Honey Garlic Sous Vide Chicken Thighs With Crispy Skin

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Juicy Sous Vide Chicken Thighs with Crispy Skin

Published by Izzy

on Oct 17, 2023, Updated Nov 21, 2023

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Sous Vide Chicken Thighs with crispy skin are super juicy, tender, and full of honey garlic flavors. Sous vide method cooks these chicken thighs to your perfect doneness, and then a quick sear or grill produces the amazing crispy skin on the outside. This recipe works for frozen chicken thighs too with a slightly longer cooking time.

If you like our Teriyaki Chicken Bowls and Sous Vide Chicken Breasts, you will love these savory and sweet sous vide chicken thighs.

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What is Sous Vide?

Sous vide means “under vacuum” in French. It’s a water bath cooking method by sealing food in a bag, then cooking for a long time to a very precise temperature in a water bath.

Why Sous Vide Chicken Thighs

• It’s low-stress cooking by eliminating short windows of time for perfect doneness and produces even texture edge to edge!
• You can control the temperature precisely, so you’ll never overcook or undercook your chicken – it’s my new favorite way to cook dinner. Totally a game-changer!
• Great to make it ahead of time. Simply sous vide and store in the fridge. Reheat when you are ready to serve.

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Chicken Thighs with Skin
• Seasonings: Salt and pepper
• Unsalted Butter and Oil: For searing
• Honey Garlic Sauce: Made of garlic, soy sauce, lemon juice, and honey

Step-By-Step Instructions

Step 1: Season Chicken Thighs

Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. In the meantime, reheat your sous vide machine to 165°F (74°C).

Step 2: Sous Vide

Place the chicken into a zip-lock bag, and vacuum seal the bag using the water displacement technique (see recipe for detailed instructions). Cook the vacuum-sealed chicken thighs in the sous vide water bath for 1 hour.

Step 3: Finish with a Quick Sear

I like to finish with a quick sear to add some beautiful color to the chicken thighs. You can sear immediately for 1 minute on each side after they come out of the water bath.

But if you’d like to have crispy skin, you’ll need to let them cool down in the ice water bath so they won’t get overcooked in the skillet.

Heat a skillet on the stove over medium heat, add the chicken thighs skin-side down. Sear for 4-5 minutes until the skin is crispy, and then cook the other side for 30 seconds.

Step 4: Make the Sauce

Add all the sauce ingredients in a skillet, cook until it thickens. Serve the chicken over rice or potatoes, and drizzle with the sauce.

Tips For Sous Vide Chicken Thighs

• I recommend using skin-on and bone-in chicken thighs for this dish, as they hold their shapes better than boneless chicken and you’ll get crispy skin on the outside.
• Make sure you arrange your chicken thighs in one single layer in the zip-lock bag. You can use two bags if needed.
• Make sure to wipe off any moisture using paper towels before searing, as the dry surface helps to sear properly and produces crispy skin.

Temperature and Time Chart

My favorite temperature for sous vide chicken thighs is 165°F. At this temperature, the chicken is tender and juicy. Below is the summary of other temperatures and time:

Temperature	Sous Vide Cooking Time	Texture
140°F / 60°C	1 ½ – 4 hours	Very soft, tender and juicy
150°F / 66°C	1 – 4 hours	Soft and juicy
165°F / 74°C	1 – 4 hours	Traditional tender and juicy
165°F / 74°C	5 – 8 hours	Fall-off-the-bone tender

Crispy Skin For Sous Vide Chicken Thighs

From my experience, it’s not difficult to achieve that desirable crispy skin after sous vide cooking. Here are my tips:

• Use fresh high-quality chicken thighs with skin.
• After the sous vide bath, you’ll need to pat them dry COMPLETELY. Any moisture will prevent the skin from getting crispy.
• You’ll need to let the chicken cool down first so that you won’t overcook it in the skillet.
• Heat a skillet with oil until it’s VERY HOT. Then, add the chicken thighs skin-side down and sear for a few minutes until the skin turns golden brown and crispy.

Honey Garlic Sauce

The sauce is savory, sweet, and really quick to make. You can use it on chicken thighs, chicken breasts and even pork or fish! All you need is soy sauce, lemon juice, honey, and garlic.

I also like to add 2-3 tablespoons of the juices from the chicken thighs after they’re cooked in the bag.

What To Serve With Sous Vide Chicken Thighs?

There are lots of ways to serve sous vide chicken thighs. Pick your favorite side dishes such as mashed potatoes, boiled potatoes, rice, cauliflower rice, carrots, broccoli, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, and more. A crisp green salad or caesar salad is an excellent pairing too.

Sous Vide Bone-In vs Boneless Chicken Thighs

Choosing bone-in versus boneless chicken thighs is a matter of personal preference. However, bone-in thighs takes slightly longer to cook and tend to be more tender and flavorful.

How To Sous Vide Frozen Chicken Thighs

Follow the same instructions as cooking fresh chicken thighs, and one more hour of cooking time in the sous vide water bath.

Seasoning Variations

You can easily turn this sous vide chicken thighs to other flavors by changing the sauce. Here are some sauce ideas:

• Lemon Butter
• Garlic Butter
• Taco Seasonings

FAQs

How long should I sous vide chicken thighs at 145F?

Fresh chicken will take one full hour in sous vide at 145°F, while frozen chicken will take 2 to 2 ½ hours at 145°F.

Can you overcook chicken thighs in a sous vide water bath?

You cannot overcook chicken thighs in a sous vide water bath, but the meat can get mushy if you leave the chicken in the water bath for too long.

Sous vide chicken thighs: skin on or skin off

You can sous vide chicken thighs with the skin on or off. They both will come out tender and juicy.

• Skin On: I like to leave the skin on as it adds a lot of flavor. More importantly, the skin will become crispy after searing. If you’re a fan of crispy skin, this is the way to go.
• Skin Off: If you prefer a leaner option, you can use skinless chicken thighs. It will still be tender and juicy without the skin.

More Sous Vide Recipes

• Sous Vide Skirt Steak
• Sous Vide Drumsticks
• Sous Vide Carnitas

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Honey Garlic Sous Vide Chicken Thighs with Crispy Skin

By: Izzy Honey Garlic Sous Vide Chicken Thighs are super juicy, tender and full of flavor. Sous vide method cooks these chicken thighs to the perfect doneness, and then a quick sear produces the amazing crispy skin on the outside. With tips on how to cook from fresh or frozen. Prep: 10 minutes minsCook: 1 hour hrTotal: 1 hour hr 10 minutes minsServings: 5 chicken thighs Pin Recipe Rate Recipe Print Recipe

Equipment

• Sous Vide Cooker
• Zip-loc Bags
• Kitchen Tongs
• Cast-Iron Skillet

Ingredients 1x2x3x

• ▢ 5-6 chicken thighs
• ▢ salt and pepper, to taste
• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ▢ 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• ▢ 2 tablespoons lemon juice, or you can substitute white vinegar or rice vinegar
• ▢ 1/4 cup honey
• ▢ chopped parsley, optional

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Instructions

• Preheat the Sous Vide Water Bath: Fill a large container or pot with water. Attach the sous vide precision cooker and set the temperature to 165°F (74°C).
• Prepare the Chicken: Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper on a plate. Then place them to a zip-lock bag and arrange in a single layer.
• Seal the bag using the “water displacement” technique or a vacuum sealer. (Just seal all but one corner of the bag. Slowly place it in the water bath, and make sure everything below the zip-line is covered by water. Then seal the rest of the bag.)
• Sous Vide Cook Chicken Thighs: Place the bag in the warm water bath and cook for 1 hour. (Make sure the chicken thighs are fully submerged while the seams of the bag are above water. You can add heavy kitchen items to weigh the bag down if necessary.)
• Sear the Chicken: Remove the chicken from the bag and keep the juices. Pat dry the chicken with paper towels. (Make sure the surface is completely dry).
• You can sear the chicken immediately by heating a skillet over medium-high heat, add oil and butter. When butter is completely melted, add the chicken thighs skin side down, cook for about 1 minute until the skin is nicely seared. Flip and cook the other side for 1 minute. (If you prefer to have a crispier skin, you can place the bag to an ice water bath and let the chicken cool for 15 minutes. Sear the skin side for about 5 minutes, and flip and sear the other side for 30 seconds. Remove from the pan.)
• Make Honey Garlic Sauce: In the same pan, add garlic, honey, lemon juice, and soy sauce together with 2-3 spoons of the juices from the bag. Cook until the sauce thickens, about 4-6 minutes. (Taste the sauce, and more honey or soy sauce based on your preference.)
• Add back the chicken in the skillet and drizzle the sauce over the chicken. Serve immediately! Garnish with finely chopped parsley if desired.

Notes

• It’s best to use skin-on and bone-in chicken thighs for this recipe as they hold their shapes better than boneless chicken and you’ll get crispy skin on the outside.
• Make sure to arrange your chicken thighs in one single layer in the zip-lock bag. You can use two bags if needed.
• Make sure to wipe off any moisture using paper towels before searing, as the dry surface helps to sear properly and produces crispy skin.

Nutrition

Calories: 334kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 117mg | Sodium: 490mg | Potassium: 261mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 159IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 13mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information provided is an estimate only and will vary based on ingredient brands and cooking methods used.

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