Sous Vide Chicken Breast
Published 6/6/2023
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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
Try it!
Thermoworks Thermapen
We swear by using a meat thermometer when cooking any cut of meat. The Thermapen is our go-to meat thermometer that works every time.
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!
Check it out!
Guide to Sous Vide Cooking
Want to learn more about sous vide cooking? Check out our Guide to Sous Vide where we’re sharing everything we know about precision cooking!
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:
- Lemon Rosemary
- Cilantro Lime
- Herb Butter
- Hoy Honey
- Fajita Seasoning
- Italian Chicken
- Teriyaki
- Moroccan Seasoning
Sous Vide Chicken Breast Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 4-oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 4 slices lemon
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/8 teaspoon cracked pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 sprig rosemary
Instructions
- Fill a large stock pot (or larger) with water, attach your sous vide to the pot and set your sous vide to 145ºF. You want to make sure you can fully submerge your chicken breast in the water.
- Then, season chicken breast with salt and pepper and place into a vacuum seal bag. A Ziplock will work fine too!
- Add lemon slices, olive oil, and rosemary to the bag and make sure chicken breast is covered in oil and spices.
- Remove as much air as possible from vacuum seal bag or Ziplock. We do this so that the chicken will sink to the bottom of the pot. Then fully submerge in water.
- Cook chicken breast at 145ºF for 1.5 – 2 hours.
- Once the timer goes off, remove the bag from the water bath and the remove chicken breast from the vacuum bag.
- Eat chicken breast as-is or sear it for a crispy bite. To sear, heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium-sized pan. When olive oil is fragrant, place chicken breast into the pan. Sear for 1-2 minutes on each side. Enjoy!
Watch It
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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You are going to get someone hurt. The safe cook temp for chicken is now and has always been 165F. You may eat it at 150F ONLY after it has first reached 165F internal temp.
Someone doesn’t understand how pasteurization works…
Thanks for such an informative article and an excellent selection of sous vide recipes, Linley! They all look great to me and I plan to try them all in the near future. And I especially liked the recipe for Sous Vide Tikka Masala by Food for Net. Perhaps I’ll prepare this for the next weekend.
I love all of the information about sou vide cooking, but all poultry needs to be cooked to 165. Check out FoodSafety.gov or ServeSafe for correct cooking temps.
Here’s a web page that explains why it’s safe to cook sous vide at lower temps than 165 for poultry.
https://www.amazingfoodmadeeasy.com/info/sous-vide-safety/more/sous-vide-safety-salmonella-and-bacteria
Here’s a link to a really helpful guideline, provided by the USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service, regarding both beef and poultry safe cooking times. Keep in mind that this isn’t the total cookk time, but the amount of time that the coldest spot should dwell at that temperature. https://www.canr.msu.edu/smprv/uploads/files/RTE_Poultry_Tables1.pdf
This is by far one of the best recipes I’ve tried. Very easy, very tasty and my family loved it. I’m about to use it again today in fact! All 5 thumbs up on this one!
I make my soft boiled eggs just like you except I leave my water boiling and do 6-7 minutes. They always turn out perfectly. I think it’s easier than poaching, but I will poach my eggs for eggs benedict. 🙂
This was my first ever sous vide recipe and it turned out amazing!
What about bone in chicken breasts? What adjustments need to be made
Can’t print the recipe. “Print recipe” link goes to comment page. Not thrilled
Hi CJ! It’s working for us. Here’s the link: https://fitfoodiefinds.com/18-sous-vide-chicken-breast-recipes/print/68145/
Thanks so much for including my Sous Vide Chicken Caesar recipe in your little roundup.
Reminds me I want to make some more sous vide chicken. 🙂
This recipe seems nice to me. I want to make it for about 8 people, so are there any tips and techniques for the increased quantity? Like will there be an increased temperature or timings? Secondly, if I want to use frozen chicken breasts, should they be thawed first or can be cooked right away?
You do not need to increase time or temperature. Just start counting down once the temp reaches 145ºF. I’m sure it would work using frozen chicken breasts, but I have not tried!
@Corrie. I frequently sous vide frozen chicken breasts. Chef Steps recommendation for sous vide frozen breasts is to add 1/2 the time back to original time. For example if you sous vide fresh breast for 1 1/2 hours for frozen you would add 45 minutes arriving at a minimum time of 2 hours and 15 minutes. Hope that helps!