Sous viding has become one of my favorite ways to prepare chicken thighs. I prefer bone-in, skin-on because they have so much flavor but boneless are excellent, too, and great for throwing into dishes. This post covers times and temperatures for both bone-in and boneless chicken thighs.
I love chicken thighs that are just starting to pull away from the bone but still juicy. 165 degrees F for 6 hours is my favorite when I have the time!
Why Sous Vide Chicken Thighs
Sous vide is one of my favorite ways to prepare chicken thighs because you can get fall off the bone texture while still keeping the chicken thighs juicy. It’s also a great way to ensure the chicken thighs are actually cooked through, something that can be tricky with traditional methods!
In fact, I now always sous vide my chicken thighs before deep frying them for the best fried chicken texture you’ve ever had. Make sure to check out my recipe for Buttermilk Fried Chicken Thighs in my cookbook, Sous Vide Meal Prep.
If that wasn’t enough…
- They will be cooked perfectly. Always juicy, always exactly how you like.
- All you have to do is drop them into a water bath and set a timer, leaving you free to make side dishes or go about your day. No babysitting.
- Practically no clean up. Just toss the vacuum seal bag when you’re done or put your reusable bag in the dishwasher!
What You Need to Make Sous Vide Chicken Thighs
- An immersion circulator – I recommend the Joule
- A container (you can just use a stockpot, or my favorite sous vide containers are Everie containers)
- A vacuum sealer, like the vacuum sealer from Mueller, or simply a plastic zipper top bag. I have a blog post all about air removal methods to help you out!
- A cast iron skillet is my favorite way to sear.
Want to get a detailed list of all my favorite sous vide tools? Drop your email address and I’ll send it to you!
Tips for Making the Best Sous Vide Chicken Thighs
Here are a few tips and tricks to make sure you pull this off successfuly:
- Always season the chicken thighs before sous viding (see next section for ways to do so!).
- Always keep the chicken fully submerged while cooking. To do this, I like to use sous vide magnets and/or place a ceramic plate or bowl on top of them in the water.
- To make them easier to serve and eat, after cooking and searing bone-in thighs, I like to remove the bone with a pairing knife and slice the chicken thighs.
Marinades and Seasoning Options
To make sure your chicken thighs have plenty of flavor, you’ve got options!
- Add the chicken thighs to a marinade in a bag. I have tons of marinade recipes here on the blog, like this BBQ Chicken Marinade, and in my cookbook Sous Vide Meal Prep! Remove the air and seal. Yes, you can cook the chicken thighs in the marinade! In fact, the marinade makes a great sauce.
- Season with a seasoning blend or rub. I have several great rub recipes in my cookbook Sous Vide Meal Prep, or a pre-made one works, too. Remove the air and seal. Some of my favorite seasoning blends:
- Simply season with salt and pepper. I always use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Remove the air and seal.
Not sure how to remove the air from your bag and seal it? Make sure to check out my blog post about Air Removal Methods.
Time and Temperature for Sous Vide Chicken Thighs
There are a number of ways to approach your cook times for chicken thighs. I love chicken thighs that are just starting to pull away from the bone but still juicy. 165 degrees F for 6 hours is my favorite when I have the time!
When cooking bone-in chicken thighs, your minimum time should be 2 hours.
| Result | Temp | Time | Time (Frozen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very juicy and firm | 150 degrees F 65 degrees C | 2-4 Hours | 3-4 Hours |
| Juicy, mostly tender | 155 degrees F 68 degrees C | 2-4 Hours | 3-4 Hours |
| Juicy and completely tender | 165 degrees F 74 degrees C | 2-4 Hours | 3-4 Hours |
| Fall off the bone texture (bone-in only) | 165 degrees F 74 degrees C | 6 hours | 6 hours |
How to Finish Sous Vide Chicken Thighs
When cooking boneless chicken thighs, you don’t have to finish them if you don’t want to. In fact, I rarely do! However, a quick sear in a very hot skillet with olive oil or butter can give them a prettier look. You could also finish on a very hot grill.
When cooking bone-in, skin on chicken thighs, I always finish them. Put a skillet over medium-high heat and add butter or olive oil. Sear skin side down first until deep golden brown. The skin will be delicate – don’t force it to pull away. When it’s browned, it’ll pull away easily. Sear on the other side until golden brown and serve.
Bonus tip to make bone-in thighs easier to serve and eat: remove the bone after cooking with a pairing knife and slice the thighs.
Why can I cook chicken at a lower temp than 165 degrees F when sous viding?
The information provided by experts like the USDA around food safety often sacrifices detail in favor of being easy to understand. Which I get! But 165 degrees F isn’t the full story.
Temperature guidelines are there to make sure you kill bacteria, the big one being salmonella when we’re cooking chicken. We want to pasteurize the chicken. Pasteurization is related to both time AND temperature.
The reason 165 degrees F is the gold standard is because chicken is instantly pasteurized at that temperature. The lowest temperature I offer for cooking chicken is 140 degrees F. If your chicken is 140 degrees F all the way through for at least 27.5 minutes, it will be pasteurized! And I recommend a minimum of 2 hours to allow for plenty of time for it to get to temperature and be there for far longer than 27.5 minutes.
At 145 degrees F you only need 9.2 minutes, at 150 degrees F you only need 2.8 minutes, and at 155 degrees F you only need 47.7 seconds! Pretty neat, huh?
To learn more about this, I recommend this article from Serious Eats.
Other Sous Vide Chicken Recipes
Ready to sous vide all the chicken? Make sure to check out these sous vide chicken recipes, too!
You can also view this recipe in a step-by-step web story.
Get the Recipe:
Sous Vide Chicken Thighs (Bone-In or Boneless)
Ingredients
- Bone-in or boneless chicken thighs
- Seasoning of choice or salt and pepper
Equipment
- Sous Vide Machine
- Sous Vide Bags
Instructions
Preparation
- Preheat a water bath using an immersion circulator to a temperature from the time and temperature options listed below.
- Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper or your favorite seasoning blend.
- Vacuum seal chicken thighs or use another air removal method.
Time and Temperature Options
- Very juicy and firm: 150 degrees F: 1-4 Hours (2-4 if frozen or bone-in)
- Juicy, mostly tender: 155 degrees F: 1-4 Hours (2-4 if frozen or bone-in)
- Juicy and completely tender: 165 degrees F: 1-4 Hours (2-4 if frozen or bone-in)
- Somewhat juicy, fall off the bone texture: 165 degrees F: 4-8 Hours
To Finish
- Searing is optional with boneless chicken thighs. To sear, heat a skillet over high heat until smoking. Add butter or oil and sear skin side down until golden brown, 1-2 minutes. Sear for 1 minute on the other side.
Notes
- Always season the chicken thighs before sous viding.
- Always keep the chicken fully submerged while cooking. To do this, I like to use sous vide magnets and/or place a ceramic plate or bowl on top of them in the water.
- To make them easier to serve and eat, after cooking and searing bone-in thighs, I like to remove the bone with a pairing knife and slice the chicken thighs.
I tried this recipe/technique last night. I used thawed boneless/skinless thighs. I had them in the sous vide for about 3 hours. They were certainly tasty, but I thought they were a little dry. I don’t know if this is an indicator or not, but when I removed the chicken from the sous vide bag there seemed to be a lot of liquid. I assume that that liquid was why the chicken was a bit dry.
I made this last night as the first meal with my sous vide machine. After dinner, my dad said that was the best chicken he has had in his life, and in his 65 years, the man has eaten a LOT of chicken.
I loved it as well. Flavorful and juicy, with a crispy skin from the cast iron sear. I am definitely looking forward to leftovers!
You wrote a cookbook? I hope you had a good editor. Unless you were trying to find a mate for your knife to pair it with, the correct spelling is paring knife. The recipe itself is good.
Oh, thank you for the grammar lesson! I had no idea that the success of a cookbook relied solely on the correct spelling of a kitchen utensil. Glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe despite the shocking error.
His name should be Vegass Chef