Sous Vide Chicken Breast
on May 11, 2020
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Juicy Sous Vide Chicken Breast from fresh or frozen! Made with a simple seasoning and no sear. The sous vide temperature control guarantees the perfectly tender texture. It’s great for meal prep or a quick weeknight dinner.
This sous vide chicken breast is my go-to chicken recipe, as it’s so versatile and you can easily turn it into many boneless or bone-in chicken breast recipes like shredded chicken or chicken teriyaki!
What is sous vide cooking?
Sous vide is a French cooking technique where the food is vacuum-sealed in a bag, and then cooked for a long time to a precise temperature in a warm water bath.
When cooking chicken breasts with traditional methods such as baking, pan-frying, or grilling, it’s ridiculously easy to overcook the meat. When cooked just a minute too long, the meat can turn out dry and chewy. Sous vide easily solves this problem by temperature control and I just love my sous vide machine!
If you are new to sous vide cooking, check out my Sous Vide Cooking Guide. It explains everything you need to know about this technique.
Reasons to love this sous vide chicken breast:
- Easy to make and foolproof – just season, sous vide and eat! Let the sous vide machine do all the work for you.
- Perfectly tender and juicy – by controlling the temperature precisely, you’ll achieve the unparalleled juiciness. Never overcook or undercook your chicken breasts again!
- Healthy and versatile – this sous vide chicken breast is a high protein, low fat and low calorie addition to any meal. You can add it to many other dishes such as taco, soup, pasta, or casserole.
- Easily cook from frozen – don’t you always have some frozen chicken breasts in your freezer?! Now you can make tender and juicy chicken breast with sous vide method from frozen directly!
What you will need:
Actually you really need only chicken breasts! Everything else depends on your taste and how you plan to use the cooked chicken for. No marinade is needed. If you are planning to add them in other recipes such as salads or casserole, you can use them the same way you use canned chicken, and I won’t worry about seasonings at all.
If you plan to enjoy the cooked chicken breast alongside rice or potatoes, you can add your favorite seasonings. Here’s a simple seasoning I used for this recipe:
- Chicken breasts: fresh or frozen
- Salt and pepper
- Garlic powder (optional)
Pro Tip: Season generously before sous vide cooking for the best flavor!
How to sous vide cook fresh chicken breast
- Season the chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- Place them in a zip-top bag.
- Arrange in a single layer and vacuum seal the bag using water displacement method.
- Cook in a sous vide water bath at 149°F (65°C) for 1 hour.
- Remove the chicken breasts from the bag and enjoy!
How to sous vide cook frozen chicken breast
You can cook the frozen chicken breast just like the fresh ones except adding 30 minutes of cooking time in the sous vide water bath.
Pro Tip: One great time-saving meal prep tip is to season and vacuum seal your chicken breasts before storing them in the freezer. When you’re ready to cook, just place the bag with frozen chicken into the sous vide container directly. Completely a game changer!
What bags can I use?
You may wonder, is it safe to cook with plastic bags? Yes, as long as you use the right ones. Fortunately, nearly all food-grade bags on the market are safe for sous vide cooking. So you can use a regular zip-loc bag like this for this recipe.
There are also vacuum sealer bags that are specifically made for sous vide cooking.
Pro Tip: Make sure chicken breasts are arranged in a single layer. If your breasts are too large, you can use multiple bags.
How to seal the bag without a vacuum sealer?
If you don’t have a vacuum-sealer, you can seal the bag using the the water displacement technique: just seal all but one corner of the bag, and then slowly place it into a large pot of water. Make sure everything below the zip-line is covered by water, then seal the rest of the bag.
What temperature should I sous vide chicken breast?
A mistake I used to make is that always sous vide cooked my chicken at 165°F. Once I tried cooking them at 149°F (65°C), they turned out much more tender and juicier. If you’d like to try other doneness, below are the guidelines:
| Temperature | Texture |
| 140°F / 60°C | Very soft, tender and juicy |
| 149°F / 65°C | Tender and juicy |
| 165°F / 74°C | Traditional tender and slightly chewy |
Note: When the chicken is cooked at 149°F with sous vide method, it’s completely safe to eat. The USDA 165°F temp guide is for the traditional cooking methods.
How long does it take to sous vide chicken breast?
The chicken breasts are ready after 1 hour if you cook them at a temperature higher than 149°F (it will take 1.5 hours if the temp is lower than that ).
You can leave them in the sous vide water bath for as long as 4 hours. Although you won’t overcook chicken breasts in a sous vide water bath, they can get mushy if you cook them longer than that.
Do I have to sear the chicken after sous vide cooking?
You may see many recipes ask you to sear the chicken breast after sous vide cooking, but it may be unnecessary. Depending on how you are going to use your chicken, you can skip this step if you plan to shred them, add them to salad, or use them in sandwiches.
Can I use chicken breasts with bones?
Yes. You can also use skin-on chicken breasts if you wish. Follow the same instructions.
What to do with the cooked chicken breasts
Before we talk about what we can do with the cooked chicken breasts, let’s first save the juices in the bag for making soups or adding to other recipes. It’s actually homemade chicken broth!
- You can shred the chicken with two forks, and use them in chicken taco or burritos.
- Simply mix the cooked chicken with other sauces like pesto sauce and teriyaki sauce, and serve with side dishes like mashed potatoes, broccoli, green beans, and fruit salsa.
- Cube the chicken and add to cobb salad, casseroles or pasta.
- Refrigerate the chicken for meal prep, freeze for later.
More Sous Vide Chicken Recipes
- Sous Vide Boneless Chicken Breast
- Honey Garlic Sous Vide Chicken Thighs
- Crispy and Tender Sous Vide Fried Chicken
Sous Vide Chicken Breast
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lb chicken breasts, (boneless skinless, fresh or frozen*) You can also use bone-in, skin-on
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
Recipe Tools
Instructions
- Fill a large container or pot with water. Attach the sous vide precision cooker and set the temperature to 149°F (65°C). If you’d like to try other temperatures, see recipe notes**.
- Season the chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- Place the seasoned chicken breasts to a zip-top bag in a single layer.
- Seal the bag using the “water displacement” technique: seal all but one corner of the bag, and slowly place it in cold water. Make sure everything below the zip-line is covered by water. Then seal the rest of the bag. (Feel free to use a vacuum sealer if you have one).
- Place the bag in the water bath and cook for 1 hour. Make sure the meat is fully submerged while the seams of the bag are above water.
- When the timer goes off, remove the chicken from the bag. You can shred or cube your chicken breasts, and they are ready for meal prep, salads, casseroles, etc. Save the juices in the bag for soup.
Notes
- Store: place the cooked chicken breasts in an airtight container and store in a refrigerator. They’ll last for 4-5 days. You can also store them in resealable freezer bags in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- *If you use frozen chicken breasts, add 30 more minutes of cooking time in the sous vide water bath.
- **If you’d like to try other doneness, follow the guide below:
| Temperature | Texture |
| 140°F / 60°C | Very soft, tender and juicy |
| 149°F / 65°C | Tender and juicy |
| 165°F / 74°C | Traditional tender and slightly chewy |
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate only and will vary based on ingredient brands and cooking methods used.
