I think we can all agree, there is nothing worse than dry, rubbery chicken. Whether you accidentally set the timer on the oven for 10 minutes too long or walk away from the stovetop, dried out chicken is never something you’re proud to put on the table.
Overcooking chicken is something that happens more often than I’d like to admit and even the most delicious sauce can’t save the dish. Thanks to the Hamilton Beach Professional Sous Vide/6 QT Slow Cooker, overcooking my main protein is now a problem of the past.
For our sous vide chicken and asparagus with brown butter, both the chicken and the asparagus are cooked in the temperature-controlled water bath. Not only are your main and side dishes cooked together (leaving everything conveniently ready to be served at the same time), the results will make you rethink the next time you put your chicken in the oven.
The sous vide chicken is moist and tender while the asparagus maintains a bright green color and crisp texture.
Submerge your chicken and asparagus in the water bath, set the temperature and time, and walk away. Put your feet up while you wait or run a few errands. Cooking sous vide gives you maximum flexibility because once the desired internal temperature of the chicken is met, the temperature doesn’t fluctuate. Whether you come back in an hour or three, your meal will be ready and waiting – not over or undercooked.
Give the chicken a quick sear in a hot pan and drizzle the reserved brown butter over top. Finish with some cracked black pepper and fresh herbs and your delicious dinner is served. Trust me, everyone at the table (at least at mine) will enjoy eating perfectly done chicken (for once).
Sous Vide Chicken with Asparagus and Brown Butter
Ingredients
Instructions
- Select sous vide mode and set temperature to 145°F and time for 1 hour.
- Prepare the brown butter. In a small saucepan over medium, heat butter and cook until lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the herbs and garlic, reduce heat to low and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Strain about 4 tablespoons of the butter into a small bowl and reserve. Strain the remainder into a separate container to reserve for serving.
- Prepare the chicken. In a small bowl, combine kosher salt and sugar. Season chicken breasts generously with the salt mixture.
- Using the reserved 4 tablespoons of brown butter, brush each chicken breast with about 1 tablespoon of butter. Place each chicken breast in a sous vide-safe bag. Vacuum tightly and seal.
- Prepare the asparagus. Place all of the asparagus, olive oil and salt to a sous vide-safe bag. Vacuum tightly and seal.
- When water reaches set temperature, add chicken and asparagus to the water bath and press start.
- When cooking time has ended, remove bags from water bath and open.
- Pat the chicken breasts dry with paper towels.
- In a large skillet over medium-high, heat vegetable oil. When oil begins to shimmer, add chicken to pan skin-side down. Sear chicken until skin is crispy and browned. Turn chicken and sear other side until browned. If desired, slice chicken before plating.
- To serve, warm the reserved brown butter. Place asparagus on plates and top with chicken. Drizzle with brown butter.
Sous vide cooking is now an accessible option for the home kitchen. This multi-functional countertop appliance can be used as a sous vide water oven or slow cooker.
Is there a circulation pump in this unit?