Unlike traditional cooking methods, where a steak can end up under or overcooked, Sous Vide cooking eliminates the guesswork. Sous Vide precision cooking methods solve the issue of guessing when your steak is cooked to your liking and delivers perfectly cooked steaks. Sous Vide uses a low-heat, long-time cooking process, which allows for evenly cooked steaks from end to end. Every bite is guaranteed to be tender and juicy!
Cooking steak Sous Vide is a two-phase process — preparation and cooking. The first phase of preparation involves thawing you steak, seasoning, and preheating your Sous Vide. Then, you are ready to cook! The cooking phase includes cooking your steak in the Sous Vide and searing it in a skillet. Searing the steak in a skillet on the stove or on the grill is an important step when using the Sous Vide method to cook steaks — it ensures the outside of the steak has a golden-browned crust while the inside has already been cooked to perfection.
Follow the steps below to cook the perfect Sous Vide Steak!
Additionally, you can find cut specific steak cooking recommendations for each cut on our How To Cook Steaks page.
Cooking a Steak Sous Vide: Preparation
Cooking a Steak Sous Vide: Preparation
Preheat your Sous Vide
Preheat your water bath: Fill your Sous Vide container with warm water and set the sous vide device to the appropriate temperature for the desired doneness. The Sous Vide device should be set as follows:
- Rare: 122°F
- Medium-Rare: 129°F
- Medium: 135°F
- Medium-Well: 145°F
Preparing your steaks
Be sure your steaks are completely thawed before cooking. We recommend thawing in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours. Once thawed, remove your steak from the refrigerator approximately 30–40 minutes before cooking to allow the steak to come to room temperature.
Once your steak has reached room temperature, remove your steak from the plastic packaging and place in a heat-stable vacuum-sealed bag for cooking.
Before vacuum sealing in a heat-stable sous vide bag, we recommend seasoning your steaks with Kansas City Steaks Original Steak Seasoning for an enhanced flavor prior to cooking in the sous vide. Another option is to add fresh herbs and a Kansas City Steaks Finishing Butter, along with your raw steak, into the heat-stable vacuum seal bag before sealing.
You’re ready to start cooking
Cooking a Steak Sous Vide: Cooking
Cooking a Steak Sous Vide: Cooking
Check your water temperature
Place the packaged steak in the Sous Vide and set the time based on the desired doneness
Remove steak from the Sous Vide
Preheat a skillet over high heat for about 5 minutes
Sear steaks on a lightly coated skillet
Lightly coat the bottom of your skillet with high smoke point oil such as avocado oil, canola oil, or grapeseed oil. Place your steaks on the skillet and sear for approximately 2 minutes on each side. Sear until the steaks reach the final desired internal temperature, according to the Measuring Doneness Chart below.
The sear will give your steaks the rich golden-brown color and enhanced flavor typically associated with grilled steaks.
Serve immediately
Add additional flavor based on preferences
Sous Vide Steak Cooking Times Chart
Cooking times for Sous Vide Steaks are provided in the chart below. Use a meat thermometer and the Measuring Doneness Chart below to achieve the perfect steak doneness.
Steaks cooked under 130°F should not be cooked longer than 2½ hours at a time due to food safety concerns.
Measuring Doneness of Sous Vide Steaks
Sous Vide Steak Recipes
Looking for a steak recipe, marinade, seasoning, or rub to complete your mouth-watering steaks? Check out our most popular steak recipes below or click Steak Recipes to view our recipe library.