Name: Sous Vide Crispy-Skinned Bone-In Chicken Breasts
Total time: 3 h 30 min
Ingredients: 4 12-ounce bone-in split chicken breasts , trimmed; Salt and pepper; 6 tablespoons vegetable oil

Why This Recipe Works

Cooking a perfect skin-on chicken breast is a tall order. You want your chicken to have a juicy, firm interior and a crackling crisp skin. To get perfectly crisp skin you need to sear the breast after cooking—a hot act that often results in overcooking the lean and delicate meat just beneath. The solution? Cook it sous vide to maintain the ideal temperature and let the chicken rest for 5 to 10 minutes before searing to retain juiciness. To get a really good sear? We aggressively patted the exterior of the chicken dry with paper towels.

Before You Begin

For more about sous vide cooking, refer to our sous vide guide.

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 ¼ cup 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 1½ hours or up to 3 hours.

Transfer chicken to paper towel–lined plate and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Pat chicken thoroughly dry with paper towels. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Place chicken skin side down in skillet and cook until skin is well-browned and crisp, 4 to 6 minutes. Serve.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/65.5°C for 20 minutes and then proceed with step 3.