Sous Vide Frozen Chicken Breast

No need to defrost your chicken for dinner! Learn how to cook sous vide frozen chicken breast that’s tender and juicy with very little hands on time!

We’ve all been there. It’s mid-afternoon and you realize you forgot to defrost your boneless chicken breasts for dinner that day! No worries. If you own a sous vide cooker, you can have your chicken fully cooked in just 2.5 hours. 

The best part is that it turns out just as moist, juicy and tender as this sous vide chicken breast recipe! It cooks perfectly and never dries out.

Serve it for dinner with some Instant Pot jasmine rice and air fryer carrots, or use it for sous vide meal prep during the week by adding it to salads, soups and sandwiches!

And for more in depth information, check out this complete sous vide chicken guide!

Why this recipe works

1. This recipe is super convenient. It involves very little prep time or hands on time. 
2. It’s a great recipe for meal prep as chicken can be incorporated into so many different meals.
3. Chicken breasts tend to dry out easily, but when you’re using the sous vide method, it’s almost impossible to dry them out. 
4. The chicken breasts are super flavorful with just a simple seasoning made with ingredients you probably already have on hand.

For the full list of ingredients and quantities, please see the recipe card below.

You’ll need 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts for this recipe. This recipe has only been tested with boneless chicken breasts. If you use bone-in, you will need to adjust the temperature and cooking time. 

If you only have salted butter, just reduce the amount of salt you add to the chicken.

Make sure you’re using fresh lemon zest (the outer yellow portion of the lemon) and not dried lemon zest. You can use a zester or the small holes on a box grater to zest the lemon.

Step by step instructions

Heat a sous vide water bath to 140°F degrees.

Combine the chicken breasts and remaining ingredients in a vacuum seal bag and seal.

Cook for 2 ½ - 3 hours in the sous vide water bath.

Remove from the bag, reserving the bag juice.

Heat a skillet over medium high heat and brown the chicken breast for 30 seconds on each side (be careful not to overcook).

Serve drizzled with the reserved bag sauce and fresh lemon juice for added brightness.  

Expert tips to make sous vide chicken

1. If the bag starts to float in the water bath, just open the bag, let the excess air out and reseal it. 
2. You can also use something heavy to weigh down the bag like this sous vide sinker weight.
3. The chicken breasts are fully cooked when they come out of the water bath, so browning is optional.
4. For the best browning, pat the chicken dry with a paper towel when it comes out of the water bath. 
5. When browning the chicken breasts, make sure you only do so for 30 seconds per side. You don’t want them to overcook and dry out.
6. Don’t throw out the bag juices! Serve it over the chicken with some fresh lemon juice.
7. If your chicken breasts are large, they may take closer to 3 hours to cook.
8. Save yourself some time and season your fresh chicken breasts before sealing them in bags and freezing them. Then, you can just drop the bag in your water bath when you're ready to cook them.

Common questions

Side dish recipes for sous vide frozen chicken breast

There are so many ways to enjoy chicken breasts. Here are a few of our favorite recipes to serve with it:

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