This recipe is a bit of a two-fer…it’s one of my favorite sous vide proteins, picanha, and my favorite compound butter in the world. The beauty of this is that the compound butter will make lots of extra and you’ll want to put it on everything — so far I’ve tried it on beef, fish and chicken. It’d be amazing on pasta, too!
Picanha can be tricky to find depending on where you live. Here in Dallas I buy it at Central Market, but somewhere like the Meat Shop on Lovers or even Whole Foods could probably be talked into cutting it. Costco sells a version with the fat cap removed (though that’s arguably the best part). I always cut the picanha into steaks before cooking, see photo below for what that looks like.
As I say in the recipe itself, I prefer picanha cooked overnight. Many people like it after only three hours or so. Use your best judgment to decide on the timing that is right for you!
Sous Vide Picanha with Roasted Tomato & Herb Compound Butter
Buttery, tender sous vide picanha topped with the most incredible slow roasted tomato and herb compound butter. This compound butter is good on everything! Chicken, fish, steak, anything!
Ingredients
Sous Vide Picanha Steaks
- 1 piece picanha, cut into steaks see photo for how I recommend cutting it!
- 1 tbsp smoked flake salt or regular flake salt if you don't have smoked.
- 2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
- 2 tsp garlic powder
Roasted Tomato & Herb Compound Butter
- 1 cup small tomatoes grape, cherry, etc.
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 8 tbsp unsalted butter (one stick), melted
- 1 tsp fresh thyme finely chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh chives finely minced
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 clove garlic mashed into a paste or very, very finely minced
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 tbsp scallions white and light green parts, thinly sliced
- 1/2 tbsp fresh basil finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt please season to your taste
- 1/4 tsp pepper please season to your taste
Instructions
For the sous vide picanha:
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Preheat sous vide bath to 132º (for medium rare, please adjust temperature to your liking).
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Season picanha with smoked salt, pepper and garlic powder.
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Place picanha into bags and vacuum seal or seal using the water displacement method.
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Cook picanha for 3-12 hours. My personal preference is overnight, around 8 hours.
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Once finished cooking, remove picanha from bags. Dry extremely well.
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Sear on a very hot grill or in a hot cast iron pan, 30 seconds per side.
For the compound butter:
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Preheat oven to 325º.
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Toss tomatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper.
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Roast for one hour (some grocery stores also sell roasted tomatoes, if you're looking for a time saver that could be a good one!)
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Combine the rest of the ingredients with the butter. I prefer to melt the butter and then combine everything, it's much easier to get even distribution that way.
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Store in refrigerator, allow to soften before use.
To Finish:
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Top picanha or protein of choice with softened or melted compound butter, enjoy!
Juan A. Ramos says
Great recipe and use of Picanha!
Erika says
Thank you!! The butter is seriously good on everything — fish, smoked chicken, pasta…you name it it’s great to have around for it!
Andrew says
Going to try this recipe for the first time this weekend. Just wanted to clarify, do you slice the picanha before or after the sous vide?
Erika says
I sliced it into steaks before but it will work either way! If you’re going to slice into steaks before the cook just makes sure to slice *with* the grain so that when you serve it’s easy to slice against the grain.
Andrew says
Fantastic and easy recipe! I did the picanha whole and made pureed potatoes as one of the sides. Compound butter was excellent with both and paired perfectly with some library quarantine cabernets that I pulled from my cellar. Can’t wait to test out some of your other recipes. Thanks helping me get a kick start to becoming a better sous vide chef!
Erika says
So glad you enjoyed it, it sounds like you chose all the perfect pairings! If you ever have any questions or need sous vide cook advice please always feel free to send me an email or reach out on Instagram!
Richard says
Is there any way you could give more guidance for slicing the steaks properly.Thank you for your time. All your recipes look awesome.I’m an eighty year old man and am going to to try all of them.
Erika says
Hi Richard! Your comment made my day! Please always feel free to reach out with any questions. Here is a great video that shows how I recommend cutting picanha into steaks: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b3CWZGnTcyU