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

FAQs

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

Chicken cooked to 165ºF for a long time (while you wait for those potatoes) will start to break down the collagen that holds the muscle fibres together, and results in a stringy, unpleasant texture. That's why the optimal temperature for cooking chicken sous vide is 145ºF for at least 1 hour.

It is unsafe to eat chicken cooked to 145 degrees. Poultry, including chicken, should be cooked to 165 degrees to be safe for consumption. Why is my sous vide chicken breast rubbery? Overcooking sous vide chicken breast is the main reason why it turns out rubbery.

We call for 1½ hours in the sous vide bath, but you can leave the chicken in the bath for as long as 4 hours. Because the water stays at a steady temperature of 150°F, you won't risk overcooking your chicken with additional time.

Drop into the heated bath and set timer for: 1 hour for 1"/2.5cm or less thickness, 2 hours for 2"/5cm thickness.

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.

With sous vide you can cook chicken at a lower temperature and it'll still be just as safe to eat. So instead of 165°F you can cook it at 140°F… in beef terms, that's going from a well-done steak to a medium-rare steak, they are barely the same meal!

It's best to season the chicken before sous vide cooking to allow the flavors to penetrate the meat. Season the chicken with your desired spices and herbs, then vacuum seal it before placing it in the sous vide water bath.

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.

To achieve a crisp and brown exterior on your sous vide chicken without oil splattering, try patting the chicken dry with paper towels before searing. Use a hot pan and a high smoke point oil like grapeseed or vegetable oil. Sear in small batches to avoid overcrowding the pan, allowing each piece to ma...

What temp does chicken get rubbery? ›

Chicken thighs and all chicken dark meat tend to taste better when cooked to a higher temperature(175 F to 180 F) due to their higher amounts of connective tissue. Cooking thigh meat to 165 F will yield chewy, rubbery meat, but at 175 F to 180 F, it will be tender and juicy as the collagen melts and turns to gelatin.

You can cook it from frozen or fresh, doesn't matter! Cooking Sous Vide allows you to control your cooking temp with exact precision – it is seriously so cool.

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.

Chicken breast is typically cooked sous vide anywhere from 140° F to 165° F, depending on your preferred doneness. For a juicy and tender result, 145° F the sweet spot for me as opposed to the higher and lower temperatures.

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.