Even better for those short on time? You can prep the chicken well in advance (you can even freeze it!) and then just toss the chicken in the water and cook sous vide a few hours before dinner. Once the chicken is cooked, it’ll be tender, juicy, and seasoned evenly – the long cooking time helps infuse every piece of chicken with flavor. The sauce, flavored with honey, soy, and chili sauce, comes together quickly in a skillet. Just add the cooked chicken and toss the two together. Dinner is done and everyone will wonder how you got the chicken so tender!
A Note About Chicken Cooked Sous Vide
If you were to Google safe chicken temperatures, you’ll find that the FDA recommends cooking chicken to 165°F. Just know that food safety is both a function of both temperature and time. You can safely cook chicken at lower temperatures as long as you cook long enough to kill bacteria, which is exactly what we’re doing with sous vide cooking. After much testing, I think 158°F. is the ideal cooking temperature for sous vide chicken, which leaves you with super juicy chicken that still has the texture you’d expect from cooked chicken.
New to Sous Vide? Start Here
I think sous vide is something that all home cooks should learn to do because it takes a lot of the stress—and guesswork—out of cooking. You can prep your food in advance in the bags and then cook it when you have time. If you’re new to sous vide, take a quick read through these intro posts:
Everything You’ve Been Wondering About Sous Vide Cooking at Home How to Use Your New Sous Vide Immersion Circulator How to Seal Foods Without Using a Vacuum Sealer Sous Vide and Food Safety: What to Know
Try These Other Sous Vide Recipes!
Sous Vide Chicken and Broccoli Sous Vide Teriyaki Salmon How to Cook Pork Chops Sous Vide
You can do this in the pot of water as it heats. (Just be careful if the water is already steaming!) Set the chicken aside on a kitchen towel until the water has finished heating. Seal it when it is submerged so most of the air is out of the bag. Cook the chicken for 2 hours. When cooking time ends, remove the chicken from the water and turn off the circulator. Scoop out the chicken from the zip-top bag, discard the garlic and ginger, and add the chicken to the pan with the sauce. (The leftover cooking liquid can be saved and used in another recipe, if you like!) Turn heat down to low, and toss to coat and combine. The sauce should get very thick and stick to the chicken.
