Best Sous Vide Vegetables

When you think of sous vide cooking, you likely think of a perfectly cooked steak or juicy chicken cooked to perfection. But what about vegetables? Did you know you can sous vide vegetables?

Using your sous vide to cook vegetables is yet another way to use your sous vide. It’s incredibly easy to do and you sous vide so many different kinds of vegetables!

In sous vide, the natural flavors and nutrients are kept in the vacuum seal bags throughout the cooking process. The tasty flavor and nutrients have nowhere to go because they’re locked in the bags. 

The sous vide technique will result in perfect veggies with a fuller flavor. Other techniques like boiling will results in nutrients lost.

What Kind of Vegetables Can You Sous Vide?

I’ll share a ton of different specific vegetables you can sous vide cook, but you can cook most any kind of vegetable from root vegetables (carrots, potatoes, etc) as well as artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, eggplants and more can be cooked in the sous vide.

Did you know that you can even cook corn on the cob in the sous vide?! That’s our son’s favorite side!

What Temperature to Sous Vide Vegetables

Funny enough, you’re going to set your temperature to a higher temp than you would for your meat! Most vegetables can be cooked at 183°F (84°C).

The time they’ll will need to stay in the sous vide bath will differ though. More on that on the bottom of this article!

Let’s move on to some of our favorite vegetables to sous vide!

Best Vegetables to Sous Vide

You can sous vide all kinds of vegetables with precise temperatures! One note, you can cook different vegetables together in one water bath, but put them in separate bags. Keep an eye on temperature and time as well, so you don’t under or overcook. 

Sous Vide Potatoes

Who doesn’t love potatoes? Some love roasted potatoes, I still do too. But I prefer sous vide potatoes now.

The starchy root reaches its peak tenderness and flavor quality when cooked in a sous vide water bath, with a perfect texture that will please any picky eater you serve.

When picking out potatoes, try to pick potatoes that are about the same sized pieces or chop them up into similar size pieces, so they’ll all cook evenly. Baby potatoes are a tasty option too for sous vide. 

Sous Vide Carrots

The intensity of the already sweet flavors of carrots and parsnips are amplified when prepared under sous vide. You can expect a melt-in-mouth tender texture with a juiciness that complements any protein, or as part of a full vegan spread.

The first time I made these my husband inhaled the entire batch! With just a few ingredients (butter, sugar, salt and pepper), these a win in our books.

Find our super simple Sous Vide Glazed Carrot Recipe here!

Sous Vide Asparagus

Asparagus is one of those foods that is so tricky to get right. You’ll either get tough stalks with overcooked tips, or an evenly textured stalk with tips that seem to squash at the tiniest amount of pressure. 

When cooked under sous vide however, asparagus stays tender with enough crunchiness that is oh-so-satisfying on its own or as a side. This is the vegetable that screams springtime. 

You can find our sous vide asparagus recipe here: Sous Vide Asparagus: A Bright Taste of Spring.

Sous Vide Corn

What’s corn without butter. There’s only one way to infuse butter into your corn and that’s sous vide corn.

Drop in some aromatics too if you’re into that. Simple and easy. Never over or under cooked. And of course, divinely buttery.

Our Buttery Sous Vide Corn on the Cob – Fresh or Frozen can be found here.

Sous Vide Broccoli

Broccoli is a food that is well-loved all over the world (except by my kids) and for good reason. These flavorful green miniature trees pack so much flavor in a tiny package. 

When prepared sous vide, it turns into a whole new taste experience. Easy to prepare, healthy and unbelievably tasty – that’s sous vide broccoli.

Related recipe: Sous Vide Broccolini: Tender and Bright, Yet Crisp

Sous Vide Cauliflower

Are you sick of overcooked, mushy and bland cauliflower that just seems to be the case 90% of the time? Ever wonder how those high-end restaurants make this boring, colorless version of its cousin the green broccoli taste so good? Sous vide is the answer. 

The texture transforms into a rich, mouth-melting consistency that will leave you kicking yourself for the fact that you didn’t try preparing cauliflower under sous vide earlier.

Sous Vide Eggplant

The Eggplant is a versatile food that’s simple to prepare and easy to cook. We’ve used eggplant in all kinds of dishes from spicy curries to vegetable lasagna.

Oftentimes with conventional cooking methods, eggplant can turn out bitter, dry and spongy. 

When cooked sous vide, you get eggplant that works just as well for a main dish or hearty side dish.

How Long Does it Take to Cook Vegetables Sous Vide?

Length of time depends on the type of vegetable you’re cooking and temperature control. 

Generally, root vegetables like carrots, parsnips, onions and potatoes cooked under sous vide should not exceed the 1 hour mark when prepared under the recommended temperature settings. 

That’s because things such as starches, sugars and water – that make up the vegetable – start to break down when exposed to heat for too long. Things like eggplants, which are chunkier, take longer to cook at 2-3 hours.

A prolonged sous vide water bath, more often than not, may result in mushy vegetables that are practically inedible (unless you like baby food).

Sous Vide Vegetable Time and Temperature Chart

These target temperatures and times are simple sous vide cooking guidelines for various types of vegetables. 

Tips to Sous Vide Veggies

• Use spices! Your favorite seasonings, spices, and fresh herbs (rosemary, fresh thyme). Kitchen staples such as olive oil, and salt and pepper can be added before you vacuum seal the bag to unlock all the complex flavors of your vegetables.
• Don’t forget to vacuum seal your bag! The best way to seal your bags up tight and remove all the air is to use a vacuum sealer. This is by far the easiest way to ensure there’s no air left in your bag.
• Weigh your bag down. Vegetables have a tendency to float at the top of the water. To ensure they stay at the bottom where they belong, use sous vide weights or place a butter knife in your bag before vacuum sealing it to help weigh it down.

If you plan on cooking vegetables sous vide often, this container is a real help. It removes the major obstacle of keeping bags fully submerged in scalding hot water:

Sous Vide Container with Lid and Adjustable Rack

• Universal Design: Compatible with almost all sous vide cookers (note, it does not accommodate the first generation of Anova Precision Cookers).
• Unique Feature: The adjustable overhanging rack is especially adept at keeping sous vide vegetables cooked evenly without using more water than you need.
• The lid helps you reach temperature quickly.
• The external handles help move the container around, which is especially helpful when cooking vegetables, which require higher temperature.

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Vegetables are now being used for plant-based meats like Impossible and Beyond. Check out how to sous vide Beyond and Impossible Burgers.

Vegetables are also great to add to some Keto Sous Vide Egg Bites for a healthy start to your morning.

New to sous vide? Here’s our favorite sous vide machines, our top picks for sous vide containers and of course, our go to cookbooks!