Sous vide chicken breast means perfectly cooked chicken every time. Follow our step-by-step tutorial on how to make juicy sous vide chicken.
We love the cooking method of sous vide. Our sous vide steak is seriously a Fit Foodie all-time favorite dinner and our 24-hour sous vide ribs are a 5-star no-brainer. So, enjoy one of our favorite sous vide chicken breast recipes.
One of Our Favorite Sous Vide Chicken Breast Recipes
Perfect chicken every time. We love cooking sous vide because it’s really hard to mess up. Set your water bath to an exact temperature and let your meat cook until the entire thing is one temperature.
Sous vide chicken is cooked in a water bath set to 145ºF for 1 to 2 hours. The result is a super juicy chicken breast infused with flavor.
In this post, we’ll run down the basics of what kitchen gadgets you need for sous vide chicken along with a tutorial on how to get perfect, juicy chicken every time.
What You Need for Sous Vide Chicken Breast
Cooking sous vide might look intimidating, but if you have the right kitchen tools on hand, it’s easy breezy!
Kitchen Tools
- Sous Vide: first and foremost, get yourself a reliable sous vide. Our favorite brand is Anova and one will run you around $99.
- Vacuum Sealer Machine: the most successful cuts of chicken come out when they are vacuumed sealed in a plastic bag to remove as much air as possible.
- Vacuum Seal Bags: there are special plastic bags sold with vacuum sealers and we recommend buying a variety of sizes. If you don’t have a vacuum sealer, you can also use Ziploc bags or Stasher Bags.
- Sous Vide Container: they make amazing plastic sous vide containers now which is fool-proof and convenient. If you don’t want to buy one of those, you can use a stock pot too.
Ingredients
- Chicken breast: we recommend boneless, skinless chicken breast.
- Lemon wedges: this adds the perfect amount of freshness and brightness.
- Olive oil: any kind of oil works.
- Salt and pepper: we’re keeping spices basic with just salt and pepper.
- Fresh rosemary: feel free to use any fresh herb.
Tips for Perfect Sous Vide Chicken
Sous Vide Temperature for chicken breast
The sous vide water bath temperature can vary from 140ºF to 165ºF depending on how you like your chicken breasts.
- 140ºF:f or juicier chicken
- 165ºF: for firm chicken breast
How to Flavor the Chicken
You can keep your chicken breast flavors super simple like we did in this recipe with salt, pepper, lemon, and rosemary, or you can get fancy. Here are some ideas on how to flavor your sous vide chicken:
FAQ
The sweet spot for sous vide chicken is between 1.5-2 hours. The beauty is that you can cook the chicken even longer than this (if you forget) and it won’t overcook your chicken breast.
Yes! Anywhere between 145º-165ºF is safe for chicken. Your chicken breast will be juicy and tender if you sous vide your chicken breast at 145ºF and a bit firmer if you cook it at 150ºF. It is all about personal preference!
Yes, you can use Ziploc bags for sous vide. You just have to make sure you squeeze out all of the air from the Ziploc bag. You also want to make sure that the chicken is always submerged in the water. It helps to use clips to keep the bag in place!
More Flavor Ideas
The sky is the limit when you are flavoring your sous vide chicken breast. Play around and get creative! Personally, we love a basic lemon herb chicken or a smoky dry rub when we make our sous vide chicken breast. Here are some tasty flavor combinations to try:
