These crispy sous vide chicken thighs are fool-proof! This method creates tender, juicy chicken thighs every time. This sous vide chicken thigh recipe also includes a very important final step that makes the outside incredibly crispy.
What Makes This Sous Vide Chicken Recipe So Good
- This recipe guarantees perfectly cooked chicken thighs. The sous vide takes all of the guess work out of what method to use and how long to cook your chicken. Simply add everything to a resealable bag, place it in your sous vide bath and then walk away for two hours. You’ll return to incredibly juicy and delicious chicken thighs!
- These crispy sous vide chicken thighs are perfectly seasoned. Using the sous vide to cook chicken allows it to retain a lot of its own incredible flavor. Therefore, we’re able to go light on the seasoning and still receive very flavorful chicken thighs.
- The final step of this recipe includes frying each chicken thigh in butter for 1-2 minutes per side. This step is incredibly crucial to achieving that ideal combination of crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside!
Key Ingredients for Sous Vide Chicken Thighs
Bone-In, Skin-on Chicken Thighs – The bone-in and skin-on the chicken contributes a TON of flavor. Also, the skin on our chicken thighs then fries up beautifully at the end of this crispy sous vide chicken thigh recipe. I can’t recommend using bone-in and skin-on chicken thighs enough for this method.
Thyme – This is an optional ingredient, though I highly recommend adding thyme to the resealable plastic bag with your chicken thighs. Thyme contributes a nice, delicate herb flavor to this crispy sous vide chicken thigh recipe.
Chef’s Tips
- When cooking with a sous vide, make sure to remove as much air from your plastic bag as possible. If any air is left inside your bag with the ingredients, it will cause the bag to float in the sous vide bath. If your bag floats, then you run the risk of cooking your food unevenly, or not at all.
- Feel free to cook these crispy sous vide chicken thighs for an extra hour if you’d like. An additional hour of cooking will yield more tender, though slightly less juicy chicken thighs. To do this, simply set your sous vide to three hours instead of two.
- You can easily double this recipe! If you plan on doubling this recipe, then I recommend using two separate resealable plastic bags – each with four chicken thighs. This is a great option if you’re cooking for a crowd.
More Sous Vide Recipes You’ll Love
- Sous Vide Corned Beef
- Perfect Sous Vide Eggs
- Sous Vide Shrimp
- Easy Sous Vide Chicken Breast
- How To Brine Chicken Wings
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Crispy Sous Vide Chicken Thighs
Equipment
- Sous vide immersion circulator
- Plastic bag for vacuum sealing
- Large skillet
Ingredients
- 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme optional
- 2 tablespoons butter see Notes
Instructions
- Set sous vide to 165° Fahrenheit.
- Season both sides of each chicken thigh with salt and pepper.
- Place chicken thighs and thyme in a resealable plastic bag, then remove the air using either a vacuum sealer or the displacement method. Drop bag into bath for 2 hours.
- Remove chicken thighs from bag and pat dry with a paper towel.
- Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sear chicken thighs in pan for 1-2 minutes per side, or until crispy.
Notes
- Make it Dairy-Free: To make this recipe dairy-free, you can either use two tablespoons of dairy-free butter or two tablespoons of olive oil instead of regular butter.
Nutrition
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Hi! I’m Sam, a travel, food and fitness enthusiast from the New York metro area. I love creating new and inventive recipes, and my favorite part is sharing them with others. My love of food goes all the way back to my early childhood, I grew up cooking alongside my mom and Nonna – the two best cooks I know! When I’m not in the kitchen, I’m either planning my next vacation, spending time outdoors (preferably on a beach), or bingeing Netflix’s latest docu-series. My passion for eating and living well led me to create the blog and Instagram account, Sam Does Her Best, where I health-ify my favorite comfort foods. I’m a big believer that good-for-you food can still be exploding with flavor and (most importantly) easy to make. I’m thrilled to be here at 40 Aprons doing what I do best – creating, photographing, and sharing delicious recipes with you all!
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