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Salad week was coming. Every few weeks we switch to making salads for a while. My worst fear is that the chicken will not impress. That it’ll be chewy and as dry as the desert. That’s why our favorite protein for salad is sous vide grilled chicken breast. Well, no tough, dry chicken here. This chicken comes out crazy juicy, super tender and big-time packed with flavor. Perfect for salads, thanks to a slow cooking process using an immersion circulator. It’s also got a lightly smoky flavor with a great light char. That’s thanks to a few minutes on a hot grill.
Before I started sous viding my chicken breasts I often found myself deep-frying them. Usually in strips or nuggets. Heavily breaded. Crunchy, but not the healthiest thing in the world to put on top of a salad. Well, problem solved, that’s for sure!
The Best Chicken For Salads
I used fresh thyme sprigs when I made this sous vide grilled chicken breast. The thyme flavor isn’t overpowering (I used 2 sprigs per breast). If you want a pronounced herb flavor, add more. You can also use any other fresh herb that you like. You can also leave it out and still have wonderfully tasty chicken. Just don’t be shy with the salt and pepper. This is the time to add flavor, before it’s cooked.
I don’t like adding dry spices to my chicken as it goes into the bag. It’s just a personal thing. You can if you want. I just don’t like the little chunks everywhere. Sure, I can wipe them off but that can be a bit of a hassle. I think I’m probably being too picky as I sit here and read what I just wrong.
I use an Anova sous vide cooker. It’s my immersion circulator workhorse!
- Pros have been doing it for years, and now you can…
You can use this same recipe for cooking bone-in chicken breasts instead.
Also try my sous vide turkey breast roast.
Sous Vide Grilled Chicken Breast
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts boneless, skinless, trimmed of excess fat
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme more or less, to taste.
- non-stick spray olive oil or vegetable oil-based, or use duck fat spray for even more flavor
Instructions
- Fill a container with water. Add your immersion circulator and get the temperature to 146.5 F.
- Brush the chicken breasts with the oil.
- Season well with salt and pepper. Get the seasoning on all sides and don't be shy with it.
- Transfer the chicken to a sealable vacuum bag. Add the sprigs of thyme on top.
- Seal the bag using a vacuum sealer.
- Transfer the bag to the heated water and cook for 1 hour.
- Remove the bag from the water.
- Remove the chicken. Discard the thyme and pat the chicken dry with a paper towel.
- Fire up your grill for direct cooking over high heat. We're not looking to cook the chicken (it's already fully cooked). We just want to get some grill marks on it and add some texture.
- Lightly spray the chicken with non-stick spray (you could also use more olive oil if desired) and transfer to the grill. Grill for just a minute or two and rotate 90 degrees and cook another minute or two.
- Flip and repeat on the other sides to get grill marks.
- Remove and let rest 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
- Pros have been doing it for years, and now you can…