Sous vide ribeye steak is perfectly cooked every time. With sous vide cooking you can get consistent results so your beef is brown and crusty on the outside and juicy in the middle. Make a steak house quality dinner at home!
Ribeye is one of my family’s favorite dinners – and nothing beats being able to make a tasty, juicy steak without leaving the comfort of your home. By using a sous vide immersion cooker you can make sure your meat is perfectly cooked every time, just like a fancy restaurant.
Sous vide is excellent for making all kinds of easy dinners, like sous vide chicken breast or sous vide lamb chops. Ribeye is another dinner that can really be perfected by using sous vide cooking.
When grilling or pan frying steak at home it is very difficult to make sure it is not over cooked or under cooked. Even with a instant read meat thermometer you can miss the precise moment at which your meat has reached the optimal temperature and end up with meat that is over done.
This is especially annoying because steak is costly! When I buy expensive meat I don’t want a mediocre meal, I want a delicious meal. Before I got a sous vide I rarely cooked steaks at home but now it is quick and easy to make a perfect meal.
Why You Will Love Sous Vide Ribeye
- Cooked precisely, to the exact level of doneness desired
- Simple recipe requires only a few minutes of hands on attention
- Delicious and juicy steak
What is Sous Vide Cooking?
A sous vide circulator works by heating a large pan of water to a uniform temperature. Food is cooked by sealing it in a ziploc bag or vacuum sealed bag and immersing it in the hot water bath.
As the food cooks in the bag it reaches the temperature of the water, but it can’t get any warmer. So a meat cooked in a sous vide at 134 F will reach exactly 134 F but not warmer. So it is not possible to overcook your meat. From edge to edge your steak will be the temperature that you desire.
After the sous vide cooking you will want to sear the ribeye quickly in a cast iron skillet or on the grill. This gives the steak a nice crusty brown exterior, which goes perfectly with the juicy, pink interior.
What is the Best Ribeye Sous Vide Temperature?
Here are the suggested temperatures for cooking sous vide ribeye:
What temperature is best will depend on your taste. I cook my sous vide ribeye somewhere between 130 and 134 degrees F, depending on what I feel like eating.
Seasoning Sous Vide Steak
Before cooking the sous vide ribeye the meat needs some seasoning. You can sprinkle the steak a seasoning like lemon pepper seasoning or just use a generous amount of salt and pepper.
I also like to include herbs and aromatics in the bag with the ribeye to help flavor it as it cooks. Garlic works well or shallots along with herbs like thyme, rosemary and parsley. I generally just use whichever fresh herbs I have around.
How to Make Sous Vide Ribeye Step by Step
1. Set the Temperature of the Sous Vide
Use the chart above to set your sous vide to your desired temperature. My Anova sous vide will beep and let me know when the water has reached the desired temperature.
2. Prepare the Ribeye
While the sous vide reaches temperature put ribeye in a bag for sous vide cooking. You will want to season it with salt and pepper or your favorite seasoning along with garlic or herbs before sealing it in the bag.
Sous vide cooking works best with meat that is thick, at least 1″ thick. Thinner beef won’t give you the desired contrast between a juicy interior and a crusty brown exterior.
If you don’t have a vacuum sealer you can use a plastic bag with a zipper to hold the meat using the water displacement method.
3. Put the Ribeye in the Sous Vide
Once the water bath has reached the cooking temperature it is time to put the steak in. If you used a vacuum sealer you can just drop the bag in the water.
If you used a plastic bag use the water displacement method to seal the bag. Leave the zipper slider partly open at the top, and carefully lower the bag into the water, keeping the top out of the water.
As the bag lowers the water pressure will push any excess air out of the bag. Once the meat is submerged close the bag completely. Check out this post for a step by step explanation of the water displacement method with a video.
4. Sous Vide the Ribeye
When the cold meat enters the water the temperature of the water bath will decrease by a few degrees. Start timing the cooking once the water gets back to the temperature it is set at.
Let the ribeye cook in the water bath for at least 1 hour and up to 3 hours. This gives you a large window of time to work with!
5. Make Mushrooms or Onions if desired
Since you need to heat up a frying pan to sear the steak you might as well saute some mushrooms or onions to serve with it. About 15 minutes before you want to eat heat a heavy cast iron skillet over medium heat.
Add some butter or oil and mushrooms or onions and saute the vegetables for about 10 minutes, until they have softened. Then push them to the side of the skillet or remove them to a plate while you sear the steak.
5. Sear the Ribeye
Turn the heat on the cast iron skillet up to medium high and add some oil or butter to the skillet. Take the beef out of the water bath, open the bag, remove any herbs or aromatics and pat the ribeye dry with paper towels.
Then sear the ribeye in the cast iron skillet for 2-3 minutes on each side. A nice brown crust will develop which adds extra flavor and makes the steak look good. You can also sear it on a grill.
Keep the heat medium/high and only brown it for about 2 minutes on each side. If you keep it on the heat too long the interior will start to cook, which will ruin the entire point of using the sous vide!
What to Serve With Sous Vide Ribeye
After the ribeye browned set it aside to rest for 5 minutes before serving. Cover the ribeye with the mushrooms or onions and serve.
This tasty, perfectly cooked ribeye steak is delicious served with compound garlic butter and mashed potatoes. This recipe will give you a perfectly cooked dinner every time!
Frequently Asked Questions
Sous vide is a safe way to cook your food. To ensure food safety you need to kill off any harmful bacteria that are in the food. Killing bacteria depends both on the temperature you heat the food to and the time for which you cook it.
In sous vide cooking you cook the food at the lower temperature for a longer time, so the food is safe. However this cooking time is almost completely hands off.
Sous vide cooking works amazingly well with frozen steak. The meat will need to stay in the sous vide cooker for a little longer, but other than that there is no difference in the recipe.
As a rule of thumb for sous vide cooking frozen meat you should double the minimum cooking time. So for this recipe frozen ribeye should be cooked for at least 2 hours.
Being able to use frozen meat makes buying in bulk easy. Buy a large package at the grocery store, season the meat and package them individually in bags and freeze. Then when you are ready to make steak you can just take out as many steaks as needed and put them in the sous vide.
Find More Sous Vide Recipes
Sous Vide Ribeye Steak
Ingredients
Sous Vide Steak
- 2 ribeye steak
- salt and pepper to taste
- rosemary thyme or parsley
- 1/2 shallot or garlic
Searing the Steak
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 4 ounces mushrooms or onions optional
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Put the sous vide cooker in a water bath and set temperature of the cooker to 134 F or your desired temperature (see notes).
- While the water reaches the desired temperature prepare the steaks. Season them with salt and pepper. Add a sprig of rosemary or parsley on top of the steaks along with sliced shallots or garlic.2 ribeye steak, salt and pepper to taste, rosemary, 1/2 shallot or garlic
- Seal the seasoned steaks in vacuum bags or place them in zipper bags.
- Once the cooker reaches 134 F place the steaks in the water, submerging them completely.
- The temperature of the water will decrease once the cold steaks are added. Once it gets back up to temperature start timing the cooking. Cook the ribeye steaks for 1 – 3 hours.
- About 15 minutes before you are ready to eat heat a frying pan on medium heat and add the butter. If you want mushrooms or onions then saute them mushrooms until they are soft, about 10 minutes. Remove them from the skillet and set them aside.2 Tablespoons butter, 4 ounces mushrooms or onions
- Turn the cast iron skillet up to medium high heat and add the olive oil. Take the steaks out of the sous vide cooker. Remove any herbs and pat the steaks dry with a paper towel.2 Tablespoons olive oil
- Sear the steaks for 2 minutes on each side until nicely browned.
- Let the ribeye steaks rest for 5 minutes and serve with mushrooms or onions.
Video
Notes
- If cooking frozen rib eye steaks increase the minimum cooking time to 2 hours.
Cooking temperature chart
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Nutrition Information
Nutrition facts are estimates.
