I love the convenience of my crock pot, freezer meals, and now I have a new favorite for weekly meal prep in the kitchen- Anova’s Sous Vide Device. When I was first asked to check it out I jumped at it, but then I was a bit intimidated- it looked well….fancy. I wasn’t sure it was something that would be for everyday use so I read the instructions, poked around online a little bit and realized that it was definitely an everyday kitchen helper!
I decided to use it to help with my weekly kitchen prep- this makes my lunches and busy weeknight dinners a breeze! Normally I bake or (yuck) sometimes boil about 3 lbs of chicken and prep it in different ways to use in multiple ways. While it works,, my chicken is usually a bit tough, and lacks some flavor.
The premise behind Anova’s Sous Vide is that it gently, and evenly cooks your food in a water bath at a perfectly controlled, steady temperature. Keeping it from becoming tough and rubbery at the same time. They have also included a blue tooth feature that you can pair up with your smart phone and control through the app- easy peasy.
The Anova Sous Vide is so simple to use, even though it looks like a professional kitchen tool it is completely workable for the everyday, at home cook- I love that!
So what do I start with? Wanting to try something simple for the first time I decided to try my chicken out in it and here is how I did it.
1. In a gallon ziplock bag-
Add 1 Tbsp. Olive oil, 1 tsp. ground black pepper, and 1 tsp. garlic salt
Add 3 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breast,press out as much air as you can, and seal bag well.
Place bag in pot of water and allow to simmer in water bath for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Remove bag from water, allowing water to drain off bag.
Remove chicken from bag and divide into thirds.
Chop one third.
Shred one third.
Slice one third.
Use your chicken immediately in a recipe or bag it up in a freezer safe ziplock (don’t forget to mark contents and date with a sharpie) Freeze for up to 3 months.
These bags can be used to top fresh leafy, salads, make up a quick soup, for quesadillas, to make chicken tortilla soup, chicken nuggets, or Buffalo Chicken Bites, and much more- make your chicken this way once a week or even every other week for a large batch and make dinners in a hurry during your busy work week.