Sous Vide Chinese Garlic Chicken

Skip the takeout and make Sous Vide Chinese Garlic Chicken at home!

Garlic chicken is one of my favorite dishes to get from our local Chinese places, and making it at home is an easy and fun way to tweak it to my own preferences. You can make a stovetop version of Chinese Garlic Chicken, but if you’ve learned how to sous vide chicken, you have another tasty option.

Jump To:

1. What Kind Of Chicken Should I Use?
2. Completing Your Sous Vide Chinese Garlic Chicken
3. Why Is The Temperature So Low?
4. More Sous Vide Recipes
5. Sous Vide Chinese Garlic Chicken Recipe

What Kind Of Chicken Should I Use?

This recipe uses chicken breasts but it would also work well with thighs, just increase the sous vide temperature to 148°F (65°C) and add an extra thigh or two if they are smaller than the breasts would be.

Either bone-in or boneless will work great, but because you are slicing it at the end it’s usually easier to just start with boneless. 

Completing Your Sous Vide Chinese Garlic Chicken

The sauce calls for some red pepper flakes because my local spot makes it pretty spicy, but feel free to reduce or eliminate them from the recipe if desired.

I love to serve this chicken over rice with some steamed or sautéed vegetables on the side. Snow peas, carrots, and broccoli are my favorites!

Why Is The Temperature So Low?

Traditionally cooked chicken needs to be cooked to 165°F (74°C) but with sous vide you can hold it at your desired temperature long enough to make it just as safe to eat. This means you can cook them much lower, resulting in a very tender and juicy chicken.

For this recipe I love 140°F (60°C) as it mimics the consistency of a traditional velveted chicken that is used in Chinese restaurants.

Sous Vide Chinese Garlic Chicken Recipe

Contributor: Jason Logsdon

Skip the takeout and make Sous Vide Chinese Garlic Chicken at home!

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 1 review

• Author: Jason Logsdon
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 2 hour 30 minutes
• Total Time: 2 hours 35 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings
• Category: Entrée
• Method: Sous Vide
• Cuisine: Chinese

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 (1 – 1.5 in.) thick chicken breasts
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. Chinese five spice powder, optional
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup chicken stock
• 3 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp. rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
• 3/4 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 1 Tbsp. honey
• 1/2 to 1 tsp. red pepper flakes, optional
• 1 scallion, finely sliced
• 1 Tbsp. sesame seeds

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

1. Preheat a water bath to 140°F (60°C).
2. Sprinkle the chicken on all sides with the salt and Chinese 5 spice powder.
3. Place in a sous vide bag in a single layer and seal it.
4. Place in the water bath and cook for 2 and 1/2 hours, or until pasteurized.
5. While the chicken is cooking, make the sauce.
6. Add the garlic, chicken stock, soy sauce, rice vinegar, cornstarch, honey, and red pepper flakes to a pot and stir well to combine.
7. Heat over medium to medium-high heat and let thicken and reduce to your desired consistency then remove from the heat.
8. Remove the chicken from the sous vide bath and cut into slices.
9. Toss the chicken with the sauce and serve with the sliced scallion and sesame seeds on top.

Love this recipe? I’d appreciate it if you could scroll down and add a *5 star rating* to help others know they’ll love it as well!