Is Sous Vide Cooking Healthy?

Everyone is looking for easy ways to make their food both healthier and more delicious. One of the best ways to improve your health is to eat more nutritious meals prepared correctly.

If you are looking for a healthier way to cook, sous vide is one of the best choices you can make. Let’s discuss how sous vide cooking is healthy without sacrificing taste and flavor.

What Is Sous Vide Cooking, and How Can It Be Healthy?

Sous vide cooking involves sealing foods in an airtight bag, then immersing the bag in water heated to a specific temperature set by the sous vide machine.

The water bath cooks foods gently and evenly to the precise temperature set on the device, without the food being exposed to water or air.

With sous vide, food cooks more slowly than traditional cooking methods. It’s cooked evenly throughout, rather than cooked at high temperatures that result in it being hotter on the outside than on the inside.

This slow, gentle, precise way of cooking has several health benefits over other cooking methods.

Sous Vide Cooking Retains More Nutrients in Food

We all know that we can choose healthier foods higher in natural vitamins and minerals, but it doesn’t matter how many nutrients are in the food if they don’t make it to your plate.

Many of the vitamins and minerals that occur naturally in our foods are destroyed by our cooking methods. Many vitamins and minerals are delicate and lost easily when exposed to water, heat, and fats.

Because foods that are cooked sous vide are cooked at a lower temperature, foods retain more of their natural nutrients without being exposed to air or water.

According to scientific research, sous vide cooking retains more potassium, iron, zinc, and other essential minerals. It preserves delicate phytochemicals like beta carotene, and vitamin C.

Sous vide cooking also improves the bioavailability of these nutrients, making foods easier to digest and allowing the body to absorb more of the nutrients.

Sous Vide Cooks With Less Added Fat

Many traditional cooking methods like frying and sautéing require additional oil during the cooking process. Oil in turn adds fat to the nutritional value.

Adding fat to your pan or cooking pot naturally adds more fat to your food, and foods can soak up these added fats and become oily or greasy. High amounts of added fat during cooking can also make foods more difficult to digest, as well as merely adding unnecessary calories to every meal. 

Sous Vide Foods Require Less Salt

Salt is associated with a higher risk of heart disease and other unhealthy conditions. Foods that are cooked sous vide retain more of their natural flavors, with naturally more intense and more enjoyable tastes.

Sous vide cooking requires less salt and other seasoning compared to other cooking methods and can be a great way of cooking reduced-sodium foods.

Sous Vide Kills Food-borne Pathogens

If you are concerned about bacteria and food safety, rest assured. Sous vide cooking naturally pasteurizes food, killing bacteria, and improving food safety.

Sous vide makes it impossible to overcook food because it never reaches a temperature higher than the temperature you’ve set. The precision of the temperature control allows you to safely kill bacteria and pathogens while preserving food’s flavor and texture.

It’s important to always follow the FDA guidelines for safe minimum cooking temperatures, so simply follow those guidelines and enjoy safe, healthy, delicious food.

Killing bacteria and pasteurizing your food also improves its shelf life and makes your groceries last longer.

Sous Vide Is Perfect for Meal Prep

Cooking your own meals at home is a much healthier way to eat. Studies show that cooking for yourself results in meals that are higher in fruits, vegetables, and vitamin C and lower in fats and added sugar.

Cooking at home is also more affordable, and many people have begun meal prepping at home, making meals that are as fast and convenient as restaurant take-out but healthier and more affordable.

One of the reasons that sous vide cooking has dominated the restaurant and catering industries is that it makes it fast and easy to prepare large quantities of food ahead of time, cooked to perfection, for quick and easy reheating and enjoyment later.

Meals prepared in advance with sous vide retain their flavor, texture, and nutrients, with less mess and fuss. This ability to perfectly prepare foods ahead of time is also great for social occasions and holiday gatherings, helping people serve large meals in a small kitchen.

To batch cook with sous vide, simply seal your food in sous vide bags, and immerse and heat it to the FDA’s safe temperature settings. The bag can then be removed from the sous vide cooker and frozen, refrigerated, or saved for eating later. Cold foods can easily be unsealed and used in salads or heated just before serving in an oven, stovetop, or microwave.

In Summary

All in all, sous vide foods aren’t merely convenient and delicious. Sous vide cooking also an incredibly healthy way to cook foods, with all of the nutritional benefits of rapid blanching or steaming, without as much effort (sous vide egg bites are an excellent example – click here to learn more).

Sous vide is a great way to plan and prepare foods ahead of time, keep your health and budget goals on track, and is a fantastic addition to a healthy lifestyle.