Easy Chicken Breast Recipe, Sous vide precision cooker, Ingredients

With the help of a sous vide precision cooker like Anova, these simple sous vide chicken breast recipe is quick and versatile.

This recipe makes the juiciest, most tender chicken breasts you’ve ever had with easy-to-find boneless skinless chicken breasts!

Have you recently purchased sous vide precision cooker? Or are you only now learning about sous vide cooking?

I’ve been dabbling with sous vide recipes for years, first with a beer cooler and meat thermometer hack in my twenties, then moving on to a contraption that connected to a manual slow cooker and took a long time to warm up.

Finally, I have stick-style sous vide precision cooker, and all of my culinary fantasies are realized.

What exactly are sous vide cooking? (Chicken Breast Recipe)

In French, “sous vide” means “under vacuum,” and it refers to precisely cooking meals in vacuum-sealed pouches at precise temperatures for longer periods of time than you would ordinarily prepare them. Here’s how it works and why:

Let’s say you wish to prepare a boneless, skinless chicken breast (Hi. Hello. ), which should be cooked to a temperature of 165°F or less.

To reach that temperature in the center of a chicken breast, you must cook it from the outside, at extremely high heat. This method cooks the perimeter first, then the center, and finally the very center.

It makes it obvious that if you get the center to the appropriate temperature, the sides and middle will be overcooked, right? Because you’re working with a lot of heat.

All of this is avoided when you cook sous vide.

Sous vide precision cookers maintain a precise temperature in a water bath (Like 146.5, as you see here).

You vacuum seal your ingredient to keep it safe from water and oxygen, giving it the perfect opportunity for infusion from spices, herbs, and other flavors.

You submerge the sealed component in the water bath and cook it long enough for the heated water to cook the chicken to the desired temperature throughout.

The center is as fried as the edge, and the edge is as cooked as the center. Nothing more, nothing less.

Finally, because the Maillard reaction (the browning or caramelization process that occurs when an ingredient comes into contact with high heat) has not occurred, we finish sous vide recipes in a skillet with a little fat.

The end result is the most delicate, perfectly cooked chicken breast you’ve ever tasted. Ever. Period. The conclusion. Because I told you so. The finest sous vide chicken breast recipe.

What is the ideal temperature for sous vide chicken breasts?

There are many different temperatures at which to cook chicken breasts sous vide, but I wanted to create a simple go-to recipe for boneless and skinless cutlets that could be used for any purpose.

My boneless skinless chicken breasts are cooked at 146.5°F (63.6°C), which results in a highly soft and juicy chicken that is firm but not dry after being seared in a little butter.

Is it possible to overcook chicken sous vide?

Setting your temperature too high in your sous vide cooker is the only way to overcook chicken! Set your precision cooker to 146.5 degrees Fahrenheit, then finish both sides of the chicken breasts in a hot skillet with a little butter.

How long should chicken be cooked sous vide?

This recipe is all about keeping it simple, quick, and easy! Your boneless skinless chicken breasts should be cooked sous vide for 1 hour.

Some people prefer to cook their chicken breasts for 75 minutes, but I find that 1 hour is plenty for my sous vide chicken breast dish, and it gets those deliciously soft chicken breasts to my plate even faster!

What happens if I don’t have access to a vacuum sealer?

No worries! These sous vide chicken breast recipes can still be made. Because the water displacement approach is so simple and effective, I rarely use my vacuum sealer. This is how it works:

• Place your ingredients in a food storage bag of appropriate sizes, such as a 1 gallon Ziploc bag, and seal halfway across the top.
• With your precision cooker, heat your water.
• Slowly lower the ingredients-filled bag into the water. Because the water pressure has squeezed the air out, the bag will shut up around or cling to the food.
• Seal the rest of the bag once the food is completely soaked. It should sink rather than float.

To create these sous vide chicken breast recipes, follow these steps:

• Fill a pot or other container halfway with water, depending on how high you need the water level for your precision cooker. Preheat the precision cooker to 146.5 degrees Fahrenheit (63.6 degrees Celsius).
• Brush a little olive oil on your boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
• Season generously with salt…
• Sprinkle salt and pepper over the chicken breasts.
• Sprinkle pepper on the chicken breasts.
• Place the chicken breasts in a gallon plastic food storage bag with fresh herbs, smashed garlic, or whatever other seasoning you like, and seal halfway or vacuum seal.
• Ziploc bag or vacuum seal the chicken breasts and herbs.
• Slowly drop the half-sealed food storage bag into the warm water until the bag clings to the entire chicken breast and sinks if you’re using the water displacement method to seal your bag. Close the bag completely.
• Slowly lower the bag into the water bath.
• Take a break for an hour!
• 1 hour at 146.5 degrees Fahrenheit
• Remove the bags from the water bath and carefully remove the chicken breasts if serving shortly. Fresh herbs, garlic, and other aromatics should be discarded. Dry the chicken breasts thoroughly. If not serving right away, chill the bags in an ice bath (fill a medium basin halfway with ice water and submerge the bags for 15-20 minutes), then store in the refrigerator until ready to sear.
• Over medium-high heat, heat a skillet. When the butter is foaming, add the chicken breasts. Cook for 1 minute on each side, or until golden brown. Serve immediately on a serving dish.

Chicken Breast Sous Vide Recipe

 

5 minutes to prepare 1 hour to prepare 1 hour and 5 minutes total

Boneless skinless chicken breasts are used in this adaptable, easy, and quick sous vide chicken breast dish for exceptionally soft, juicy chicken.

Ingredients for Chicken Breast Recipe

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• 2-4 sprigs of fresh herbs like thyme, if desired
• garlic see note 1
• 2 tablespoons butter ghee, or other oil,

Equipment

Vacuum seal bags or one-gallon locking plastic food storage bags for sous vide precision cookers

Instructions for Chicken Breast Recipe

1. 1/3-1/2 full of hot or warm water in a saucepan or other heat-resistant container Preheat the sous vide precision cooker to 146.5 degrees F (63.6 degrees C).
   Brush or apply olive oil on both sides of the chicken breasts evenly. Season generously with salt and freshly cracked black pepper
2. Place the chicken breasts and fresh herbs in a one-gallon Ziploc bag. Seal with a vacuum or a water displacement method (See note 1). Place in a bath of water
3. 1 hour of cooking Remove the bags after 1 hour and discard any herbs or garlic. Remove the chicken breasts from the pan and blot them dry thoroughly with paper towels. Warm-up a medium skillet over medium-high heat.
4. When the butter has foamed, carefully add the chicken breasts. Cook for 1 minute per side, or until golden brown. After cooking the fowl sous vide, there is no need to rest it.

Notes

Note 1: Add 1-2 peeled and smashed garlic cloves to your bag of chicken and fresh herbs for added taste.

Note 2: To seal bags using the water displacement method, follow these steps: Seal a one-gallon Ziploc bag halfway across the top with all ingredients. Lower the bag into the water bath slowly, ensuring that the water pressure drives the air out.

When this happens, the bag will cling to the chicken breasts. Seal the bag once the ingredients are completely submerged (they will almost always sink, not float). Continue with the recipe.

Note 3: I prefer to use butter instead of normal oil since it browns considerably faster. Ghee, avocado oil, or refined coconut oil can all be used; the chicken breasts will simply not brown as well. At such a high temperature, I avoid using olive oil.

Whole30 If you’re doing the Whole30, you’ll need to complete this sou vide chicken breast recipe with ghee or oil instead of butter. Here, ghee is wonderful!

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1chicken breast, Calories: 264kcal, Protein: 24g, Fat: 18g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Cholesterol: 102mg, Sodium: 231mg, Potassium: 418mg, Vitamin A: 385IU, Vitamin C: 1.3mg, Calcium: 6mg, Iron: 0.4mg