Juicy Sous Vide Chicken Thighs with Crispy Skin
on Oct 17, 2023, Updated Nov 21, 2023
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Sous Vide Chicken Thighs with crispy skin are super juicy, tender, and full of honey garlic flavors. Sous vide method cooks these chicken thighs to your perfect doneness, and then a quick sear or grill produces the amazing crispy skin on the outside. This recipe works for frozen chicken thighs too with a slightly longer cooking time.
If you like our Teriyaki Chicken Bowls and Sous Vide Chicken Breasts, you will love these savory and sweet sous vide chicken thighs.
Featured on Best Sous Vide Recipes
What is Sous Vide?
Sous vide means “under vacuum” in French. It’s a water bath cooking method by sealing food in a bag, then cooking for a long time to a very precise temperature in a water bath.
Why Sous Vide Chicken Thighs
- It’s low-stress cooking by eliminating short windows of time for perfect doneness and produces even texture edge to edge!
- You can control the temperature precisely, so you’ll never overcook or undercook your chicken – it’s my new favorite way to cook dinner. Totally a game-changer!
- Great to make it ahead of time. Simply sous vide and store in the fridge. Reheat when you are ready to serve.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Chicken Thighs with Skin
- Seasonings: Salt and pepper
- Unsalted Butter and Oil: For searing
- Honey Garlic Sauce: Made of garlic, soy sauce, lemon juice, and honey
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1: Season Chicken Thighs
Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. In the meantime, reheat your sous vide machine to 165°F (74°C).
Step 2: Sous Vide
Place the chicken into a zip-lock bag, and vacuum seal the bag using the water displacement technique (see recipe for detailed instructions). Cook the vacuum-sealed chicken thighs in the sous vide water bath for 1 hour.
Step 3: Finish with a Quick Sear
I like to finish with a quick sear to add some beautiful color to the chicken thighs. You can sear immediately for 1 minute on each side after they come out of the water bath.
But if you’d like to have crispy skin, you’ll need to let them cool down in the ice water bath so they won’t get overcooked in the skillet.
Heat a skillet on the stove over medium heat, add the chicken thighs skin-side down. Sear for 4-5 minutes until the skin is crispy, and then cook the other side for 30 seconds.
Step 4: Make the Sauce
Add all the sauce ingredients in a skillet, cook until it thickens. Serve the chicken over rice or potatoes, and drizzle with the sauce.
Tips For Sous Vide Chicken Thighs
- I recommend using skin-on and bone-in chicken thighs for this dish, as they hold their shapes better than boneless chicken and you’ll get crispy skin on the outside.
- Make sure you arrange your chicken thighs in one single layer in the zip-lock bag. You can use two bags if needed.
- Make sure to wipe off any moisture using paper towels before searing, as the dry surface helps to sear properly and produces crispy skin.
Temperature and Time Chart
My favorite temperature for sous vide chicken thighs is 165°F. At this temperature, the chicken is tender and juicy. Below is the summary of other temperatures and time:
| Temperature | Sous Vide Cooking Time | Texture |
| 140°F / 60°C | 1 ½ – 4 hours | Very soft, tender and juicy |
| 150°F / 66°C | 1 – 4 hours | Soft and juicy |
| 165°F / 74°C | 1 – 4 hours | Traditional tender and juicy |
| 165°F / 74°C | 5 – 8 hours | Fall-off-the-bone tender |
Crispy Skin For Sous Vide Chicken Thighs
From my experience, it’s not difficult to achieve that desirable crispy skin after sous vide cooking. Here are my tips:
- Use fresh high-quality chicken thighs with skin.
- After the sous vide bath, you’ll need to pat them dry COMPLETELY. Any moisture will prevent the skin from getting crispy.
- You’ll need to let the chicken cool down first so that you won’t overcook it in the skillet.
- Heat a skillet with oil until it’s VERY HOT. Then, add the chicken thighs skin-side down and sear for a few minutes until the skin turns golden brown and crispy.
Honey Garlic Sauce
The sauce is savory, sweet, and really quick to make. You can use it on chicken thighs, chicken breasts and even pork or fish! All you need is soy sauce, lemon juice, honey, and garlic.
I also like to add 2-3 tablespoons of the juices from the chicken thighs after they’re cooked in the bag.
What To Serve With Sous Vide Chicken Thighs?
There are lots of ways to serve sous vide chicken thighs. Pick your favorite side dishes such as mashed potatoes, boiled potatoes, rice, cauliflower rice, carrots, broccoli, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, and more. A crisp green salad or caesar salad is an excellent pairing too.
Sous Vide Bone-In vs Boneless Chicken Thighs
Choosing bone-in versus boneless chicken thighs is a matter of personal preference. However, bone-in thighs takes slightly longer to cook and tend to be more tender and flavorful.
How To Sous Vide Frozen Chicken Thighs
Follow the same instructions as cooking fresh chicken thighs, and one more hour of cooking time in the sous vide water bath.
Seasoning Variations
You can easily turn this sous vide chicken thighs to other flavors by changing the sauce. Here are some sauce ideas:
- Lemon Butter
- Garlic Butter
- Taco Seasonings
FAQs
How long should I sous vide chicken thighs at 145F?
Fresh chicken will take one full hour in sous vide at 145°F, while frozen chicken will take 2 to 2 ½ hours at 145°F.
Can you overcook chicken thighs in a sous vide water bath?
You cannot overcook chicken thighs in a sous vide water bath, but the meat can get mushy if you leave the chicken in the water bath for too long.
Sous vide chicken thighs: skin on or skin off
You can sous vide chicken thighs with the skin on or off. They both will come out tender and juicy.
- Skin On: I like to leave the skin on as it adds a lot of flavor. More importantly, the skin will become crispy after searing. If you’re a fan of crispy skin, this is the way to go.
- Skin Off: If you prefer a leaner option, you can use skinless chicken thighs. It will still be tender and juicy without the skin.
More Sous Vide Recipes
Honey Garlic Sous Vide Chicken Thighs with Crispy Skin
Ingredients
- 5-6 chicken thighs
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice, or you can substitute white vinegar or rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup honey
- chopped parsley, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the Sous Vide Water Bath: Fill a large container or pot with water. Attach the sous vide precision cooker and set the temperature to 165°F (74°C).
- Prepare the Chicken: Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper on a plate. Then place them to a zip-lock bag and arrange in a single layer.
- Seal the bag using the “water displacement” technique or a vacuum sealer. (Just seal all but one corner of the bag. Slowly place it in the water bath, and make sure everything below the zip-line is covered by water. Then seal the rest of the bag.)
- Sous Vide Cook Chicken Thighs: Place the bag in the warm water bath and cook for 1 hour. (Make sure the chicken thighs are fully submerged while the seams of the bag are above water. You can add heavy kitchen items to weigh the bag down if necessary.)
- Sear the Chicken: Remove the chicken from the bag and keep the juices. Pat dry the chicken with paper towels. (Make sure the surface is completely dry).
- You can sear the chicken immediately by heating a skillet over medium-high heat, add oil and butter. When butter is completely melted, add the chicken thighs skin side down, cook for about 1 minute until the skin is nicely seared. Flip and cook the other side for 1 minute. (If you prefer to have a crispier skin, you can place the bag to an ice water bath and let the chicken cool for 15 minutes. Sear the skin side for about 5 minutes, and flip and sear the other side for 30 seconds. Remove from the pan.)
- Make Honey Garlic Sauce: In the same pan, add garlic, honey, lemon juice, and soy sauce together with 2-3 spoons of the juices from the bag. Cook until the sauce thickens, about 4-6 minutes. (Taste the sauce, and more honey or soy sauce based on your preference.)
- Add back the chicken in the skillet and drizzle the sauce over the chicken. Serve immediately! Garnish with finely chopped parsley if desired.
Notes
- It’s best to use skin-on and bone-in chicken thighs for this recipe as they hold their shapes better than boneless chicken and you’ll get crispy skin on the outside.
- Make sure to arrange your chicken thighs in one single layer in the zip-lock bag. You can use two bags if needed.
- Make sure to wipe off any moisture using paper towels before searing, as the dry surface helps to sear properly and produces crispy skin.
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate only and will vary based on ingredient brands and cooking methods used.
I found this post because I’m going to make a stir fry, with thighs cooked sous vide. While I’ve cooked thighs sous vide previously, I’ve never finished them this way, so I’ve been searching to get a sense of the temperature and time I should choose. This totally clicks with me — I think you’ve got the right idea!
Thanks for the insight, and while I may not be making your recipe today…man it looks good. I’m making a note to come back to this — and your blog in general.
My son bought a sous vide & we’re looking for recipes where he can prepare the food with sauces & freeze. We didn’t know if you could put frozen food in spud vide. Thanks for your recipes (sounds delicious) & information “from freezer to sous vide”. We would love to try some of your recipes. Please join me to your blog as I am 70 yrs old & don’t know how. Thank you for all the information I have already learn from your wedsite.
Hi Ruby, glad that you like the recipes. Yes, you can cook meat directly from frozen. Izzy
I’m new at this and I’m very confused. Your recipe says cook chicken 1 hour, but the chart shows 1 to 4 hours…..how long do I cook the chicken thighs? I need the exact times to cook everything.
Hi Ann, for sous vide cooking, you can leave the food in the water bath for much longer. So for this recipe, it means you can cook it for 1 to 4 hours without being mushing. Hope this helps.
We loved the final product but the cooking time was not enough. It was my very first Sous Vide experience so I followed the directions to a T! The chicken was not done when I took it out of the water bath. I seared it as directed but seeing that it was quite raw in the middle, I put the lid on the skillet and continued to cook it for 15 more minutes. The sauce was divine and when I served the chicken with the sauce it was a scrumptious dish. I checked other Sous Vide recipes and they all said cook the chicken at 165 for 2 hours. I will cook it longer next time and I will make this again.