Sous Vide Chicken Breast Recipe in Creamy Spinach Ricotta Sauce (2024)

FAQs

What is the best temperature for sous vide chicken breast? ›

That's why the optimal temperature for cooking chicken sous vide is 145ºF for at least 1 hour. Now before you start thinking “that can't be safe!” let's talk about why this is actually perfectly safe. Killing bacteria is a function of heat and time.

Another thing to note is that cooked meat doesn't absorb marinades, and the outside of meats cook in roughly 5 to 10 minutes sous vide, so you always want to marinate first before sous vide cooking — even if you leave the marinade in the bag.

Normally, proteins with large portions of fat need high heat for the fat to start rendering and consequently become tender. When you pop a raw piece of meat that has a lot of fat in a sous vide machine, the low temperature of the water will cause the meat to stay unrendered and become rubbery.

Sous Vide Chicken Details

My preferred sous vide chicken temperature is 140°F (60.0°C) for white meat and 148°F (64°C) for dark meat like sous vide chicken thighs. Some people prefer their white meat as low as 135°F (57°C) or as high as 150°F (65.6°C).

Early sous vide proponents (including myself) claimed that you could absolutely not overcook your meat this way. Turns out this is not true. It's still possible to overcook meat using a sous vide cooker, but it's much, much more difficult.

Why It Works. Cooking chicken sous vide allows for unparalleled control over cooking temperature and, therefore, level of juiciness.

The short answer is that it's very tough to predict exactly how spices are going to react in a sous-vide bag. I've found that if I want spice flavor, it's better to rub the spices into the meat after the sous-vide cooking phase and before the final searing phase.

Tip: When using a wet sauce, I find it works best to use the water displacement method for sealing your bags. My favorite method for seasoning a Sous Vide Chicken Breast is a simple one. I like to sprinkle it with salt and pepper, add a couple sprigs of fresh herbs (thyme, rosemary, parsley) and a few lemon slices.

For most sous vided food searing does matter. It's also best to sear after sous viding to maximize the flavor.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add the chicken, skin side down, and sear until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Slice chicken off the bone and serve with a lightly dressed arugula salad.

What happens if you leave chicken in sous vide too long? ›

While many will tell you that it's impossible to overcook with sous vide (and this isn't far from the truth), do bear in mind though that if you leave the food in the water bath for an extended period of time it won't 'overcook', but it could start to take on a mushy texture, so don't forget about it!

Ziplock and Glad brand bags are made from polyethylene plastic, and are free of BPAs and dioxins. A good rule of thumb is that when a bag is rated as microwave safe (which requires FDA approval) you can use it for sous vide. Even Dr. Schaffner agrees.

But for something like sous vide chicken breasts safety, once it is heated to a specific temperature it will become pasteurized and safe to eat when held at: 136°F (57.7°C) for 70 minutes. 140°F (60.0°C) for 30 minutes. 145°F (62.8°C) for 12 minutes.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) instructs us to cook meat to a safe internal temperature: namely, 165 degrees for poultry and 145 for beef and pork.

Again, you want to aim for 165 degrees F, but remember that once you remove the chicken from the heat, it will continue to cook. To have the juiciest breast, pull the dish outaround 160-162 degrees and the chicken will continue to cook an extra few degrees once removed from the heat.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) instructs us to cook meat to a safe internal temperature: namely, 165 degrees for poultry and 145 for beef and pork.

Food cooked at low temperatures for extended periods of time can cause bacteria to multiply rapidly. The longer food is in the “danger zone” — temperatures between 40°F and 140°F (4.4°C to 60°C) — the faster bacteria can multiply and the more dangerous they can become.

What Temperature to Cook Chicken To? The FDA Food Code recommends cooking chicken to 165°F (74°C). But the pasteurization of chicken is actually a function of both temperature and time. If you can hold your chicken at 145°F (63°C) for 8.5 minutes, you can achieve the same bacterial reduction as at 165°F (74°C).