Our secret ingredient? Better than bouillon! It adds a TON of flavor and leaves the meat with a nice brown coloring vs an unsightly pale coloring. It’s what we use when making Smoked Chuck Roast and Sous Vide London Broil as well.
You’ll notice how gorgeous and brown our roast is, as well as the leftover liquid, when finished cooking. Plus, think of the beef au jus or gravy you can make with it. Or use the pan juices to make Mushroom Sauce.
More Sous Vide Recipes to check out: Sous Vide Prime Rib, Sous Vide Ribeye, Sous Vide Lamb Chops, Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin, and Sous Vide Tri Tip.
Sous Vide Roast Beef
Chuck roast is an inexpensive cut of beef as it’s a tougher cut of meat. As such it must be cooked low and slow to yield any edible results. Cooking a chuck roast sous vide is the best way to turn a tough cut of meat into an “almost” prime rib style cut.
This boneless chuck roast recipe can also be utilized with a bone in chuck roast or beef shoulder roast.
How to Sous Vide Chuck Roast
Chuck roast sous vide style is remarkably easy to master. Only a few short steps stand between you and your perfect roast beef.
Step 1 – Pre-heat the sous vide water bath to your preferred temperature (consult the chuck roast temperature chart below) using a sous vide immersion circulator.
Step 2 – Prepare the roast by rubbing it with whatever seasoning you’re going with. Options are below! Once seasoned, add the roast to the sous vide bag and vacuum seal.
Step 3 – Transfer the chuck roast to your sous vide machine and set the timer to the proper length.
Step 4 – Reverse sear the chuck roast in a very hot pre-heated cast iron pan for 45 seconds per side to develop a nice brown sear.
How Long To Cook Chuck Roast
The chuck roast will be in the water bath for a minimum of 24 hours up to a maximum 48 hours, so plan accordingly. From our testing, chuck roast cook time depends on a few things: size of the roast and preferred texture.
Smaller Chuck Roasts – When making a chuck roast 2 lb or less, we set the cook time to 24-28 hours. The roast comes out exceedingly tender and flavorful as it doesn’t need as much time in the water as a large roast.
Tender and Firm Texture- When cooked between 24-28 hours, the meat will have a tender steak-like quality. It slices easily but maintains a bit of firmness. Think sous vide filet mignon or sirloin filet.
Tender and Soft Texture- When cooked longer (around 32-48 hours), the steak will have more of a soft pot roast like quality. Less firmness but ultra tender. The longer it cooks the more soft it will become.
Temperature For Chuck Roast
Our preferred temperature for sous vide chuck roast is 132°F. It’s warm and pink throughout at this temperature. Reverse searing will only increase the temp by 1-2° max, so keep that in mind when picking your level of doneness.
FOOD SAFETY TIP: If you cook your sous vide chuck roast below 130°F, it should only be in the water for up to 2.5 hours. Any longer and you risk running into food safety issues.
- Rare: 125°F (Not Recommend)
- Medium-Rare: 135°F
- Medium: 145°F
- Medium Well: 150°F
- Well Done: 160°F +
Reference our Beef Temperature Chart if you’re unsure of the temp. you should go with.
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Beef Roast Seasoning
There are a ton of chuck roast seasoning options to use so go with what you love. The best seasoning for chuck roast is what you personally enjoy. Here are some ideas:
Aromatic Ideas
Throw some aromatics in the bag for added flavor, if you like. Here are a few ideas: thyme, rosemary, oregano, onion, shallots, etc. Sous vide does bring out the concentration of the herbs, so use sparingly compared to your normal amount.
Dipping Sauces
We have some amazing dipping sauces, perfect for sous vide chuck roast: horseradish for prime rib, horseradish aioli, prime rib gravy, cajun sauce and garlic butter sauce. Take your pick!
Make a beef au jus with the leftover juices in the bag. Just sub the juices in for the beef stock. Look how pretty the juice is thanks to the bouillon.
Shoulder Roast vs Chuck Roast
We’ve had some people ask if they can turn this into a beef shoulder roast recipe. You absolutely can, but know they’re not the same cuts, even though they come from the same area of the cow.
Chuck roast has a higher fat content therefore a richer flavor than shoulder roast. Shoulder roast is leaner and typically easier to carve into slices vs shredding, however this isn’t an issue when cooking it sous vide; both are just as easy to carve into slices.
Equipment Needed
- Sous Vide Immersion Circulator – Any brand will work! We use the Anova Immersion Circulator.
- Vacuum Sealed Bags – You can always use a Ziploc bag and use the water displacement method vs a vacuum sealer with a sous vide bag, if desired.
- Sous Vide Food Container – We use this sous vide food container for our sous vide beef recipes, but you can use any large stock pot.
- Cast Iron Pan – Use a large enough cast iron pan, or griddle pan, to accommodate a large beef roast. A stainless steel skillet will work as well, but it’s imperative you pre-heat and use plenty of oil and/or butter so it doesn’t stick.
Check out my list of recommended Sous Vide Equipment for more tips.
How To Reheat Roast Beef Sous Vide
The best way to reheat sous vide beef roast is to heat it back up in a water bath! Heat the water to just below the cooking temperature you used the first go round. The time will stay the same as the first cook.
Expert Tips
- Reserve searing a sous vide chuck steak creates a LOT of smoke. Turn on the oven fan or open the windows, before turning the oven on, to get ahead of it a bit. Expect it.
- Prefer to sous vide in butter? Throw a few slabs in the vacuum bag before sealing. I prefer using oil when reverse searing as oil creates a better crust than butter. Searing after sous vide cooking will create a fabulous crust whether you use oil or butter, so go with what you love.
- Make sure to do a thorough job patting dry the cooked chuck roast with paper towels. To get a good pan-seared crust, the roast needs to be dry.
- Make sure the meat is fully submerged in the sous vide bath. If the meat isn’t fully submerged it won’t cook properly. Do not even attempt as food safety would not be guaranteed.
- If your sous vide bag floats, try to re-seal or utilize something to weight it down in the sous vide bath. You can always add a few heavy spoons, or pie crust weights, to the bag before sealing or invest in sous vide weights.
Leftover Ideas
If you have leftover sous vide chuck roast, here are a few recipes to consider using it in: Prime Rib Sandwich, Tri Tip Sandwich, or French Dip Sandwiches. It will also pair well with anything on our “What To Serve With Prime Rib” list.
Drink Pairings
Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Bordeaux, Spicy Zinfandel, Syrah or Merlot
Sous Vide Chuck Roast
Ingredients
- 1 Chuck Roast, Any Size (*Note 1)
- 1-2 Tbsp Better Than Bouillon, Beef Flavored (*Note 2)
OPTIONAL SEASONINGS:
- 2-3 Tbsp Montreal Steak Seasoning (*Note 3)
Instructions
SEASON THE CHUCK ROAST:
- Rub Better Than Bouillon generously over the roast. The larger the roast, the more you'll need. Start with 1 Tbsp and move up from there.
- Optional: Rub the roast with Montreal seasoning (or your preferred dry rub). The larger the roast, the more you'll need. Start with 1 Tbsp and move up from there.
- Transfer the roast to your Sous Vide bag of choice.
COOK THE CHUCK ROAST:
- Pre-heat the water bath to your preferred doneness (*Note 4) using a sous vide immersion circulator.
- Transfer the vacuum bag to the water bath and cook for 24 hours minimum up to 48 hours. (*Note 5)
- Carefully remove the bag from the water bath with tongs. Remove the roast from the bag and pat dry.
REVERSE SEAR:
- Add enough oil (approx. 1-2 tbsp) to cover the bottom of a cast iron skillet and pre-heat over medium-high heat until it's scorching hot (it will start to smoke a little). This will take approx. 3-5 minutes. (*Note 6)
- Sear each side of the roast for 45 seconds.
- Turn off the stove and transfer the roast to a cutting board. Slice against the grain. No resting necessary.
Video
Notes
- Rare: 125°F
- Medium-Rare: 135°F
- Medium: 145°F
- Medium Well: 150°F
- Well Done: 160°F +