31 Best Sous Vide Recipes (with beginner tips)

Here’s what you get with a Sous Vide cooking method: juicy, tender, perfect texture, full control over the temperature and cook on your food and stress-free cooking. In other words – A LOT. 

Below are our best sous vide recipes for beginners or anyone who loves or is growing to love sous vide cooking. Plus lots of basic tips for best results. We also included quick reference times and temps on each recipe for your convenience.

We’ve been experimenting for many years now with our sous vide equipment and we are hooked. 

There are a few downsides such as longer cooking times, but the guarantee of tenderness and the correct done-ness are a cook’s dream.

What is sous vide?

For those who are unfamiliar with this cooking method, here’s a good definition from  Cedarlane Culinary. We have no affiliation.

Sous vide is a culinary technique in which vacuum-sealed food is immersed in a water bath and cooked at a very precise, consistent temperature. The precise temperature control allows you to cook food to perfection, while the forgiving nature of this cooking method also eliminates concerns about overcooking. 

Tips about Sous Vide Cooking

The tips below come from Chef Helen Rennie, Chef Kenji López-Alt, Doug Baldwin, several sous vide cookbooks and lots of research and trial and error.

Note to beginners: You will find clear step by step instructions for all our recipes. So don’t procrastinate – dive in! Sous vide cooking requires some experimentation to find your ideal time and temperature combination. Once you’ve tried it a couple of times, you will nail your favorite foods.

Preparation Tips

Sous vide is extremely easy to prep. Just season the meat, seal it in a bag, heat the water bath and drop in the food.

Seasoning tips

It’s best to experiment with seasonings. I found that you have to season meat both before and after the sous vide cook unless you are using a bold sauce in the final stage of the dish.

Certain seasonings are not appropriate while cooking such as raw garlic and acidic condiments. Salt, pepper, garlic powder and fresh herbs are fine. You will find different opinions on seasonings though.

Tips for set up

• Start with hot water from the tap in your tub or pot to speed up the water bath coming to the correct temperature.
• Bagging:
  • Use ziploc freezer bags (or other quality brands) instead of sealing with a vacuum sealer. It’s quicker, requires no special equipment and allows you to include some marinade in the bag (the more expensive vacuum sealers enable this too)
  • When adding food to the bag, fold over the top of the bag first to create a wider opening and avoid food interfering with the seal of the bag.
  • I put more than one steak, chicken pieces, fish fillets, chops or turkey breasts in the same bag if they fit.
• There is a debate on whether to sear meat after cooking or before. Most chefs believe after is better (so do I).
• In my experience, starting with good quality meat makes a difference.

Temperature and Timing Tips

In general

1. Timing depends on thickness (not weight) and the cut of meat (lower end cuts like chuck, short ribs and sirloin take longer than ribeye for example)
2. Temperature depends on how well done you like your protein (medium rare will need a lower temperature than well done)

Set the temperature according to a cooking chart guideline to achieve the EXACT temperature and texture you choose for the thickness and type of food you are cooking.

You will have to experiment to achieve the texture, juiciness level and cook you like best. We’ve gathered a few good charts for your convenience:

• Anova  – chart/tips
• ChefSteps – time and temperature guide
• SousVide Tools – a sous vide app for cooking time calculator

Here are a few rules of thumb for timing:

• If meat or chicken is less than 1.5 inches/3.8 cm thick, about 1-2 hours cooking is fine.
• Fish and shrimp will take 20-30 minutes, but don’t leave it in for more than 15 minutes extra.
• You often get a window of 1-3 hours for many recipes where the meat will still be the exact medium rare, for example, without overcooking.
• Food can be overcooked. It will be more tender, but less juicy. At a certain point, the texture will break down and become mushy.
• Most meats can be cooked from frozen, often with an extra 45-60 minutes of cook time.

Finishing Tips

The sous vide method requires an extra step of making the meat look pretty and browning the surface – and I grumbled about this initially – but it only takes a few more minutes, so no big deal.

• Use high heat for the oven, grill or a pan sear. I grill whenever possible – less smell and no clean up.
• Given the window you have for timing, recipes can be made ahead then finished or browned in a few minutes before serving.

You should only sear the protein for a maximum of 1 minute per side if you want to maintain the temperature you like. In some cases, it’s hard to achieve a nice brown crust with this timing.

• To extend the amount of time to about 2 minutes per side, you can cool the protein first. One way is to cool the meat in the fridge in or out of the bag for 10 minutes. Out of the bag will create a dryer surface for searing which is good.
• Or, even quicker, drop the bag into an ice bath for a few minutes. In all cases, make sure to pat the meat dry with paper towels before searing with a bit of oil.

Safety Caution: if you are cooking anything at less than 130F/54.4C, don’t use a cooling method. Eat it right away.

Make Ahead Tips

• According to Chef Helen Remmie, here’s how to make chops, steak and chicken breasts that are maximum 1.5 inches thick ahead of time:
  • Cook sous vide for 1-2 hours.
  • Place bag in fridge for up to 2-3 days once cooled down at room temperature or in an ice bath for 10-15 minutes.
  • To rewarm, place in sous vide in a bag for 30 minutes at 10 degrees less than cooking temperature. Chicken can be reheated directly in a skillet.

Beef, Lamb and Veal Recipes 

Sous Vide Lamb Chops

Temp: 131F (55C) for medium rare. 138-140F (59-60C) for medium. 145-148F (63-64C ) for medium well.

Time: Cook for 2-3 hours

Sous Vide Corned Beef Recipe

Temp: 155F/68.3 (see other options in post)

Time: Cook for 24-36 hours

Chicken and Turkey Recipes