Sous Vide Cajun-Spiced Chicken Breast
Speed - 100%
Simplicity - 100%
Tastiness - 98%
99%
Perfect!
You just have to try this to see for yourself. I never thought I can cook chicken breasts this moist and tender!
Ingredients
For the Cajun Chicken Breasts
- 2 Pieces Chicken Breast Fillets
- Cajun Spice to taste
- Salt to taste
For the Quinoa Salad
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- a Bunch Cilantro Leaves roughly chopped
- 1 Piece Mandarin Orange cut into segments
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Season chicken breasts with salt and cajun spice.
- Put chicken in a sous vide bag.
- Cook the chicken for 2 hours at 140F.
- Finish off the chicken by searing for a minute per side in a hot pan.
- Prepare quinoa according to package directions.
- Whisk cooking juices, olive oil, and lemon juice in a bowl.
- Toss in cooked quinoa, cilantro, and mandarin oranges.
- Top with chicken breast slices.
Cajun spice on chicken is not a new thing. This fact says a lot about how these two go so well together. So how do you improve on such a time-tested flavor combination? Well, there ain't much you can do to improve a good blend of Cajun spice. And for the chicken breasts? A lot, and in such ways I never thought possible.
I knew cooking chicken breasts via sous vide would make them moist and juicy to some significant extent. Honestly, the result blew me away given high expectations, to begin with.
I've never had chicken breasts like this before. Moist, tender, and not stringy at all! I really don't know if my descriptions are enough, you just got to try it for yourself.
Okay, enough with the hype. Let's begin with a good seasoning of salt and cajun spice on those chicken breasts. As much as I love leaving the skin on, I deliberately pulled them off to see how moist these breasts can really be without any layer of fat during cooking.
Get them in the bag. Adding some neutral-flavored oil in the bag would keep these breasts smooth. Again, I skipped the fat to see how much a difference sous vide can make when cooking a dry piece of meat.
Cook those chicken breasts for 30 minutes – 2 hours at 140F depending on the thickness of the breasts and the doneness you desire..
Get the chicken breasts out of the bag, pat them dry, and give them a quick sear in a very hot pan. A minute per side would be enough.
I immediately felt how tender the chicken pieces were as I took mine out of the bag. I initially thought they were still a bit raw inside.
These chicken breasts are too good and unlike anything you've ever had before. They'll be perfect for anything from rice, salads, sandwiches, tacos, and quinoa as I did here.
So I cooked a cup of red quinoa according to package directions and tossed it into a simple vinaigrette I made from the left over chicken juices in the cooking bag. That'll be too much chicken and cajun flavor you wouldn't want to put to waste.
Pour all the liquid from the bag into a large mixing bowl. Add about a tablespoon of lemon juice, a couple tablespoons of olive oil, some salt and pepper.
I decided to add some cilantro leaves to freshen up the salad and some mandarin fillets to add that perfect balance of sweet and tang to this Cajun dish.
Look at how smooth and moist that breast meat is. And it's not pink!
PS. Just in case you don't have in immersion circulator, my favorite immersion circulator is the Joule. Click the link to read my review.
Ingredients
For the Cajun Chicken Breasts
- 2 Pieces Chicken Breast Fillets
- Cajun Spice to taste
- Salt to taste
For the Quinoa Salad
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- a Bunch Cilantro Leaves roughly chopped
- 1 Piece Mandarin Orange cut into segments
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Season chicken breasts with salt and cajun spice.
- Put chicken in a sous vide bag.
- Cook the chicken for 2 hours at 140F.
- Finish off the chicken by searing for a minute per side in a hot pan.
- Prepare quinoa according to package directions.
- Whisk cooking juices, olive oil, and lemon juice in a bowl.
- Toss in cooked quinoa, cilantro, and mandarin oranges.
- Top with chicken breast slices.
In the summary at top and the instructions you say cook chicken for 2 hours. Down below you say cook for 30 minutes. Which is correct?
Oops. Sorry for inconsistency. Minimum 30 minutes, max two hours, depending on the doneness you desire and thickness of chicken breast.