Cooking sous vide is one of our favorite ways to cook a variety of dishes, but it is especially great for preparing thick cuts of meat that tend to cook unevenly using other methods. Habanero Honey Soy Rack of Lamb cooked Sous Vide is the perfect use of both lamb and sous vide.
Sous vide is perfect for cooking this Habanero Honey Soy Rack of Lamb to perfection and you will fall in love with the spicy sweet flavor combo!
What is sous vide?
Sous vide is a cooking method that involves immersing vacuum-sealed containers of food in a water bath with a machine that circulates water and maintains a constant temperature. Cooking in this manner results in evenly-cooked food to the exact desired temperature. It also often results in more tender meats, which is a huge plus! You can cook a variety of dishes sous vide and the results are always phenomenal! We are obviously big fans!
What equipment do you need to cook sous vide?
Cooking sous vide does require a few purchases, but fortunately these won't break the bank.
Water Circulator
The main piece of equipment you will need is the water circulator. We use THIS brand, but there are now several on the market that are great and last a while. We have had ours for about 4 years and it still works like day 1!
Container
Next you will need a water vessel. You can use a large pot or container. We used a stock pot for a while before buying THIS container with a cover to allow us to cook more items and keep it somewhat insulated.
Vacuum Sealer and Bags OR Ziplock Bags
So the vacuum sealer is optional, but if you start using this method of cooking often, we highly recommend you purchase a vacuum sealer and bags. We like THIS handheld vacuum sealer with THESE zipper vacuum bags the best, but you can find a variety of options HERE.
If you aren't sure you want to invest in a vacuum sealer (fyi, we also use ours to store items in the freezer for the ultimate freshness), you can use regular ol' Ziplock bags. The important thing here is you get out as much air as possible from the bag, so submerging the bag and contents and leaving a small hole in the "zipper" to get the air out before sealing and fully submerging works best. Otherwise, use a straw and suck out as much air as possible.
The one issue we have had with Ziplock-type bags is when cooking at high temps for long periods of time. Sometimes the bags don't hold up to temps over 160°F for several hours. This is something to keep in mind when figuring out what bags are best for you.
How to make Habanero Honey Soy Sous Vide Rack of Lamb
Now that we got the equipment out of the way, you are ready to make your Rack of Lamb! The rest is so easy, you won't believe it.
Here it goes!
- Take all ingredients and put them in a sealable bag with the rack of lamb. This does not need to be your vacuum sealed bags because you will transfer your lamb out of the marinade when you are ready to cook it. Allow the lamb to marinate for at least 2 hrs, preferably overnight for best results, in the refrigerator.
- When you are ready, fill your container with water and place the circulator on the side of the container. Set the temp to 134° F and let the water heat.
- You will now transfer your lamb chops from the marinade bag to a vacuum sealable bag. You can discard what is left of the marinade at this point, or reserve the marinade and place in the fridge to make a sauce with the juices from the cooked lamb once the lamb is ready.
- Submerge the bag with the lamb into the water bath and cook for 5-6 hours. We prefer letting this cook closer to 6 hours for a more tender meat, but the meat will be ready at the 5 hour mark. The cooking time with the sous vide method is rather flexible, so don't worry if you need to cook these anywhere from 4 to 7 hours. It will take about 4 hours for the internal temp to reach the programmed 134°F, but closer to 6 hours results in more tender meat for this particular recipe.
- Once meat is done, remove the lamb from the bag and place it in a roasting pan. Turn your oven to broil and place the pan with the lamb in the oven for approximately 3-5 minutes, or until the outside is carmelized and browned to your desired level.
Once ready, you can cut the rack of lamb into individual chops and serve!
Enjoy!
We hope you enjoy this recipe for Habanero Honey Soy Sous Vide Lamb Chops. If you give it a try, leave us a comment below or tag us on Instagram @cooking_with_wine!
Check out some of our other sous vide recipes below:
- Sous Vide Short Ribs
- Blood Orange & Thyme Glazed Duck Breast
- Blueberry Thyme Red Wine Reduction for Sous Vide Duck Breast
📖 Recipe
Habanero Honey Soy Sous Vide Rack of Lamb
Ingredients
- 1 rack lamb (about 2-2.5 lbs)
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ½ cup honey
- 3 cloves garlic, minched
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 shallots, chopped
- 1 habanero pepper, chopped (use gloves to prevent oils from burning your hands when chopping)
- 3 fresh rosemary sprigs
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a ziplock with rack of lamb. Do not cut into individual chops at this point. Let marinate for a minimum 2 hours, preferably overnight.
- Set the sous vide temp for 134°. Optional: Reserve the marinade if you would like and reduce to make a sauce with the juices from the cooked lamb.
- Remove rack of lamb from bag with marinade and place in a sous vide safe sealable bag. Submerge in the water once it is at the cooking temperature and cook for 5-6 hours.
- Once ready, remove from sous vide bath and bag and place rack in a roasting pan, fat side up, in the oven on broil for 3-5 minutes until outside is caramelized and browned to desired level.
- Cut into individual chops, sprinkle with finishing salt and serve.
winolodotpl says
I really like pinot noir if it goes with the lamb. What other types are suitable for this dish? European versions?
Angela and Mark says
I'm a fan of Côtes du Rhône with this lamb recipe. Maybe give one of those a try!