We’ve all had our share of experiences with dry, rubbery chicken or undercooked chicken. But no more. It’s time for a chicken revolution.

If you pre-cook your chicken using the sous vide method, it will be the juiciest chicken you’ve ever pulled off the grill.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Everywhere Agency on behalf of FoodSaver®. All opinions are my own.

grilled sauced chicken breasts sliced on wooden platter with BBQ sauce in background

Save this BBQ Tip

Enter your email, and I’ll send this link directly to your inbox. Plus, you’ll get new BBQ recipes and tips weekly.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Table of Contents

What sous vide?

Sous vide is a fancy French word that means under vacuum. Basically, you vacuum-pack your chicken and cook it in heated water, but since it’s sealed tight in a FoodSaver® Sous-vide Vacuum Seal Bag, no water sneaks in to dilute the chicken flavor. Instead, the chicken bastes in its own juices and the fat from the skin.

I seal my sous vide bags with a FoodSaver® FM2000 Vacuum Sealing System.

You can actually season the meat, vacuum pack the chicken and freeze the bag, so the chicken is always on hand and ready for your next barbecue. You don’t even have to defrost them. The sous vide bags can go straight from freezer to sous vide pot.

For this recipe, you’ll sous vide the chicken for about an hour. Place the bag of barbecue sauce right under the chicken in the pot and cook them at the same time.

When you remove the chicken from the bag, it will be moist and tender, but the skins will be, too. That’s where the grill comes in as the hero.

Learn more about sous vide cooking

Ingredients

These are the ingredients you need to make sous vide grilled chicken with a homemade molasses barbecue sauce.

  • Cornish Hens: Look for these in the freezer section of your local grocery store. They usually come in 2 packs.
  • Olive Oil: This serves as the base of the vinaigrette.
  • White Wine Vinegar: When making the cumin vinaigrette for this recipe, white wine vinegar is recommended. See the notes below for other options.
  • Sugar: Every vinaigrette needs something sweet to balance the acid. This recipe uses granulated white sugar.
  • Garlic: Fresh cloves are best, but garlic powder or granulated garlic can also be used.
  • Kosher Salt: If you only have table salt, use half as much.
  • Worcestershire Sauce: This helps brown the hen skin as it’s cooking.
  • Cumin: Ground cumin is an earthy spice often used in Latin cooking.
  • Limes: The juice of two limes adds sweetness and acid. 
Substitutions: If you don't want to make your own BBQ sauce, you can use a pre-made bottled sauce.

See the full recipe card below for servings and a full list of ingredients.

How to make sous vide grilled chicken

Text about setting up grill

  1. STEP ONE: Fill a large pot with water. Insert your sous vide machine, and set the temperature to 155 F degrees.
  1. STEP TWO: Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Place in a gallon-sized sous-vide bag. Vacuum and seal the bag.
4 chicken breasts being vacuum sealed with FoodSaver
  1. STEP THREE: Combine the molasses barbecue sauce ingredients. Place in a quart-sized sous-vide bag. Seal the bag but don’t vacuum it. 
PRO TIP: Barbecue sauce needs to be heated to help combine the flavors, but it's usually made up of a lot of sugar. If you heat it in a pot, you have to nurse it to make sure it doesn't burn or crystallize. If you sous vide it, you can toss it in the heated water for about an hour and get on with other tasks.
  1. STEP FOUR: Place the barbecue sauce in the pre-heated water. Add the bag of chicken on top. Sous vide for 1 hour.
  1. STEP FIVE: Preheat the grill to 400F degrees. Place the chicken skin-side-down on the grill grates. Brush with sauce. Grill for 10 minutes. Flip. Brush with more sauce, cook for 10 more minutes.
4 chicken breasts on grill with grill marks
black brush basting sauce on a grilled chicken breast 
PRO TIP: To bake the chicken instead of grilling it, heat the oven to 400F degrees.  Place the chicken skin-side-up on a sheet pan. Brush with sauce. Bake for 15 minutes.

How to serve sous vide grilled chicken

After cooking, let the chicken rest for 5-10 minutes. Then serve with your favorite sides and extra BBQ sauce.

When you pull these breasts off the grill and slice into them, the tender meat will glisten with juiciness.

close up shot of sliced chicken breast showing juiciness

Storage

Leftover chicken can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. It cal also be frozen for 3-4 months.

More sous vide recipes

Newest Recipes

Want even more great grilling recipes and tips? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow me on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok for my latest grilling adventures. If you make a recipe, please leave a comment and rating below.

Save this BBQ Tip

Enter your email, and I’ll send this link directly to your inbox. Plus, you’ll get new BBQ recipes and tips weekly.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.
grilled sauced chicken breasts sliced on wooden platter with BBQ sauce in background
Pin Print
4.45 from 25 votes

Sous Vide Grilled Chicken with Molasses Barbecue Sauce

By: Christie Vanover
Sous vide grilled chicken is the juiciest grilled chicken recipe you’ll ever make.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients 

  • 4 bone-in chicken breasts
  • salt and pepper

Molasses Barbecue Sauce

  • 1 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup ketchup
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 2 tbsp melted butter
  • 1 1/2 tsp hot sauce
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper

Instructions 

  • Heat water: Fill a large pot with water. Insert your sous vide machine, and set the temperature to 155 F degrees.
  • Season: Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Place in a gallon-sized sous-vide bag. Vacuum and seal the bag.
  • Mix sauce: Combine the molasses barbecue sauce ingredients. Place in a quart-sized sous-vide bag. Seal the bag, but don't vacuum it.
  • Sous vide: Place the barbecue sauce in the pre-heated water. Add the bag of chicken on top. Sous vide for 1 hour.
  • Preheat: Preheat the grill or oven to 400 F degrees.
  • If grilling, place the chicken skin-side-down on the grill grates. Brush with sauce. Grill for 10 minutes. Flip. Brush with more sauce, cook for 10 more minutes.
  • If baking, place the chicken skin-side-up on a sheet pan. Brush with sauce. Bake for 15 minutes.
  • Serve with excess sauce.

Nutrition

Calories: 626kcalCarbohydrates: 64gProtein: 38gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 130mgSodium: 1087mgPotassium: 899mgSugar: 62gVitamin A: 480IUVitamin C: 2.6mgCalcium: 106mgIron: 2.9mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Did you try this recipe?Be sure to rate it, leave a comment and save it so you can make it again. Show off your awesome results on social by tagging @girlscangrill

What's HOT

christie vanover standing against wood wall.

Hey BBQ Family

I’m Christie, the head cook and award-winning competitive pitmaster for Team Girls Can Grill. I have won multiple grand championships and top 10 category finishes. I’m an expert grill reviewer for BBQ Guys, and I have appeared on the Food Network and Ninja Woodfire Grill infomercials. I established this website in 2015 to share my BBQ tips and recipes.

Read More About Me

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




5 Comments

  3. 20 minutes after sous vide, what’s the point of sous vide? I would crank that grill up and just get a nice char on both sides, done in 5 minutes!

    Reply