It’s easy enough to make for a quick weeknight meal, but the salmon tastes so good that you’ll want to serve it at your next fancy dinner! It cooks in just an hour and is perfectly tender and moist. This simple salmon recipe is sure to be a new family favorite. Serve it with some delicious lemon butter sauce for a real treat!.
I love cooking salmon — it’s light, healthy, and doesn’t require much seasoning. It’s also super delicious and easy to cook, especially when using a sous vide.
Sous vide cooking allows you to achieve tender, juicy, evenly cooked salmon straight from the freezer. But nailing the timing is key to salmon that’s done to perfection. Here’s a complete guide to how long you should sous vide frozen salmon fillets.
What is Sous Vide Salmon?
Sous vide involves cooking vacuum sealed foods in a temperature controlled water bath. This allows for very precise cooking, eliminating over or undercooking.
Salmon is well suited to sous vide as it’s easy to go from just right to overdone with traditional high heat cooking methods. Sous vide salmon comes out moist and tender thanks to the gentle even heat.
You can cook either fresh or frozen salmon sous vide with excellent results. Going straight from frozen makes weeknight dinners a breeze.
Benefits of Sous Vide Frozen Salmon
Cooking salmon from frozen in a sous vide means
- No need to remember to thaw salmon in the fridge
- Last minute and easy weeknight meals
- Tender, flaky salmon without drying out
- Consistent doneness from edge to edge
- Locks in moisture and flavor
As long as you get the timing right, sous vide frozen salmon fillets turn out perfect every time.
How Long Does Frozen Salmon Take to Sous Vide?
The cooking time for frozen salmon in a sous vide depends on two main factors:
Thickness
- 1-inch thick fillet: 45 minutes
- 1 1⁄2 inch thick fillet: 60-70 minutes
Salmon cuts that are thinner cook faster than cuts that are thicker. It takes longer for thicker cuts to fully cook.
Desired Doneness
Cooking time also varies based on your salmon doneness preference:
- Rare (115°F): 30-40 minutes
- Medium rare (125°F): 40-50 minutes
- Medium (130°F): 45-60 minutes
- Well (140°F): 60-75 minutes
For a foolproof tender texture, medium rare to medium is ideal for sous vide salmon.
Step-By-Step Guide
Follow these simple steps for perfect sous vide frozen salmon:
- Season salmon fillets with salt, pepper, herbs, etc.
- Vacuum seal seasoned salmon in a sous vide bag.
- Submerge bag in preheated water bath, clipped to the side.
- Cook at 115-130°F for 30-75 minutes depending on thickness and doneness.
- Remove bag, pat salmon dry and sear briefly on both sides to finish.
Sous vide salmon is ready any night of the week with just those few steps!
Key Tips for Success
To achieve the best results with frozen salmon fillets, keep these tips in mind:
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Make sure frozen salmon is sealed airtight so it cooks evenly. Use a vacuum sealer or the water displacement method.
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Weigh down the bag if needed so it stays fully submerged while cooking.
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Preheat the water bath before adding the bagged frozen salmon.
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Pat salmon dry before searing to get an optimal crust without steaming.
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Check salmon early if cooking at the lower end of the time range and cook longer if needed.
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Use a thick fillet or fold thin ends under to prevent edges overcooking.
Indicators Salmon is Done
With sous vide, cooking time alone doesn’t always guarantee perfection. Use these visual and textural clues to know when it’s ready:
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Flesh turns from translucent to opaque and pink throughout
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Salmon starts flaking and separates into moist, tender flakes when poked gently with a fork
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Internal temperature reads 115-140°F on a food thermometer depending on desired doneness
If sous vide straight from frozen, expect the very center to still be cool. A quick sear finishes it off while adding flavor.
Serving Up Your Salmon
Once you’ve nailed that sous vide salmon, there are endless options for how to serve it:
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On a salad with crisp greens, veggies, and a tangy vinaigrette
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In bowls with rice or quinoa and your favorite stir fried veggies
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On pasta with lemon, capers, olive oil and herbs
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On bruschetta-style toasts for an appetizer
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In tacos, sandwiches, sushi rolls, pizza and more
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With roasted potatoes or creamy risotto for a heartier meal
Any of your favorite sauces, glazes or toppings pair wonderfully with sous vide salmon too. Get creative and enjoy!
Storing and Reheating Leftovers
Sous vide makes salmon easy to prep ahead:
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Let salmon cool completely, then refrigerate in the sealed bag up to 5 days.
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Reheat gently in the bag in a 115-125°F water bath for 10-15 minutes until warmed through.
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The sous vide process pasteurizes the salmon, so it stores safely for several days.
Troubleshooting Sous Vide Frozen Salmon
If your sous vide frozen salmon doesn’t turn out quite right, here are some tips:
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Salmon is undercooked: Vacuum seal may have failed. Increase time 10 minutes. Thaw first next time.
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Overcooked salmon: Cooking time was too long for thickness. Remove sooner next time.
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Uneven: Some spots underdone while others over. Fold thin ends under before cooking.
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Dry salmon: Pat very dry before searing. Add sauce after cooking if needed.
The Takeaway
Sous vide takes the guesswork out of cooking frozen salmon fillets. In an hour or less, you can go from freezer to fork with minimal effort yet maximum flavor. For success, seal properly, weigh down bags, get the thickness right, and follow cooking time recommendations. In no time, you’ll be serving up restaurant-quality salmon any night!
Tips & tricks for sous vide salmon
- You can sous vide a different protein if you don’t like salmon. For more tasty meal ideas, try my sous vide chicken or sous vide steak recipes.
- You can cook the salmon in a water bath up to 4 days ahead of time if you want to. In a sealed bag, keep the salmon cold. You can also freeze the salmon for up to one month. If you want to serve it hot, use your sous vide machine to heat it up at 100 degrees for about 30 minutes. Or, you can enjoy it cold.
Salmon should be cooked sous vide for 45 minutes, up to 1 hour. If you cook the fish for more than an hour, the texture will start to change and get a bit mushy.
I prefer to sous vide salmon at 120-degrees for a delicious, buttery texture, and medium-rare doneness. If you’d like your salmon to be medium, cook at 130-degrees.
What type of salmon?
Pacific and Atlantic salmon are the more common types you’ll find at the market or grocery store. When I’m shopping for salmon, I only look for pieces that look very moist and don’t have any brown spots on them. You should also look at the skin around the edges of the salmon filet. It shouldn’t be brown or curl up around the edges.
Note: This recipe also works with trout. Learn about the differences between trout and salmon here.
Cooking Frozen Salmon by Sous Vide
FAQ
How long to cook fully frozen salmon?
Do you have to thaw fish before sous vide?
What temperature do you sous vide fish at?
How long to pasteurize salmon sous vide?
How long to cook frozen salmon sous vide?
The only thing you’ll need to adjust is the cook time. We recommend adding an additional 30 minutes when cooking frozen salmon sous vide, so an hour and 15 minutes total. A cool thing about cooking fish sous vide is that searing is not required.
How do you seal salmon in a sous vide machine?
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.
Can You sous vide a frozen salmon filet?
Yes, you can sous vide cook frozen salmon directly. Simply add 30 more minutes of cooking time in the sous vide water bath. Skin on or off? Even if you’re not a fan of salmon skin, I recommend purchasing your salmon filet with skin on, and you can always remove it afterwards.
How long does it take to cook frozen salmon?
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.