This sous vide chichken is absolutely to die for. The chicken is so unbelievably tender. Bathed in the silkiness of the coconut milk, it’s heavenly. The peanut butter gives it sweet depth. The veggies give it just enough bite to balance all that lusciousness, and the chile heat is just icing on the cake.
Ingredients for 4 servings
For the chicken:
2 bone-in chicken breasts
Salt and freshly-ground pepper
For the veggies and sauce:
6 celery stalks
3 large carrots
1 Tbs olive oil
1 can of coconut milk
¾ cup chunky peanut butter (see notes)
6 Tbs Sambal Oelek
1 Tbs minced ginger
2 Tbs soy sauce
Cilantro for garnish, chopped
Rice, for serving (optional)
Green beans, for serving (optional)
How to
Sous vide the chicken:
These are bare bones directions … mostly notes on the process. You should look the process up in a couple reputable sources before evaluating my notes.
- Peel the skin off the chicken and discard it. Sprinkle plenty of salt – almost as much as you’d use on a steak, and a moderate amount of pepper over each breast. Wash your hands.
- Prep the water bath and set the sous vide to 150°F. Meanwhile, prep the bags.
- Prep 2 nine-inch vacuum-seal bags. Fold the top of each bag over itself by at least an inch – the same way you would if you were rolling up your sleeves. Set the bags aside.
- Using your non-dominant hand to hold the bag, slip each chicken breast half into its own bag. You can use tongs to do this, or you can wash your hands once again when you’re done.
- Unfold the lips of the bags and seal each of them, using the “normal,” “moist” setting. Place them in the water bath. Let them cook for an hour. Meanwhile, skip ahead and prep the veggies and sauce.
- Remove the chicken from the bone and slice it. Toss it with the finished (reheated, if necessary) sauce. Garnish servings with cilantro. (Serve with a side of rice and green beans.)
Make the veggies and sauce:
- (Maybe peel the veggies, if you prefer.) Slice into man-size, bite-sized pieces. Heat oil over a medium flame, and sauté the vegetables with a bit of salt and pepper, stirring occasionally, until browned and just shy of al dente, 12½ – 15 minutes. Meanwhile, work on the sauce.
- To make the sauce, hand-whisk milk, PB, and Sambal. Stir in ginger and soy.
- Add the sauce to the veggies and simmer on lowest heat until the veggies are perfect, 2½ – 5 min.
Notes
On chicken:
Technically, this recipe calls for two chicken breast halves. You have two breasts. (Yes, even if you’re Harrison Ford – technically, you have breasts.) Birds have one breast. We commonly split the chicken’s breast along its breast bone, and call each half of it “a chicken breast.” When you look at a pack of boneless, skinless breasts to see how many there are, you’re actually counting half-breasts. Any recipe, like mine, that calls for a certain number of breasts is actually calling for a certain number of breast halves.
You almost never run into a language problem with this situation until you ask for breasts at the meat counter (and, in order to get bone-in breasts, that’s almost certainly what you’ll have to do). If you ask a butcher for a chicken breast, he may want to give you what you may think of as two. Or he may ask you if you want whole breasts, or splits. Not all the time, but enough of the time that you’ll feel like an idiot if you don’t know what’s happening.
Chickens have been bred to such Godzillic proportions that I hope I never run across one free-ranging down a dark alley. The breasts that I bring home from my everyday supermarket seem so large that they look like they once belonged to a modest-sized turkey. Would you consider one turkey breast (half) to be a single serving? Believe me, two breast halves is going to give you enough meat for four people.
Folding the tops of the bags forces them to stay open, which makes it easier to get the chicken inside them. However, assuming that you’re careful, it also helps to ensure that you won’t get raw chicken goop on any part of the outside of your bag; you have to be careful about this kind of thing with sous vide cooking.
I have flexible cutting mats that I use when I prep chicken. I lay one over my cutting board, and when I’m done, I toss it into the dishwasher.
When you put the chicken into the bath, it may lower the bath’s temperature. In that case, you have to wait until the temperature is restored to start the hour countdown. The sous vide machine should do that for you, but it may seem confusing if you don’t understand what it’s trying to do.
On the sauce:
If you make the sauce in a blender, you’ll liquefy most if not all of the nuts. Hand-whisking it will leave peanut crunchiness in the final dish. It’s a matter of taste.
Crunchy peanut butter is beautiful in this dish, but because it is a sin against nature, I never stock it. Instead, I simply chop up whatever nuts I have on hand and add them to the sauce along with the smooth peanut butter that I have in my cupboard. A half-cup of finely-chopped nuts is perfect: almonds, Brazil nuts, macadamias … whatever. Maybe not walnuts or anything bitter.
Sambal Oelek is a chile-garlic sauce. Substitute sriracha, maybe. Six tablespoons is going to leave the dish on the spicy side, for sure – but in a really good way. It will surprise you, too, because if you taste as you add, it will seem quite tame. It doesn’t come alive until you add the sauce to the frying pan.
In general:
Of course you could do this with chicken cooked in a conventional manner. However, because the sauce and chicken are cooked independently, it’s sous-vide friendly. Moreover, sous-vided chicken is so yielding that is almost melts into this ultra-creamy sauce (which doesn’t use cream, which is also kind of nice).
Backstory
I’ve been sous viding chicken. I’ve also been using “sous vide” as a verb. Sous viding chicken has its pros and cons. In accordance with the very nature of sous vide, you can’t beat the texture of sous vide chicken. I consider myself an expert chicken breast cooker, but I never dreamed of chicken this perfectly done, consistently, from edge to center. This doesn’t fully surprise me, though, knowing what (admittedly little) I know about sous vide cooking. What came as an utter shock was how good leftover sous vide chicken is. It’s unbeatable. Reheated, it better than most freshly-cooked chicken with one hand tied behind its back. That’s a big deal. Leftover chicken breast is a staple in my house. I plan and depend on it to get me through maybe a quarter of the weeks of the year. Having leftover chicken this incredible is a major breakthrough.
As I said, though, there is a downside. Browning sous vide chicken is a messy affair. It spatters like nothing else I’ve ever cooked, and you really have to work at getting it browned all over. I’ve tried it a few different ways, didn’t care for the results, and the cleanup was not worth it. What I haven’t tried is browning it in a casserole. Maybe the high sides would keep enough of the spatter in the pan to ease my frustrations. This downside would seem insurmountable if it weren’t for the fact that the chicken was the most delicious I’ve ever cooked. Ultimately, what I decided was to chuck the skin and give the chicken a sauce.
Sous Vide Chicken in a Coconut-Peanut-Chile Sauce
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Jeff – looks and sounds fantastic! I have not boarded the sous-vide bus yet, so will need to rework the recipe for conventional methods – which I want to do because it has all my favorite flavors! By the way, does your sambal oelek have garlic? I specifically use the stuff because what I buy is garlic-free (because I am allergic). Curious – maybe I was lucky with my particular brand!
David Scott Allen recently posted…Vegans for Dinner
I rechecked the label to be sure, and yes, it does have garlic. I’m no expert on Indonesian food, but I believe that many sambals don’t have garlic. This sauce would be good with any kind of chicken, no matter how you prepared it.
Jeff & David, we get a sambal garlic version. It’s like Thai chili garlic sauce. You likely get it there as well, here it’s clearly marked on the front “Sambal Garlic”. However, our brand of samba oelek does have garlic and shrimp paste in it. I think it varies by manufacturer. But, I’m certainly not an authority…
Ron recently posted…Autumn in Skåne and the smell of cinnamon…
Thank you both for these responses – I just assumed that it was garlic free since the first beans I hit upon had none! I will make sure I check my labels carefully!
David Scott Allen recently posted…Vegans for Dinner
What a lovely recipe. When I sous vide chicken, I don’t even bother with browning, and just cut it up for a pasta dish or soup/stew. I had no idea about this one breast thing. Huh. Who knew? Obviously I didn’t. Thank you for this. Something to bring up at a really boring get together.
Mimi recently posted…Curried Pumpkin White Bean Soup
Haha! I hope you do bring it up!
Hi, I never tried a sous vide machine, I’d like to taste your ckicken it seems really tender!
Have a nice evening 🙂
Not parisienne recently posted…Comment profiter à fond du mois de décembre?
Unbeatably tender! Thanks!
The meat looks seriously soft and tender and that creamy nutty coconut sauce is the bomb!
angiesrecipes recently posted…Chocolate Curd Spelt Cookie Cups
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Dear Jeff, you certainly have given a lot of very helpful advice with respect to cooking chicken breasts with the sous vide method or should I say ‘sousviding chiken breasts’ – which is a cooking method that is rather popular around here, certainly because, as you also pointed out, it renders fabulous results, juicy, aromatic chicken breasts. Your recipe with the peanut sauce, the sambal, coconut milk, ginger etc. sounds incredibly flavorful. Great post, with lots of interesting information.
Andrea recently posted…Petticoat Tails Shortbread for St. Andrew’s Day – Shortbread zum Andreastag am 30. November
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LOVE that shot of the chicken just peeking above the rim of the bowl.
This recipe sounds so incredibly tasty. I think you took all of my favorite marinating ingredients and combined them. YUM! 🙂 ~Valentina
Thank you, Valentina!
Yes indeed! Sounds delicious!
Thanks!
So I still have not gotten into sous vide-ing. Is that a verb? But I could get into this sauce quite happily!
Abbe@This is How I Cook recently posted…Texas Sheet Cake Cookies
This sauce would be good on so many things. And yes, I’m with you on the verb!
Jeff, I used to never eat chicken breast as they were dry and just not tasty. But, once I learned how to cook them via sous vide it was also a game-changer for me. Like Mimi, I don’t brown. On that occasion that I want a crispy skin, I just bake the skin between two cookie sheets until crisp. I then break up the skin and toss it on top. Have you tried to sous vide turkey breast? I just did my first and it was amazing. Your Chicken in Coconut-Peanut-Chile Sauce looks extremely inviting, a must cook.
Ron recently posted…Autumn in Skåne and the smell of cinnamon…
Ooh, I like that cookie sheet idea. Thank you!
This meal sounds perfect for a wonderful dinner to impress for sure. Spicy peanut butter sauce incorporated with chicken breasts with rice and veggies is definitely a win-win! Pinning! xo
Kim Lange recently posted…Keto Mini Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecakes
It would definitely be great for guests! It’s so tasty, and so off-the-beaten-path.
Ah! The sous vide. I love sous vide cooking! However, with that said, I’ve only used our sous vide machine a couple of times. It’s just not on my radar which is a clearly a problem. You’ve put it on my radar again, and for that I thank you, kind sir.
David @ Spiced recently posted…Hot Cocoa Cinnamon Rolls
You’re welcome, my friend! I know what you mean – when I got the sous vide, I made a steak, marveled at it, and then put the thing away. However, I was determined to do more exploring, and once I discovered what it could do to chicken breasts, now I get the thing out just about every weekend.
Like ‘Ron’, I find that chicken breast is rather dry, but not so if I poach it. It sounds like sous-viding would take the tenderness to a different level. I have the cooking pouches for sous vide, but not the machine yet! Your recipe sounds right up my alley- garlic, peanuts and chili! BTW, I love butterflying chicken breasts, pounding them thin, then stuffing them and rolling them up into sausage shapes (maybe for my next post)!
I’ll look forward to that post!
Wow, this sous vide chicken sounds phenomenal! What delicious flavors! I’d love to follow it up with a slice of your tempting apple cake. What a meal!
Thanks, Liz!
I love my sous vide. The first thing I ever cooked with it was chicken breast. It is the best way to no-fail chicken. Great recipe, that sauce sounds amazing.
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Yeah, I’ve been at the butcher counter and asked for two chicken breasts and received exactly that. When, of course, I wanted two halves. It was OK, though — I put the extra ones to good use. 🙂 Anyway, this looks terrific. I keep thinking about sous vide, but then I lie down until that feeling passes. Thing is, I know how good the results can be. But do I really want more kitchen stuff? That I probably wouldn’t use all that often? That’s what’s stopping me. Anyway, good post — thanks.
John / Kitchen Riffs recently posted…The Suburban Cocktail
I feel you, John. That’s why I don’t have an Instant Pot. This sauce would be delicious on poached or pan-fried breasts.
OMG, just the title of this dish makes us Drool!! Sounds amazing and would love to make this next week. Thanks for another great recipe Jeff! PS….. inl love your chocolate layer cake!
Thank you!
This sounds really delicious Jeff! I love coconut, chilli and peanuts in anything really.
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The sauce sounds devine!
Thank you! It is!
I’ve not yet tried my hand at sous vide cooking, believe it or not. I’m really late to the party. But at least I know it’s not over yet. It is definitely not in my culinary wheelhouse, as it’s so hands off and takes such a long time (a full hour for chicken breasts, for example) And yet everyone raves about the results, so I definitely want to give it a go.
By the way, I wonder if that butcher wasn’t playing with you? Or trying to sell more chicken that day? I mean really, who doesn’t think of a chicken breast as what he was calling a half. And I love your line about meeting up with a chicken in a dark alley. 🙂 So true how they breed chickens these days.
That chicken looks so tender and juicy… I’m sure it’s delicious 🙂
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Very!
Can’t believe how tender that chicken looks, Jeff. And that sauce is so simple to make but yet a perfect accompaniment! Yep, this wouldn’t last long in our house! Yum!
Neil recently posted…Creamy Parsnip Soup
It didn’t last long in mine, either! The chicken is so tender, and the sauce is so creamy, that it was almost too much creamy tenderness!
I love the concept of sous vide, and your accolades here are further proof of its merit. Still, I have not tried it. I tell myself it’s because I don’t need any more gadgets in my life, but I wonder. Maybe I’m hiding behind some other form of repressed fear… is there such thing as a therapist de cuisine? GREG
sippitysup recently posted…Christmas Chocolate-Ginger Cookies
Oh my God, there needs to be! Anyway, I feel you with regard to the gadgets, and I resisted the sous vide for that same reason … until I read that you could use it to temper chocolate. That’s always been my bane, and chocolate tempering machines are extraordinarily expensive. So, I bought the sous vide to try that, but got sidetracked with steaks and chicken. However, I bought two hunks of Callebaut this week, and am planning to make caramels and dunk them into it. So, we’ll finally find out about that. In the meantime, that thing (which takes up very little space to begin with) hasn’t been gathering dust. Now, if I can use it in the bathtub to create a Jacuzzi, then we’ll know it was a good purchase.
This looks terrific! I’m always looking for new recipes to use with my sous vide device. Love the flavors in this sauce!
Thank you, Molly!
Thank you for your explanation of breast pieces/halves. This is a delightful dish and sous vide is a very healthy and moist method cooking. I love your sauce as well 😀
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I would want to cook this
Oh, you should.