinse the noodles and prepare the vegetables and toppings for the soup.

Let the pressure out using the quick release at the end of 35 minutes. 

Remove the chicken and shred it with a fork.

Strain the broth into a large bowl or container. For clear broth, use cheesecloth when you strain it.

Add the chicken back to the broth.

Mix the sriracha and fish sauce into the broth and mix well. You can add more sriracha to the broth if you like your soup hot.

To serve the soup, dish it into a bowl, then add noodles, spinach, tomatoes, bean sprouts, and garnish with the chopped coriander and mint leaves, sliced jalapeño and a lime wedge.

Equipment

• Knife
• Chopping board
• Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker
• Large mixing bowls
• Forks
• Cheesecloth
• Strainer

Nutritional disclaimer

Nutrition information is provided as an estimate based on the ingredients used and available in my area (New Zealand). The nutritional information is here to help you understand the recipe; I use MyFitnessPal to generate my estimates. For more accurate nutritional information, please use a nutritional calculator with the ingredients in your area.