Honey Balsamic Sous Vide Chicken Legs

These sous vide chicken legs offer super tender chicken meat along with crispy skin. Drizzled with a delectable honey balsamic sauce, they are fingerlickingly delicious.

When it comes to cooking the dark meat of a chicken, there are so many ways to do it. To name a few, lemon pepper chicken, honey garlic chicken, and don’t forget that classic buttermilk fried chicken. They all sound familiar, don’t they?

However, my absolute favorite flavor for chicken legs goes to honey balsamic. The chicken marinade I used in this recipe is inspired by my One-Pan Balsamic Chicken with Roasted Vegetables.

It’s sweet and sour. It’s infused with garlic and herbs.
It’s gluten-free.
It can be easily turned into an amazing sauce to serve with the chicken.
It’s fingerlickingly good.

Instead of roasting, I used the sous vide cooking method to get the chicken perfectly tender from the inside out, allowing that honey balsamic flavor to soak in completely while cooking under the water at a precise temperature for two hours.

Then a good sear gets you charred and crispy skin. Together with the rich and sticky honey balsamic sauce, what more could you ask for?

Honey Balsamic Sous Vide Chicken Legs, Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Make the honey balsamic chicken marinade.

Step 2: Marinate your chicken legs.

Step 3: Preheat water to 150°F using a sous vide precision cooker (I use Anova sous vide).

Step 4: Place the chicken into a large sous vide bag in one layer and vacuum seal it. Pour the chicken marinade into a small bowl and set aside.

Step 5: Lower the bag into the prepared water bath and set the timer for 2 hours.

Step 6: (Optional) Once the chicken is done, remove the bag from the water bath and drop it into an ice bath to fully chill. This step will help get extra-crispy skin when you sear it without overcooking the chicken underneath. At this point, if you make a big batch, you can leave the chicken in your fridge until you are ready to enjoy it.

Step 7: Once the chicken is chilled, remove it from the sous vide bag and place onto a serving plate; reserve the chicken juice, and press the chicken dry with paper towels. Sear it in a nonstick pan for 1-2 minutes on each skin side.

Step 8: Make the honey balsamic sauce by boiling the chicken marinade.

Step 9: Pour the sauce over the chicken and you are done!

What If I Don’t Have a Sous Vide?

Not ready for sous vide cooking yet? Another cooking method to make these delicious chicken legs is roast them in the oven at 425°F for 25-30 minutes. Flip the chicken to cook for an additional 5-10 minutes until it’s cooked through.

Remember to place the chicken legs on a roasting rack at least 1 inch apart from each other to allow enough air circulation so your chicken is roasted, not steamed.

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