Sous Vide Frozen Salmon is absolutely the BEST way to cook frozen salmon fillets! It’s easy, convenient, and tastes as delicious as properly thawed and cooked salmon. Sous vide is your secret weapon! The salmon comes out perfect every time, and I never take the time to thaw frozen salmon again after I discovered this method.
Cooking Frozen Salmon Sous Vide Without Defrosting
If you’re wondering whether you can cook frozen salmon directly, you’re in luck. With this easy sous vide recipe, you’ll never need to take out your salmon ahead of time, waiting for it to thaw before cooking. It’s completely a game changer!
I’m convinced that this is the ONLY way to cook frozen salmon, and it’s also healthy and versatile. Sometimes you can get great deals when buying them frozen in stores like Costco, so every sous vide lover needs to have this frozen salmon recipe in their back pocket. Got fresh ones? Try our Sous Vide Salmon Recipe.
Benefits Of Sous Vide Frozen Salmon
Sous vide cooking is a French 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.
Sous vide frozen salmon is unbelievably moist, soft with a nice flaky texture, just like sous vide fresh salmon. You’ll be surprised at how well your salmon turns out!
I’m totally obsessed with this method, as it guarantees the result, producing the perfect salmon with restaurant quality. If you’re looking for more sous vide frozen food recipes, try Sous Vide Frozen Chicken Breast and Sous Vide Frozen Steak.
How To Sous Vide Frozen Salmon
1. Sous vide cook the salmon: Preheat your sous vide machine to 130°F (54°C). Then season the frozen salmon with salt and pepper. Place it into a zip-lock bag, and vacuum seal the bag using the water displacement technique (see the recipe for detailed instruction). Cook the vacuum-sealed salmon in the sous vide water bath for 70 minutes (for 1.5-inch thick salmon fillets).
2. Make honey garlic sauce: Add all the sauce ingredients in a skillet, cook until it thickens.
3. Sear the salmon: I like to finish with a quick sear to add a beautiful color and extra flavor. When the timer goes off, take the salmon out of the bag, and dry the surface with paper towels. Place the skillet on medium-high heat and add olive oil. Once hot, add the salmon skin-side facing down and sear about 1 minute. Flip the salmon and sear the other side for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat.
4. Serve the salmon: add honey garlic sauce to the skillet and coat the salmon with the sauce evenly. Serve with your favorite vegetables and enjoy!
Pro Tips For Cooking Frozen Salmon Sous Vide
- Prepare the salmon before freezing: I recommend vacuum sealing the salmon before frozen. Season it with salt and pepper, vacuum seal, and then store it in the freezer. This allows you to drop the bag into the sous vide water bath directly without any preparation later! So you’ll freeze and cook the salmon in the same bag. (It also helps to avoid the freezer burn.)
- Make sure your fillets are arranged in one single layer in the bag. It’s very important to place them in a single layer, otherwise, they won’t cook properly. Use multiple bags if necessary.
- Seal the bag without a vacuum sealer. If you don’t have a vacuum-sealer, you can seal the bag using the water displacement technique: just seal all but one corner of the bag, and then slowly place it into the water bath. Make sure everything below the zip-line is covered by water, then seal the rest of the bag.
- To add more flavor to your salmon, you can quickly sear it to finish, and toss it with some delicious sauce like teriyaki sauce, honey mustard, or honey garlic sauce.
Do I Need To Marinade Or Brine The Salmon Before Cooking?
Not really. The sous vide method produces perfectly tender and moist fish without the need to marinate beforehand. You can add the sauce after searing to jazz up the flavor.
What Temperature To Sous Vide Salmon?
I recommend cooking it at 130°F (54°C), which produces a tender and moist texture that’s close to the traditional cooking methods. If you’d like to try another doneness, below are the guidelines:
| Sous Vide Salmon Temperature | Texture |
| 105°F (41°C) | Close to sashimi |
| 110°F (43°C) | Very soft, still tastes raw |
| 115°F (46°C) | Soft and starting to flake |
| 120°F (49°C) | Very tender, moist, and slightly flaky |
| 130°F (54°C) | Moist, tender, firm and flaky |
How Long To Sous Vide Salmon From Frozen?
The cooking time depends on the thickness of your salmon. It takes about 45 minutes to cook a 1-inch frozen salmon, 70 minutes for 1.5-inch, and 90 minutes for a 2-inch thick frozen salmon.
Pro Tips: It’s ok for you to leave it in the sous vide water bath for an extra 20-30 minutes, but they can get mushy if you cook it for too long.
Sides To Pair With Sous Vide Frozen Salmon
How To Store Cooked Salmon
Let the cooked salmon return to room temperature and then place it in an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 2 days. While there will be some loss of flavor and texture on reheating, cold leftover salmon is great for salmon sandwiches and as an addition to salads.
How Long Does Salmon Last In The Freezer?
Salmon will last up to 3 months in the freezer with proper preparation. Pat dry to remove excess moisture and wrap in parchment or wax paper. Then vacuum seal or place into a resealable plastic bag before freezing.
More Sous Vide Seafood Recipes
FAQs
How to Sous Vide Fresh Salmon
Sous vide fresh salmon at 120°F for about 45 minutes. Reduce the time to 30 minutes for thin fillets of an inch or less, and increase to 60 minutes for large pieces over 2 inches thick. When done, sear in a hot skillet for one minute per side to finish before serving.
How to Prevent the Bag from Floating
The best solution to avoid flotation is to use sous vide weights, which you can buy quite easily. Otherwise, you can try placing a meat tenderizer hammer or something similar on top of the bag.
How to Seal the Bag without a Vacuum Sealer: Water Placement Method
For the water displacement method, all you need is a zip-top bag and a pot of water. Start by adding cold water to a large pot or container. Season or marinate the salmon as directed in the recipe.
Next, place in a zip-top bag in a single layer, squeezing out as much air as possible. Seal the bag in all but one corner. Start immersing the bag into the water, making sure everything below the zip-line is covered by water. FInally, seal the last bit of the bag and your food is now vacuum sealed for sous vide.
I hope you like this recipe. If you tried it, please comment below and let me know how your Sous Vide Frozen Salmon turns out!
Sous Vide Frozen Salmon Recipe
Ingredients
- 3-4 frozen salmon fillets
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar (or rice vinegar)
- 1/4 cup honey
- Optional chopped green onions and sesame seeds
Instructions
Sous Vide Cook Frozen Salmon
- Fill a large container or pot with water. Attach the sous vide precision cooker and set the temperature to 130°F (54°C). If you’d like to try other temperatures, see the temperature guide in the post.
- Season the frozen salmon with salt and pepper.
- Place seasoned salmon 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. (You can use a vacuum sealer if you have one).
- Keep the bag in the water bath and cook for 70 minutes for 1.5-inch fillets. (Make sure the fish is fully submerged while the seams of the bag are above water.)
Make Honey Garlic Sauce
- Add minced garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, and honey into a skillet, and cook until it thickens.
Sear the Salmon
- When the timer goes off, take the salmon out of the bag, and dry the surface with paper towels.
- Place the skillet on medium-high heat and add olive oil. Once hot, add the salmon skin-side facing down and sear about 1 minute. Flip the salmon and sear the other side for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat.
- Add honey garlic sauce to the skillet and coat the salmon with the sauce evenly. Serve with your favorite vegetables and enjoy!
Notes
- How to Store Cooked Salmon: refrigerate in an airtight container and they can last for about 3 days.
Nutrition
Lisalia says
Yummy! I love love love salmon and I’m new to sous vide cooking. Thanks for this recipe that turned out perfectly! WE’ll definitely ahve it for dinner again. It was so easy to make.
Suzana says
Absolutely delicious! I’ll never cook Salmon any other way, and the sauce is divine!!
David L Workman says
1 inch thick frozen Salmon. I cooked for 45 minutes then seared off in pan as instructed. It was perfect.
Jacquelin says
Great texture on the salmon! It was flavorful and very easy
Izzy says
Hi Jacquelin, glad you like the recipe. Thanks for letting me know.