Sous Vide Chicken Breast
There’s nothing really complicated with this one, but it was my first SV chicken cook with the Anova Nano. Won’t be my last!
The humble boneless, skinless chicken breast is really a flexible chunk of protein. You can add it to salads and people don’t think it’s weird – like they would with say, tuna. Mmmm … sign me up for that yummy “Tuna Caesar Salad!” No. Heck, shred it up and add some mayo and you have … chicken salad. Well, hopefully you’d do more to it than that, but you get my drift.
It’s one of pasta’s best friends. You can skewer cubes of it for kabobs. Slice it for sandwiches. Make it bland. Spice it up. Stir fries. Fried rice. Cover it in cheese. STUFF IT with cheese! Go Mediterranean on it. Asian. Mexican. I don’t think there’s a culture anywhere that doesn’t use chicken! I mean you could go full Forrest Gump Bubba on all the ways you can cook these things.
But this … this is pretty simple. Season, sous vide, sear, enjoy.
And with SV, you don’t have to worry about the outside being cooked to death while it’s raw in the middle. I think that’s my favourite thing about sous vide cooking. It could also be how incredibly juicy the meat stays. There is that!
Links to Equipment**
Sous Vide Sticks
Vacuum Sealers
Cast Iron Pans
Sous Vide Chicken Breast
Simple and delicious. Perfect to add to Caesar salads, with a side of veggies, shredded, sliced, or anything you'd normally do with a fully cooked boneless, skinless chicken breast.
Equipment
- Vacuum sealer + bags (or Ziploc freezer bags with the water displacement method)
- Anova Nano Precision Cooker (or similar sous vide appliance)
- Sous vide container
- Frying pan
Ingredients
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- kosher salt
- ground black pepper
- granulated garlic
- Herbs de Provence
- Avocado oil
Instructions
- Get your sous vide container and Anova set up, filled with hot tap water, and heating to 150°.
- Prepare a vacuum bag large enough for your chicken breasts. I use rolls, so that means cut to length and seal one side here. If you're using pre-cut bags, you just saved 25 seconds. If using Ziplocs, pull it open.
- Roll the opening of the bag back to prevent anything getting on it and causing a poor seal.
- Put your chicken breasts in the bag.
- Season with salt, pepper, and garlic, to taste. I just sprinkle a bunch in there and roll it around to coat, basically.
- Add in a sprinkle of Herbs de Provence. You could substitute any other herbs you like on your chicken here too. Sage is nice. Thyme, oregano, etc. I like Herbs de Provence.
- Seal it up! I try to keep the breasts separated in the bag when it's sealing, but technically, you don't have to. They'll still cook fine if they're touching.
- Put your chicken in the hot tub! Some people wait until the water is fully up to temperature, others don't. I don't.
- Cook for 1.5 hours at 150°.
- Get a frying pan heating up on the stove. High heat.
- Remove your chicken from the bag and pat dry with paper towel.
- Add avocado oil to the frying pan, which should be pretty rippin' hot by now.
- Grab a set of tongs and put your chicken in the frying pan.
- Give them 45 seconds or so before flipping. It shouldn't take very long to brown and crisp the outside if your pan is hot enough. Remember, we're not trying to cook the chicken here – just make it brown and tasty.
- Once you have your chicken browned up the way you want it, turn off the stove and put your chicken on a plate/cutting board.
- Slice it up! It's ready to eat. Or if you're prepping for the week ahead, store it away in whatever container you have planned for it. But be sure to nibble at least a piece or two while it's hot to … "ensure quality." 😉
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