You’ll never have to worry about a raw center in your fried chicken again when you combine two of my favorite cooking methods: sous vide and deep frying! After marinading in a classic buttermilk mixture, this chicken gets sous vided then deep fried for a better texture, better flavor, and to ensure it’s completely cooked through. You can use this method on any cut of chicken you like, including wings, thighs, and breasts.
This recipe is from my cookbook, Sous Vide Meal Prep. If you’re looking for more delicious sous vide recipes that you can make ahead and keep your freezer stocked with, make sure to check it out.
Sous Vide Meal Prep
This cookbook outlines my entire method for keeping your freezer stocked with ready to sous vide meals (and some great recipes to boot!).
Pro tip: make two batches of this recipe and here’s why: First it saves time and you can freeze the marinated chicken before it is sous vided. Second, you’ll use up the buttermilk without it going bad in the fridge.
For traditional fried chicken to eat with your hands, I like to use bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. However, if you feel like making fried chicken sandwiches, use boneless, skinless chicken thighs. You can also use this method with chicken breasts and wings.
Looking to for more sous vide chicken recipes? I’ve got you.
- Sous Vide Whole Chicken
- Sous Vide Chicken Thighs (Bone-In or Boneless)
- Sous Vide Chicken Breasts
- Sous Vide Chicken or Turkey Meatballs
Why Sous Vide Before Frying
I’m sure you’re thinking, “Why would I sous vide if I’m going to deep fry anyways?” I have lots of good reasons, friend!
- It’ll be cooked through. Have you ever made fried chicken only to find the center of the chicken completely raw? It’s really easy to get the outside browned and crispy and not cook the inside. If you sous vide first, you know it’s completely cooked through and you just have to worry about getting that crunchy outside.
- Better flavor. The first time you sous vide chicken, one of the first things you’ll notice is that it’s somehow “chickenier” chicken.
- Better texture. Have you ever found fried chicken to be a little tough? That’s because it’s cooked so quickly. By sous viding first, we let it cook lower and slower for pull off the bone texture.
I know, I know. This method takes more time and effort but it is WORTH IT. And you can prep it ahead!
Equipment Needed for Sous Vide Fried Chicken
Okay, you are going to need some equipment to pull this off. A lot of it is optional, though!
- For marinading and sealing, I like to use a chamber vacuum sealer, but these are expensive. A zipper top freezer bag will work, too. Make sure to check out all of the air removal methods I recommend.
- Immersion circulator, for sous vide cooking.
- A container for sous vide cooking. This is optional, you can use a stockpot. I just like it!
- A Dutch oven or another deep pot you can deep fry in.
- A candy thermometer to monitor the temperature of the oil.
- I like to use a cooling rack and a baking sheet for the chicken after frying.
How to Sous Vide and Fry Chicken
Okay, let’s get into it! Like any good fried chicken recipe, we’re going to start with a buttermilk marinade. This marinade is simply buttermilk and spices. Buttermilk is a great way to tenderize the chicken and give tons of flavor.
Add the chicken and buttermilk to a chamber vacuum seal bag or a freezer safe zipper top bag, remove the air, and seal. At this point, you can freeze the bag if you’d like to cook at a later date, or let marinade in the fridge for 2-24 hours.
Once it’s done, you can put this bag right in the sous vide water bath, no need to transfer. I cook my chicken at 150 degrees F. For boneless chicken, do a minimum of 2 hours; for bone-in chicken, do a minimum of 3 hours. Cook up to 4 hours.
Once it’s done sous viding, get a dredge station ready. Whisked eggs in one shallow bowl, seasoned flour in another shallow bowl.
Preheat oil to 350 degrees F in a Dutch oven or other heavy, deep pot.
Remove the chicken from the bag, shaking off excess marinade. Add to the eggs, coat, then add to the flour and coat. Shake off excess flour and drop in hot oil.
Turn every now and then to evenly fry the chicken pieces. Remove to a paper towel or cooling rack lined baking sheet and sprinkle with salt while hot. That’s it!
What to Serve with Fried Chicken
This chicken is so good it almost doesn’t matter what you serve with it (but also let’s have a great meal, shall we?).
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I make this ahead of time?
- Yes! You can get the chicken in a marinade and sealed bag then freeze or refrigerate. In fact, I recommend making a double batch to use all your buttermilk and freeze one bag for later. You can also refrigerate in between sous viding and deep frying.
- Can I finish in the air fryer?
- It won’t be quite as good, but yes! Spray the inside of the air fryer and the chicken with cooking spray first. Cook at 380 degrees F for 12 minutes, turning half way through.
- Can this be frozen?
- Yes. I recommend freezing before sous viding. You can sous vide the chicken from frozen.
- How do I reheat fried chicken?
- This is where the air fryer shines: it’s perfect for reheating fried chicken! I like to reheat 380 degrees F for about 5 minutes. You can also reheat it in the oven at 375 degrees F for 15 minutes.
View the recipe in a step-by-step web story here.
Get the Recipe:
Sous Vide Buttermilk Fried Chicken
Ingredients
Buttermilk Marinade
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, optional
- 1 1/2 lbs chicken pieces, bone-in or boneless; thighs, breasts, or wings
Dredge
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, optional
For Frying
- canola oil or other high-heat oil for frying
- kosher salt
Equipment
- Chamber Vacuum Sealer optional
- Dutch Oven optional
Instructions
Marinade
- In a small bowl, whisk together all the marinade ingredients.
- Add the chicken to your bag of choice and pour the marinade over top. Massage the chicken with the marinade so it is completely coated.
- Seal the bag using your air removal method of choice. I prefer to use a chamber vacuum sealer but a zipper top freezer safe bag will work well, too.
- At this point, you can freeze the chicken or let it marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours before cooking.
Sous Vide
- When ready to cook, preheat a water bath using an immersion circulator to 150 degrees F. Add the bag of marinated chicken to the water bath and cook for 2-4 hours.
- If sous viding in advance, refrigerate until ready to deep fry.
Deep Fry
- While the chicken is cooking, prepare your dredging station. In a shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs. In another shallow bowl, combine the flour, salt, paprika, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Line a baking sheet with paper towels or have ready a wire rack set over a paper-towel-lined baking sheet. Set aside.
- When ready to fry the chicken, remove the chicken from the bag and shake off excess marinade. Transfer the chicken to the shallow dish with the eggs. Discard the cooking bag and its contents.
- Turn the chicken so that it is completely coated with egg. Let the excess drip off and then coat each chicken thigh thoroughly in the seasoned flour mixture. Gently shake to remove excess flour.
- Carefully place the chicken in the oil, frying in batches if necessary so as to not crowd the pan. Turn the chicken as needed, until the skin is golden brown on all sides, about 7 minutes.
- Transfer the chicken to the wire rack or paper-towel-lined baking sheet. While hot from frying, sprinkle with a little kosher salt. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Can I make this ahead of time?
- Yes! You can get the chicken in a marinade and sealed bag then freeze or refrigerate. In fact, I recommend making a double batch to use all your buttermilk and freeze one bag for later. You can also refrigerate in between sous viding and deep frying.
- Can I finish in the air fryer?
- It won’t be quite as good, but yes! Spray the inside of the air fryer and the chicken with cooking spray first. Cook at 380 degrees F for 12 minutes, turning half way through.
- Can this be frozen?
- Yes. I recommend freezing before sous viding. You can sous vide the chicken from frozen.
- How do I reheat fried chicken?
- This is where the air fryer shines: it’s perfect for reheating fried chicken! I like to reheat 380 degrees F for about 5 minutes. You can also reheat it in the oven at 375 degrees F for 15 minutes.
I followed the instructions to the letter. I’m very well versed in both sous vide, and also trying chicken at home. I tried frying 3 ways:
A simple dredge/dusting of flour.
A more traditional multiple layers of dredging, and
a flour-followed-by-breadcrumb dredge.
I fried that chicken in 350° oil to the point of nearly burning the dredge, and in all three I ended up with rubbery, unrendered chicken skin.
The chicken itself, was fine. It’s basically the way I normally sous vide chicken anyhow.
I’d use this recipe for boneless/skinless thighs & breast cutlets for chicken sandwiches…but that’s all.
Hi Neil – I’m sorry this didn’t turn out as you wished! I’ve made this recipe dozens of times and it was tested thoroughly by others before being included in my last cookbook, and no one has had issues with unrendered chicken skin. In fact, sous vide is a great way to solve for this common problem with frying! Can I ask what temp and how long you sous vided?
Also, the dredge I indicate is an egg-flour dredge, none of the ones you describe here, so that could be the issue, too.
What temperature should the oil be when you fry the chicken?
350F!
I’m interested in why you marinate the chicken. I’ve heard things like brining and marinading are not needed when sous viding
You can definitely cut down marinading times with sous vide since it’s a slower cook, but there’s still great benefit to marinading and brining before cooking!
I used to do a brine beforehand, which made the chicken very flavorful. With sous vide, it’s plenty tender on its own, but was missing the flavor. Is it possible to use a no-salt marinade (basically brine with no salt)? Curious whether I should soak beforehand or while sous viding. I think marinating while cooking might soak up too much flavor. I know that brines work by using salt to extract juices and then the bird soaks up the brine, but if you don’t use salt, will it still soak up the flavors?
No? The salt is what make the brine work. You can cut back but it’s better to use the buttermilk marinade IMO.
I am a fried chicken lover and pretty good at making it. I’ve never tried it this way but I will be this weekend.
As far as the buttermilk marinade do you transfer the chicken to a new bag before putting it in the sous vide? Or place the bag of chicken with the buttermilk in the sous vide. Just thinking the milk would curdle.
I don’t bother transferring bags and haven’t had an issue! You could absolutely marinate first, then remove the chicken and vacuum seal. I just keep it simple (ahem… lazy ;)).
Gotcha thank you for the advice:) I will be trying it this weekend and will let you know how it turns out!
Can you use drumsticks? If so time/temp?
Totally – same time and temp!
With the make ahead frozen drums in marinade, how long would you sous vide if the buttermilk-marinade and chicken starts out frozen when going into the sous-vide bath?
BTW, I have Bulgarian greek yogurt to use up, so I’m going to try it with that instead of buttermilk…I’ll let you know if it turns out.
Thanks for your help, looking forward to your recipe, despite my adjustment.
I would make the minimum time 2.5 hours! Yes, please report back.