Sous Vide Ribeye Recipe
Learn how to sous vide ribeye steak with a reverse sear. Baste and top your sous vide steak with an easy garlic butter sauce, to create the perfect ribeye, cooked to your preferred temperature. It tastes just like a butter aged steak, or sous vide dry aged steak, without the time and hassle.
Serve with Horseradish Sauce for Prime Rib, Blue Cheese Sauce, Sous Vide Asparagus, Stuffed Artichokes or Sous Vide Mashed Potatoes for a complete meal.
Other sous vide recipes readers love: Sous Vide London Broil, Sous Vide Prime Rib, Sous Vide Short Ribs, Sous Vide Tri Tip, Sous Vide Chuck Roast, Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin, Sous Vide Carrots and Sous Vide Corn on the Cob.
Sous Vide Cooking
Sous vide (pronounced sue-veed), meaning “under vacuum” in French, is a cooking technique that refers to vacuum-sealing food in a bag and then cooking it to a precise temp. in a water bath. Cooking steak in water delivers restaurant-quality food at home as this is the method many high-end restaurants use.
How to Make Sous Vide Ribeye
Ribeye sous vide style is remarkably easy to master. Only a few short steps stand between you and your perfect ribeye steak.
Step 1 – Pre-heat the water bath to your preferred temperature (consult the ribeye temperature chart below), using a sous vide immersion circulator.
Step 2 – Prepare the ribeye by adding salt and pepper or whatever ribeye seasoning or sous vide marinade you’re going with. Options are below! Once seasoned/marinated, add the seasoned steak to the sous vide bag and vacuum seal.
Step 3 – Transfer the ribeye to your sous vide machine and set the timer to the proper length for your delicious steak. Consult the “how long does it take to cook a ribeye steak” chart below. It’s important to determine the correct time so you don’t end up with a rare steak when you’re aiming for a medium rare steak.
Step 4 – Reverse sear the ribeye in a very hot pre-heated cast iron pan for 45 seconds per side to develop a nice brown sear. Optional- while searing, baste the steak with our garlic butter compound to emulate a butter aged ribeye flavor and finish.
Sous Vide Ribeye Temperature:
Reverse searing will only increase the temp by 1-2° max, so keep that in mind when picking your level of doneness.
- Rare Ribeye: 120°F to 128°F
- Medium-Rare Ribeye: 129°F to 134°F
- Medium Ribeye: 135°F to 144°F
- Medium Well Ribeye: 145°F to 155°F
- Well Done Ribeye: 156°F +
Check out our free printable Beef Temperature Chart for tips!
How Long To Cook Ribeye Steak
Ribeye cook time is determined by the thickness of the steak (measure the height of the steak when on the counter to determine the thickness). A 12 oz ribeye can take the same amount of time to cook in the water bath as a 24 oz ribeye, if they’re of similar thickness.
The below timing chart is for steaks 1.5″ – 2″ thick. For steaks under this thickness, minimal cooking time can be shortened to 40 minutes vs 60 minutes.
- Rare Ribeye: 1 – 2.5 hours*
- Medium-Rare Ribeye: 1 – 4 hours
- Medium Ribeye: 1 – 4 hours
- Medium Well Ribeye: 1 – 3.5 hours
- Well Done Ribeye: 1 – 3 hours
FOOD SAFETY TIP: If you cook your sous vide steak 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.
Sous Vide Equipment Needed
- Sous Vide Immersion Circulator – Any brand will work! We use the popular Anova Immersion Circulator to make Anova corn.
- Vacuum Sealed Bags – Ribeye doesn’t take up a lot of room so you don’t need large vacuum sealed bags to vacuum seal the ribeye steak. You can always use a Ziploc bag and use the water displacement method if desired vs a vacuum sealer with a sous vide bag.
- Sous Vide Food Container – Again, corn don’t take up a ton of room so you can use a large stock pot vs. a dedicated sous vide food container. We use this sous vide food container for our sous vide steak recipes.
- Cast Iron Pan – Use a large enough cast iron pan, or griddle pan, to accommodate a large cooked steak. 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.
Ribeye Eye Steak Seasoning
There are countless ribeye seasonings, so use your favorite. The best seasoning for ribeye steaks is what you personally enjoy.
Classics: Montreal Steak Seasoning, Bobby Flay’s Steak Rub and Texas Roadhouse Steak Seasoning.
Like cajun ribeye? Sprinkle that bad boy with cajun or creole seasoning, Jamaican Jerk Seasoning or marinate with cajun sauce.
Like it steakhouse style? Just sprinkle it will a little freshly ground black pepper and kosher salt and sear in oil for a clean tasting sear.
Our greek inspired rub used in our Smoked Rack of Lamb would be killer!
Kinder’s has a Buttery Steakhouse Seasoning that would be excellent to use for a classic ribeye steak. Grab some Costco Ribeye and Kinder’s Seasoning next time you’re at the warehouse! They carry both.
You could use the mint chimichurri sauce from our Sous Vide Lamb Chops recipe as well.
A great way to infuse flavor into the sous vide ribeye steak is to throw some aromatics into the vacuum bag before sealing. Think fresh thyme, rosemary, sliced shallots, etc. Our prime rib rub would work great for this application as it’s best to avoid adding fresh whole garlic cloves to the bag due to risk of botulism (low risk, but still a risk). Here are a few options:
Garlic Butter Compound
Mix 1/4 cup of softened butter with 1-2 minced garlic cloves. Add in some minced parsley, rosemary or thyme, if desired. Add a tablespoon to the hot cast iron pan and use it to baste the steaks while reverse searing. Then when ready to serve, add another tablespoon to the finished steaks.
Roasted Garlic Compound Butter
Mix 1/2 cup of softened butter with 30 roasted garlic cloves. Add a tablespoon to the hot cast iron pan and use it to baste the steaks while reverse searing. Then when ready to serve, add another tablespoon to the finished steaks.
Jalapeno Butter
Mix 1/2 cup of softened butter with 1/2 diced and seed jalapeno pepper. Add a tablespoon to the hot cast iron pan and use it to baste the steaks while reverse searing. Then when ready to serve, add another tablespoon to the finished steaks. This would be awesome on Denver steak.
How Do You Re-Heat Sous Vide Ribeye
The best way to re-heat Sous Vide Ribeye is to heat it back up in a water bath! Heat the water to just below the cooking time you used the first go round. The time will stay the same as the first cook.
Recipe Notes
- Reserve searing a ribeye 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.
- Wondering whether to go with a Sous vide bone-in ribeye or sous vide boneless ribeye? Get the one that best first your budget. If you want to sous vide wagyu? Have at it! Bone-in when roasting makes a big difference, but in my personal opinion, cooking it sous vide doesn’t cook the bones enough to really impart extra flavor.
- Prefer to sous vide in butter? Throw a few slabs in the bag before sealing. I prefer to leave the butter OUT when doing reverse sear sous vide as oil creates a better crust than butter. Searing steak after sous vide cooking will create the perfect crust, whether you use oil or butter so go with what you love.
- Make sure to do a thorough job patting dry the sous vide steak with paper towels. To get a good pan-seared crust, the steak needs to be dry.
- Make sure the sous vide steaks are 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, either try to re-seal or utilize something to weight it down once in the sous vide bath. I add a heavy bowl on top of the bag to weight it down. You can always add a few heavy spoons, or pie crust weights, to the bag before sealing. You can always invest in some sous vide weights.
- Salted or Unsalted Butter for Steak – it doesn’t matter. Use what you have on hand. I always recommend unsalted butter when cooking (not baking) as to control the final sodium content. You can always add more but can’t take it away.
Different Things To Do With Ribeye Steak
If you have leftover sous vide ribeye steak, here are a few recipes to consider using it in: Prime Rib Sandwich, Instant Pot Beef Stroganoff, Instant Pot Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches, Steak Fajitas or Sancocho Dominicano.
What Goes With Sous Vide Ribeye Steak
Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Balsamic Glaze
Garlic Butter Roasted Mushrooms (or Instant Pot Mushrooms)
What Wine Pairs With Ribeye Steak
Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Bordeaux, Spicy Zinfandel, Syrah or Merlot
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Ingredients
- 1-2 Lb Ribeye Steak, Boneless or Bone-in
- Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
- 2 tbsp Canola, Vegetable or Avocado Oil, For Searing
Garlic Butter Compound (Optional)
- 4 tbsp Unsalted Butter
- 1-2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
- Kosher salt, to taste
Instructions
- Pre-heat the water bath to your preferred doneness (*Note 1) using a sous vide immersion circulator.
- Sprinkle the ribeye with salt and pepper, or your selected steak seasoning. Place the ribeye in a vacuum-seal bag (in a single layer if making more than 1) and close using a vacuum sealer or water displacement method.
- Transfer the vacuum bag to the water bath and cook for 40 minutes minimum (if your steak is less than 1.5" thick) or 60 minutes minimum (if your steak is over 1.5" thick). Reference the time chart in the post or notes to see what the max. time is. (*Note 2)
- OPTIONAL: While the steak is cooking, make the garlic butter compound. Mix the softened butter with the minced garlic and salt and whip to combine. Set aside until ready to sear.
- After the steak is finished cooking, remove the bag from the water bath. Carefully remove the steak from the bag and pat dry. Discard any juice that accumulated.
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 3)
- OPTIONAL: Add 2 tablespoons of garlic compound butter (or regular butter) to the skillet, quickly followed by the ribeye.
- Sear each side of the ribeye for 45 seconds. While searing, tip the pan a little so the butter collects on one side of the pan. Use a spoon to baste the steak with the melted butter. Continue to scoop and pour the butter over the steak until it's ready to flip. After the top and bottom have been seared, grab your tongs to brown the small edges of the steak, about 45 seconds total.
- Turn off the stove and transfer the steak to your plate, season as desired. Enjoy immediately as there is no need to rest the steak.
Notes
- Rare Ribeye: 120°F to 128°F
- Medium-Rare Ribeye: 129°F to 134°F
- Medium Ribeye: 135°F to 144°F
- Medium Well Ribeye: 145°F to 155°F
- Well Done Ribeye: 156°F +
- Rare Ribeye: 1 - 2.5 hours*
- Medium-Rare Ribeye: 1 - 4 hours
- Medium Ribeye: 1 - 4 hours
- Medium Well Ribeye: 1 - 3.5 hours
- Well Done Ribeye: 1 - 3 hours
