Sous Vide Steak
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With only 5 minutes of prep time, this Sous Vide Steak recipe is quick and easy to make for everyone from beginners to sous vide pros. Take fresh or frozen steaks, place them in zipper bags or vacuum seal them with rosemary and garlic, then sous vide for 2 hours. After a quick sear, you’ll have perfectly cooked steaks every time!
Table of contents
Want to learn a new cooking technique that’s so easy and makes the most delicious, tender, and perfectly cooked steaks every time? Allow me to introduce you to sous vide cooking!
I purchased my first sous vide in 2016 and have been obsessed with it ever since! One of my favorite parts of sous vide cooking is that, like a slow cooker, you can set it and forget it. Whether you’re new to sous vide cooking, or a seasoned pro, this guide for how to cook sous vide steaks will help you make the perfect steak every time.
Whether it’s your first time using a sous vide, or your 1000th, this recipe uses tested and perfected techniques to make sure that you end up with the most juicy and tender steak!
Sous vide cooking really is as easy as tossing a steak and seasonings in a bag, placing it in a sous vide water bath and leaving it to cook for a few hours. After a quick 60 second sear, the steak is ready for dinner! Who knew that something so simple could provide such amazing results!
Ingredients
- Sirloin steaks – these are the steaks I used for this recipe, but you can also use filet mignon, skirt steak, New York steak and ribeye steaks in this recipe. In the cooking time and temperature chart below, I’ll give you the temperatures and times for each of these cuts of meat. For a sirloin, filet or ribeye, I recommend using a two inch thick steak. At this thickness, you’ll be able to get a beautiful pink color throughout the entire steak, if you’re going for medium rare, which I recommend.
- Fresh rosemary – feel free to use any fresh herbs of your choice, thyme, parsley or bay leaves can also be used as aromatics to flavor the steak as it cooks in the sous vide.
- Black pepper
- Salt
- Fresh garlic cloves
- Butter – olive oil can also be used in place of the butter. You’ll want one of these fats to add flavor when searing and finishing the steaks.
Step by step instructions
- Add each steak to it’s own bag with a sprig of rosemary, salt, pepper and crushed garlic.
- Vacuum seal the bag closed, using a vacuum sealer.
- Note: if you don’t have a vacuum sealer, you can use a quart size freezer-safe zipper bag and the water displacement method. To do so, you’ll need to place each bag with a steak in it almost all of the way under water, leaving just about an inch of the top of the bag open, the water will press out all of the air around the food in the bag, you can then seal the bag closed.
- Place the sealed bags of steak in a large pot or container filled with water. If properly sealed, the steak should sink in the water. You want to make sure that the steak is completely submerged in the water for proper sous vide cooking.
- Attach a sous vide to the pot and set the temperature to 129°F. Set a timer for 2 hours.
- Remove the bags from the water, cut the bags open and use tongs to remove the steaks from the bag. If using a grill to sear the steaks, they can go directly on the grill. If using a cast iron skillet to sear the steaks, I recommend patting them dry first with paper towels. Make sure the grill or skillet is very hot before adding the steaks. You only want to cook them for 30 seconds on each side to sear the outside of the steak. You do not want the internal temperature of the steak to rise.
- If cooking the steaks in a skillet, you can add the olive oil or butter to the skillet before adding the steaks, or you can finish the steaks by adding a small pat of butter on top at the end. If grilling the steaks, I recommend removing the steaks from the grill, then adding butter on top to let it melt over the steaks for maximum flavor.
After searing the steaks, allow them to rest for 5 minutes before slicing into them. This will allow the juices to evenly distribute throughout the steak after searing for a tender, juicy steak! I like to finish the steaks with a little flaky sea salt and fresh chopped parsley, this is totally optional, but I would recommend it.
Frequently asked questions
- What does a sous vide do? Sous vide cooking is a method that restaurants have been using for years, but has just recently became popular in households. Sous vide is a method of cooking food in airtight sealed plastic bags submerged in a temperature controlled water bath for 1-6 hours, sometimes up to 48 hours! The result is perfectly even cooked food from the inside out, thus making it awesome for cooking meats.
- Is it safe to sous vide in Ziploc bags? Ziploc bags are safe to use in a sous vide. They do not contain BPA so you do not have to worry about the chemical leaking into your food. Ziploc bags will not soften until 195°F. Most meats cook in the sous vide between 130°-140°F.
- Can you sous vide steak from frozen? Yes! I’ve actually made this sous vide sirloin steak recipe with steaks from the refrigerator and the freezer, and could not tell a difference between the two. This is just another benefit of sous vide cooking, no need to defrost your meat before taking it from the freezer to the sous vide. I do recommend a minimum of 2 hours in the sous vide for any cut of frozen steak.
- When do you season a sous vide steak? I add the seasoning to the sous vide steaks in the bags, then finish with butter and sprinkle additional salt on the steaks after searing.
- Why do you need to sear the steaks? Technically, you don’t need to sear the steaks, as they’ll be completely cooked in the sous vide water bath. Searing the steaks adds flavor, texture and color, to create the best steak that’s tender, perfectly cooked, juicy and flavorful, with a nice crust and beautiful presentation.
Sous vide steak time and temperature charts
Use the temperature chart below for any cut of steak. For the steaks that you see pictured throughout the post, I cooked them at 129°F.
- Rare: set the sous vide at 120-128°F
- Medium Rare (my recommendation): set the sous vide at 129-134°F
- Medium: set the sous vide at 135-144°F
- Medium Well: set the sous vide at 145-155°F
- Well Done: set the sous vide at 156-162°F
Using the temperature chart above, follow the timing chart below for different cuts of steak. The leaner the steak, such as a filet mignon, the shorter the cooking time. The larger the steak, such as a tri tip, the longer the cooking time.
- Sirloin steak: cook for at least 1 hour, up to 2 1/2 hours.
- Filet mignon: cook for at least 45 minutes, up to 2 1/2 hours.
- New York strip steak: cook for at least 1 hour, up to 2 1/2 hours.
- Ribeye steak: cook for at least 1 hour, up to 2 1/2 hours.
- T-bone steak: cook for at least 1 hour, up to 4 hours.
- Skirt steak (or flank steak): cook for at least 1 hour, up to 4 hours.
- Tri tip: cook for 6 hours.
The great this about cooking in a sous vide is that the temperature of the meat will never rise above what the water temperature is set at, so technically you can never overcook meat in a sous vide. Yes, that does mean that you could leave a filet mignon in the sous vide for 24 hours, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
Why, you ask? Because although the temperature inside the meat isn’t rising, the meat is still cooking at the set temperature, which means that the proteins will continue to break down and eventually the meat will even start to shred apart if you leave it in the sous vide for 24 hours.
For the best results, I do recommend following the time and temperature chart above.
What to serve with the steaks
Wondering what to serve with these delicious sous vide steaks? Try one or two of these delicious side dishes, or top the steaks with sauteed mushrooms for a true steakhouse experience!
Tools and pantry items needed
Below, I’ve listed all of the tools that I’ve used over the years to make this recipe at home. Yes, even the torch! My husband had fun with that one!
- Sous vide
- Grill, grill pan, torch or cast iron skillet for searing steaks
- Ziploc bags or a vacuum Sealer with vacuum seal bags
- Butcher Box Steaks (my favorite grass fed beef delivery service!)
More sous vide recipes
Welcome to the sous vide cooking club! Make dinner every night of the week using your sous vide and these scrumptious recipes!
Don’t forget to pin this Sous Vide Steak recipe for later and when you make it, be sure to share a pic on Instagram and tag me @WhitneyBond or use the hashtag #WBRecipes!
And if you’re looking for more great ways to prepare and cook steaks, don’t miss my popular Steak Marinade and Steak Seasoning recipes!
Sous Vide Steak
Ingredients
- 4 6 oz top sirloin steaks, or the steak cut of your choice
- 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 8 cloves fresh garlic, crushed
- 2 tablespoons butter, or olive oil
Instructions
- Fill a large pot, or container, with water. Attach a sous vide and preheat the water bath to 129°F.
- Place each steak in it’s own bag, add 1 sprig fresh rosemary, ½ tsp black pepper, ½ tsp salt and 2 cloves crushed garlic to each bag with the steaks.
- Vacuum seal the bag closed.
- If you don't have a vacuum sealer, use the water displacement method. Place each bag with a steak in it almost all of the way under the water, leaving just about an inch of the top of the bag open, the water will press out all of the air around the food in the bag, you can then seal the bag closed.
- Place the sealed bags of steak in the sous vide water bath. If properly sealed, the steak should sink in the water. You want to make sure that the steak is completely submerged in the water for proper sous vide cooking.
- Set timer for 2 hours.
- Remove the bags from the water, cut the bags open and use tongs to remove the steaks from the bag.
- If using a grill to sear the steaks, make sure the grill is very hot and add the steaks directly to the grill for 30 seconds per side. Remove from the grill and immediately top each steak with a small pat of butter, let it rest and melt over the steak for 5 minutes before serving.
- If using a cast iron skillet to sear the steaks, I recommend patting the steaks dry first with paper towels. Make sure the skillet is very hot, add the steaks and cook for 30 seconds per side. You can add the butter or olive oil to the skillet before adding the steaks, or you can finish the steaks by adding a small pat of butter on top at the end.
- Optionally serve topped with flaky sea salt and fresh chopped parsley
Notes
- Steaks can be sous vide from frozen. You do not need to defrost the steaks before adding them to a sous vide water bath. I do recommend a minimum of 2 hours in the sous vide for any cut of frozen steak.
- It is safe to sous vide in Ziploc bags. They do not contain BPA so you do not have to worry about the chemical leaking into your food. Ziploc bags will not soften until 195°F. Most meats cook in the sous vide between 130°-140°F.
- Use the temperature chart below for any cut of steak.
- Rare: set the sous vide at 120-128°F
- Medium Rare (my recommendation): set the sous vide at 129-134°F
- Medium: set the sous vide at 135-144°F
- Medium Well: set the sous vide at 145-155°F
- Well Done: set the sous vide at 156-162°F
- Using the temperature chart above, follow the timing chart below for different cuts of steak.
- Sirloin steak: cook for at least 1 hour, up to 2 1/2 hours.
- Filet mignon: cook for at least 45 minutes, up to 2 1/2 hours.
- New York strip steak: cook for at least 1 hour, up to 2 1/2 hours.
- Ribeye steak: cook for at least 1 hour, up to 2 1/2 hours.
- T-bone steak: cook for at least 1 hour, up to 4 hours.
- Skirt steak (or flank steak): cook for at least 1 hour, up to 4 hours.
- Tri tip: cook for 6 hours.
Nutrition Facts
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