Recipe

1 hr 30 min

Sous Vide Poached Chicken

Name: Sous Vide Poached Chicken
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Ingredients: 4 (8-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed; Salt and pepper; ¼ cup vegetable oil

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52 Comments

Recipe By America's Test Kitchen

Published on September 3, 2024

There are a lot of variables when poaching chicken. Thankfully, cooking sous vide eliminates most of them.

Time

1 hr 30 min

Yield

Serves 4

Why This Recipe Works

Poached chicken gets a bad rap for being tough, dry, and a little squeaky between your teeth. But that's probably because poaching is a relatively imprecise cooking method: If your poaching water's too hot, the meat overcooks; if you leave the meat in the water too long, it overcooks; if you use too little water, the meat—you guessed it—undercooks. For foolproof poached chicken, we cook chicken breasts at a moderate temperature for about an hour, which results in a juicy, tender texture that's just firm enough that it doesn't fall apart. While this recipe is finished in an hour, you can hold the chicken in the bath for up to 3 hours before the texture starts to change—giving you some flexibility. This perfectly poached chicken is great on its own, sliced over salad, or used in a chicken salad. In addition, this method is a great starting point for experimentation and variation, so feel free to add spices, herbs, or boldly flavored marinades to the bag (just don't add fresh garlic; it is particularly susceptible to botulism).

Ingredients

4 (8-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed

Salt and pepper

¼ cup vegetable oil

Equipment

Sous Vide Machine (Immersion Circulator)

Instructions

Cook along with these step-by-step instructions

Using sous vide circulator, bring water to 150°F/65.5°C in 7-quart container.

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Place chicken and oil in 1-gallon zipper-lock freezer bag and toss to coat. Seal bag, pressing out as much air as possible. Gently lower bag into prepared water bath until chicken is fully submerged, and then clip top corner of bag to side of water bath container, allowing remaining air bubbles to rise to top of bag. Reopen 1 corner of zipper, release remaining air bubbles, and reseal bag. Cover and cook for at least 1 hour or up to 3 hours.

Transfer chicken to paper towel–lined plate and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Serve.

Recipe Tip

TO MAKE AHEAD: Chicken can be rapidly chilled in ice bath and then refrigerated in zipper-lock bag after step 2 for up to 5 days. To reheat, return sealed bag to water bath set to 150°F/65 1/2°C for 20 minutes and then proceed with the next step.

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Recipe FAQs

Do I have to season the chicken before I put it in the bag or can I wait until it's cooked?

Answered by Sarah

Instructor, ATK Classes

While this method is extremely simple, it is not as simple as tossing chicken in a bag and submerging it in water. You will still need to season the chicken for sous vide with salt and pepper just as you would if you were sautéing or roasting the chicken. Keep in mind that the mild flavor of chicken breasts lend themselves to lots of other flavors. Once you try these variations, you’ll be amazed how easy it is to make your own!

Can I skip the oil in the bag to make this recipe leaner?

Answered by Carolynn

Instructor, ATK Classes

Adding oil to the bag with the raw meat is an important step in achieving perfectly cooked poached chicken breasts. If using a zipper-lock bag and displacement method (where you remove the air from the bag so the meat can stay submerged in the water), the oil coats the meat and fills in the gaps, making it easier to remove the air. If using a vacuum sealer, the added oil can prevent the bag from squishing the sides of the meat and/or leaving marks on the meat, two common cosmetic problems.

Can I use this method to cook dark meat chicken too?

Answered by Christie

Editorial Director, Classes

This recipe is specific to chicken breasts and should not be used to cook chicken thighs, which need to be cooked to a higher temperature for food safety concerns. Chicken thighs cooked sous vide go into water bath at 165 degrees F (vs. 150 degrees F for breasts) as the dark meat contains more collagen and fat than the lean breasts. Follow this recipe for lean chicken breasts to get the best flavor and texture.

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