Sous Vide is the perfect method for making roast beef from a tougher, lean cut of meat like a Sirloin Tip Roast. I usually use a top sirloin roast and cook it at a high temperature for a short period of time, like in this recipe for Perfect Roast Beef in the Ninja Foodi, but reversing that and cooking at a low temperature for a long time really tenderizes the meat, and it's perfect if you want thicker slices to serve with gravy for a Sunday Meal.
One of the advantages of using a sous vide cooker to cook a beef roast and various other cuts of meat, is you program the temperature and the sous vide machine will cook the meat to that exact temperature. That means if you want your roast rare, it will be rare. If you want it well done, it will be well done. Unlike other dry heat cooking methods, even your well done roast will be tender and not one bit dry.
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I've been using the Sous Vide function on the Ninja Foodi quite a bit and I'm thrilled with how well it works. I also have an Anova immersion circulator and the Ninja Foodi works just as well. I am really enjoying experimenting and I am thrilled with how my sous vide chicken turned out. Here are some delicious sous vide recipes!
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Sous Vide boiling the food?
No, the water temperature never gets that high, unless of course you set it to 212℉. When sous vide cooking, you usually are cooking at much lower temperatures for longer periods of time which creates a gentle, moist cooking environment for the food. The actual food never comes in contact with the water, but juices and liquids are produced inside the bag and they baste the food as it cooks.
Is Sous Vide Cost Effective?
Absolutely! You may be thinking, how could running an appliance for 12, 24, 36 hours or longer be cost effective when I could cook it on the stove or in the oven in much less time. Well, while this is just my opinion, here's what I think. You can purchase cheaper cuts of meat, use the sous vide method to cook them and they have the flavor and tenderness of cuts that cost 2-3 times more. It's also surprising just how little it costs to operate the sous vide machine. Check out this article for more information: How Much Energy Does Sous Vide Use? if you want see their findings on how much it costs.
Technically you can't overcook most food because the temperature never rises above what you set; however, that doesn't mean that you can't leave it in the sous vide bath too long, you absolutely can. This is especially true of sous vide meats, like chicken, pork, and beef. The texture changes. So, while the internal temperature is exactly (or close to) what you set the sous vide appliance for, the meat fibers break down more after longer sous vide times. This can lead to mealy and soft meat textures that are unpleasant. There is much bigger margin of error though than stovetop or oven cooking, so as long as you are within an hour or so of the optimal sous vide timing, you'll be just fine.
Other Types of Roasts That Can Be Used & Timing Based on Size
While I used the sirloin tip roast, you can use a round roast, a rump roast, a bottom round roast, a top round, a whole top sirloin, basically any lean beef roast will work. You will want between a 4 and 5 pound roast for the cooking times in this recipe, however, if your roast is smaller, simply cut back the time.
The minimum time I would sous vide a lean, tough cut of beef is about 12 hours and that would be for a small roast weighing 1-2 pounds. For any beef roast over 2 pounds, the minimum time I would sous vide cook is 24 hours.
The great thing about sous vide cooking is you can always check the temperature and tenderness during the sous vide cooking process by unsealing the bag, checking the temperature or slicing off a piece of beef and tasting it. Then, simply reseal the bag if you want to go more time and pop it right back into the water bath. You can even do this with a vacuum sealed bag as long as you cut the sous vide bag with plenty of extra room to be resealed. There are a few things to keep in mind when doing this. There is a minimum sous vide process cooking time for food safety and that varies by the type of meat and the temperature you set. There are tons of articles on food safety and sous vide cooking and one of the sites that I really like is called Serious Eats.
Ways to Serve Sous Vide Sirloin Tip Roast
My absolute favorite way to serve this roast is thinly sliced on a slider bun and topped with Alabama BBQ Sauce! It's like a pit beef style sandwich, only better!
Make a French Dip with thinly sliced beef and au jus. There is plenty of liquid in the sous vide bag that just needs to be seasoned and heated. Then throw your sliced beef right into the au jus to heat it quickly and pile it on a French Baguette.
You can also serve it thinly sliced for cold roast beef sandwiches. It slices beautifully with a meat slicer.
Or, cut it thicker and turn the juices into a thickened gravy and have it for Sunday Dinner!
No matter how you serve it, you will love it! It's as tender as an expensive cut of beef!
How to Sous Vide a Sirloin Tip Roast
Set up the Sous Vide Equipment
Depending on what type of equipment you are using will decide if you set it up and get the water heating before or after you sear the roast.
Sous Vide Precision cooker
If you are using an immersion circulator, go ahead and get it set up now. Put your water into a container that is large enough to hold the roast and have it be submerged in water. Attach the circulator to the sous vide container and cover the container to hold in the heat. Set the immersion circulator for the temperature to which you want to cook your roast. I found the best texture was a medium rare set to 133°-135°F. You can certainly go down to 130°F, but I thought the meat was slightly tougher. If you want your roast cooked to medium, I recommend between 140°-145°F and for well done, 155°-160°F.
Ninja Foodi or Instant Pot Duo Crisp
If you are using the Ninja Foodi or the Instant Pot Duo Crisp to sous vide with, then you can either set it up now and let the water heat up while you sear the meat on the stove or use the inner pot to sear the meat and then set up the appliance for sous vide cooking. One thing to note is that you do need to let the Ninja Foodi or IPDC cool down before setting the sous vide function or your temperatures may not be accurate because the machine is already warm. If this happens, just let the sous vide run for about 30 minutes before you put the roast in and the water should come up to the proper temperature in that time frame.
Season & Sear
It might seem unusual to sear the meat before sous vide cooking because it is usually done afterwards; however, when I was testing this recipe, I noticed that the outer part of the roast was very soft from the long cook time. Searing it before sous vide cooking really helped this and the result was better. You can certainly sear afterwards if you prefer.
I recommend starting with a thawed beef roast. While you can sous vide from frozen, I do recommend thawing the roast in order to season and sear it before sous vide cooking. What I found is that if I seared the roast prior to putting it into the sous vide water bath, the outer part of the meat had a better texture. You can only do this if it's thawed OR, if you want to plan ahead, you can season and sear the beef roast and then vacuum seal it and freeze it. Then, you can put the frozen roast directly into the water bath in the same bag. I honestly don't even think you'll have to adjust the timing for a frozen roast because it's such a long cooking time.
I used only salt and black pepper to season the outside of my roast, but you can use any spice rub that you like. Garlic powder, onion powder, dried and minced rosemary are other great additions to the salt and pepper. If you wanted to use something like fresh rosemary or fresh thyme, you would want to include that in the bag with the meat, but not rub it on the meat before searing or it will burn.
Once seasoned the way you like it, heat a few tablespoons of oil in a cast iron pan, a skillet, or in the inner pot of the Ninja Foodi. Turn the heat on high or medium-high heat. I really like using the Ninja Foodi for searing because it's such a deep pot that it eliminates the splattering of oil. Once the oil is hot, place your roast into the pan or pot and sear on the one side for 3-5 minutes. Flip it over and sear the other sides. I sear the ends, as well. Remove it from the pan and place the roast on the cutting board to cool slightly.
Sous Vide Cooking
Once the meat is seared, let it cool on your cutting board for a few minutes. If you haven't already, set up your water bath and heat the temperature to 135°F if you want a medium rare roast beef.
Prepare your sous vide bag. You can use a vacuum seal bag or a heavy duty (name brand) freezer ziplock bag. Place the roast into the bag and either vacuum seal or use the water displacement method to get the air out of the bag and then seal it.
Water Displacement Method
This simply means that you fill your inner pot or sous vide container with water and lower the bag (with the food in it) into the water and let the water push out the air. Once you have all the air out, zip the bag up.
Place the sealed bag with the roast in it into the water and make sure it is completely submerged under the water. If it isn't, add more water until it is. If you have already let your water heat up, you may need to wait a few minutes for it to come up to temp after adding more water.
Sous Vide the Roast
Your water bath should be at the correct temperature and now you just let the roast cook. I chose a temperature of between 133°-135℉/56°-57℃ and the time of 36 hours for my 4½ pound roast.
The result was beautifully cooked, medium rare roast beef that was as tender as a prime rib, maybe even more so! I tested this recipe using my stand alone Anova sous vide cooker and the Ninja Foodi using the Sous Vide function and both turned out amazing well. I have to say that the slight edge goes to the Anova immersion circulator just because of the texture of the meat. In the Ninja Foodi, the texture was just a tad softer and, for that reason, I think next time I would stop at 24 hours and see what the texture is like.
However, I think most people are really going to love how tender the 36 hours makes this cheaper cut of meat, so I'm not going to change the recipe timing quite yet. I'll wait to hear from people who make it and I'll make it another time or two before deciding if the timing should be shortened.
You will want to check on your water level during the cook time and add more water if needed. I didn't have to add any with the Ninja Foodi or my covered sous vide container using the Anova.
When the 36 hours is up, remove the bag and carefully remove the roast. There will be a good amount of juice in the bag. Don't discard that! You can make a delicious au jus using a little salt and other seasonings or use it for a gravy if you plan on slicing the roast into thicker slices.
Serving The Roast
You do not have to let the meat rest before slicing, but if you want to slice it thin for sandwiches like I did in the video, then I suggest refrigerating it first and slicing it the next day.
If you are serving it thick sliced, then slice and serve!
Sous Vide Sirloin Tip Roast
Equipment
- Sous Vide Circulator
- Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker with TenderCrisp with Sous Vide Function
Ingredients
- 4.5 pound Sirloin Tip Roast
- 2-4 Tablespoons olive oil
Seasoning Blend
- 1 Tablespoon fine grind sea salt
- 1 Tablespoon black pepper
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Instructions
- Heat the inner pot of the Ninja Foodi or a large skillet on the stove and add in the olive oil. Season the roast on all sides. When the oil is hot, sear on all sides. Remove the roast and place on the cutting board to cool.
- Set up the sous vide equipement. For the Ninja Foodi, place 10-12 cups of water into the inner pot. For immersion circulators, the amount of water will depend on your container and machine.
- Place the roast into your sous vide bag and either vacuum seal it or use the water displacement method to get the air out of the freezer bag before sealing. To do this, simply submerged the bag into the water and let the water push the air out. Be careful not to let the opening of the bag go underwater. Seal the bag.
- Set the sous vide temperature for how you like your roast beef cooked: Rare 130℉/55℃, Medium Rare 133-135℉/56-57℃, Medium 140℉/60℃, Medium Well 150℉/65℃, Well Done 155℉/68℃ and let the water heat up to that temperature.
- Once the water bath is your desired temperature, put the bag with the roast in it into the water. Cover the sous vide container. For the Ninja Foodi, you use the pressure lid with the valve vented. Sous Vide for 36 hours.
- When the time is up, remove the bag with the roast and carefully remove the roast. There will be juices in the bag and those can be seasoned and heated for au jus or thickened into a gravy.
- If you are serving the roast warm, slice and serve. If you want to thinly slice for sandwiches, I suggest refrigerating the roast for 8-12 hours. It will be easier to slice that way.
Nutrition
About the Recipe Author, Louise Long
Louise is a full-time recipe creator and food blogger @ The Salted Pepper. She has over 30 years of experience with cooking and recipe development. She owned a restaurant for several years and was a full-time RN until retiring to blog full-time.
She published her first cookbook in the Fall of 2018 and is very interested in writing several more.
Louise is also the creator of an online Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooking Course with over 100 instructional step-by-step videos. People absolutely rave about the course and all the value they have received from it.
Louise has several very active Facebook groups that help people with the basics of cooking and learning more about the appliances they love.
Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker & Air Crisper 101
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Louise is also a YouTube creator and you can find most of her recipes in video format on The Salted Pepper YouTube channel.
She is very responsive to messages and eager to help in any way she can. Get more Information about Louise & contact information
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drew
36 hrs below 60 degrees?
did you mean 3-6?
Louise
The time and temps are correct in the recipe. 36 hours is correct and below 60 degrees would be in Celsius for rare or medium rare.
Vicki Robison
Hi Louise! I was wondering if you had tried the sous vide function on the new Possible Cooker Pro.. I recently bought one and haven't tried that function yet!
Matt Donaldson
Do you need to buy a immersion circulator to sous vide in the Ninja Foodi ?
Louise
If you have the sous vide function on the Ninja Foodi you don't need an immersion circulator.