Sous Vide Frozen Salmon

Name: Sous Vide Frozen Salmon
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 70 min
Ingredients: 4 frozen salmon fillets, don't thaw (about 4-5 oz (125-150 g) each); salt; pepper; 1 tbsp olive oil; 1/2 lemon, juice of

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This is the easiest way to sous vide salmon, straight from frozen into flakey, tender perfectly cooked salmon. Sous Vide frozen salmon is a game changer, a nearly hands off way to make a meal everyone will love! No need to think ahead or thaw anything, you’ll get great results regardless.

sous vide frozen salmon being flaked with a fork

Why sous vide frozen salmon?

As easy as salmon is to cook, it’s also really easy to under or over cook it. Using a sous vide eliminates the guess works and perfectly delivers every time! Sous vide means “under vacuum” in French, referring to the method of cooking sous vide items in vacuum cooking at a very precise temperature.

Sous vide frozen salmon is flakey, tender, but not underdone. This is just the way my family and I prefer having salmon!

You don’t need to take the time to thaw the salmon, or over think pulling the salmon out of the freezer the night before. Just cook straight from frozen.

It makes for such an easy meal. You just need to place the salmon in the sous vide water, cook until the timer goes off. Finish by searing in a hot pan just to get that lovely golden crust.

Salmon is really versatile. You can serve this as simply as I did with just some salt, pepper, and lemon juice, or go more elaborate with the sauce of your choice.

Cooking frozen salmon without defrosting:

You can pull the salmon out of the freezer and sous vide it straight away, no thawing required. With this method of cooking, you’ll get moist and tender salmon regardless.

The salmon has to be in a tightly sealed bag so you can cook it in the water bath without it getting mushy or waterlogged.

How to seal bag for sous vide cooking:

You can look for already vacuum sealed salmon fillets, like the ones I used which are available at Ikea.

Alternately, you can use an actual vacuum sealer to close the bags off if you have one.

What most people would choose to do would be to just place the salmon fillets into a sandwich (Ziploc) bag that you can tightly seal and immerse in the water.

You can use the water displacement method in which you seal all but one corner of the bag, and place it in cold water. Make sure everything below the zip-line is covered by water. Then seal the rest of the bag.

Stop your bag from floating in the sous vide:

If you tried to seal your bag as tightly as you can but it’s still floating, try one of several things:

You can place a dull butter knife in the bag with the salmon, because it’ll be heavy enough to weigh it down, but not sharp enough to puncture the bag.

You can also add weight to the top of the bag, weighing down the floating bags with metal racks, a large ladle, anything waterproof and heavy.

There are a lot of useful tips in this article by Anova on how to keep bags submerged.

How to cook frozen salmon sous vide:

As outlined above, place frozen salmon fillets in a ziploc bag. You can place them individually or all in one bag. Even easier, get salmon already vacuum sealed.
Bring a pot of water with the sous vide machine attached the side. Turn machine onto 130 F (54 C) and let it come to temperature. Once it comes to temperature, drop the bagged salmon in, making sure salmon stays submerged.
Cook for 70 minutes, then remove bags from water. Remove the salmon from the bags, and pat dry. If you haven’t already, season generously with salt and pepper.
Add a drizzle of olive oil to a large skillet and heat over medium high. Add the salmon to the hot pan and sear for 1 minute a side until golden brown. Squeeze some lemon juice on top if desired and enjoy!

How long to sous vide salmon from frozen:

a plate of sous vide salmon with broccoli and corn

The thicker your salmon is the longer it’ll take to cook. It takes about 45 minutes to cook a 1-inch frozen salmon and 60- 70 minutes for 1.5-inch. If you take the salmon out of the sous vide and feel it’s a bit underdone, just cook it a little longer during the pan searing process and it’ll be just fine.

What to serve sous vide salmon with:

This is great as pictured with this easy healthy cabbage salad. Try some roasted garlic cauliflower mashed potatoes, or a light cucumber salad. This is such a simple preparation of salmon you can do anything you like with it. Serve it with some teriyaki sauce, some rice, broccoli, pasta, it all works. Top a salad with it, or make some salmon sandwiches.

salmon with cabbage salad with another plate in background

FAQS:

Can I sous vide fresh salmon?

Yes absolutely! Cook at the same temperature (130 F, 54 C) but you’ll only need 45 minutes of cooking time for 1.5 inch fillets.

What if my bags keep floating?

See above in the “stop my bags from floating” section for some great tips.

How long can sous vide salmon be stored?

It will last tightly covered 2-3 days in the fridge.

If you liked this recipe, you might like:

The easiest way to make tender, flakey salmon, straight from frozen to perfectly cooked using a sous vide machine.

5 from 7 votes

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Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Servings: people

Calories: 228kcal

Author: Farah Abumaizar

Equipment

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Sous Vide Machine (like the Anova)

Ingredients

Instructions

If using ready vacuum sealed frozen salmon (like the Ikea fillets I used), you don't need to season pre cooking. If your salmon isn't sealed, then sprinkle all over with salt and pepper, and place in sandwich bags.
Place the sealed salmon into a large pot of water to which the sous vide machine has been attached. If using sandwich bags, close the bag using the “water displacement” method: seal all but one corner of the bag, and place it in cold water. Make sure everything below the zip-line is covered by water. Then seal the rest of the bag. Alternately, you can use a vacuum sealer machine. If your bags are still floating, see notes.
Set sous vide to 130 F (54C) and turn it on for 70 minutes. When the timer goes off, remove salmon from the bags, pat dry, and if you haven't already, season with salt and pepper generously.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Once very hot, add the salmon (it's now completely cooked, you just want to sear it for some texture) and sear on each side for 1 minute until golden brown.
Remove from the pan, squeeze some lemon juice on top of each fillet and enjoy plain or with whatever sauces/toppings you like.

Video

Notes

Stop bags from floating: You can place a dull butter knife in the bag with the salmon, because it’ll be heavy enough to weigh it down, but not sharp enough to puncture the bag.