Do you have fresh apricots? Make this easy Apricot Skillet Chicken Dinner! It’s ready in under an hour and makes a great change from your usual weeknight chicken routine. (You can also swap in dried apricots.)
Every year around this time we are inundated with fresh apricots from our neighbor’s tree. And every year I tell myself I’ll make a chicken dish with them, but I never get around to it.
Instead we make apricot jam, apricot crushed stone, apricot tart or just eat them plain.
CONTINUE READING:
Here’s how to make this easy Apricot Chicken recipe
This recipe is ready in less than an hour and is prepared in just a few simple steps:
- Prepare the apricot sauce: Marinate apricots with sugar and vinegar. Set aside a few cups for your finished dish, then puree the remaining apricots to make an easy sauce for the chicken.
- Cook chicken: For this recipe, we cut the chicken into small, bite-sized pieces for quick cooking.
- Cook the sauce with spices: This reduces and thickens the sauce and gives the spices time to infuse the sauce with flavor.
- Bring it all together: Stir the chicken and reserved apricots into the sauce, allow to heat, and serve!
Especially the addition of rosemary, tabasco and cinnamon brightens the flavors and makes the dish more interesting than expected.
No fresh apricots? No problem!
If you don’t have fresh apricots, you can use a combination of dried pitted apricots and apricot jam. Chop about a dozen dried apricots and add them to the broth with 1/2 cup apricot jam in step 4. (Skip steps 1 and 5.)
What to serve with this dish
We served it with rice, but it would also go great with egg noodles. Just scoop the rice or pasta onto your plate and top it with a scoop of apricot chicken!
More recipes with apricots
- Roast chicken with apricot glaze
- Lamb stew with almonds and apricots
- Rosemary duck with apricots
- Couscous with pistachios and apricots
- Rustic Apricot Cake
How to store and reheat this dish
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. Heat in a skillet over medium-high heat until chicken is warmed through.
Alternatively, you can microwave a microwave-safe dish for 30 seconds at a time until heated through.
What to serve with apricot chicken
We recommend serving with plain rice or pasta. Or you can serve with one of these sides as well.
- Lightly cooked long grain rice
- rice pilaf
- Steamed Vegetables
- cauliflower rice
- Green Cauliflower Rice
- Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes
From the editors of Simply Recipes
Apricot chicken
If you don’t have fresh apricots, you can use a combination of dried pitted apricots and apricot jam. Chop about a dozen dried apricots and add them to the broth with 1/2 cup apricot jam in step 4 (skip steps 1 and 5).
ingredients
-
1 1/2 lb apricotsPits removed and cut into 3/4 inch pieces
-
1/4 Cup sugar
-
2 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
-
1 tablespoon unsalted butterOr replace with olive oil
-
3 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oildivided
-
2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breastcut into 1- to 2-inch pieces
-
Salt, taste
-
1 Onionchopped (approx 1 1/2 cups)
-
2 cups chicken broth
-
1 teaspoon Cinammon
-
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
-
2 teaspoon Tabasco or other hot sauce (or more to taste)
-
Fresh ground black pepper, taste
-
2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsleyfor garnish
-
rice or egg noodles to serve
method
-
Marinate apricots:
Whisk together the apricots, sugar, and vinegar in a large bowl. Let it rest while you sear the chicken in the next step.
-
Frying Chicken in Butter and Olive Oil:
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil until hot.
Work in batches so the pan doesn’t get too crowded and brown the chicken pieces on each side. While the chicken is cooking, sprinkle with salt. Once the chicken is browned, remove the pieces from the pan into a bowl and set aside.
-
Sweat onions:
Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the pan and sauté the onion until it starts to brown.
While the onion cooks and releases moisture, use a flat spatula or wooden spoon to scrape the browned parts of the chicken (called the stock) off the bottom of the pan. If the pan gets dry, add water a tablespoon at a time to loosen the onion from the bottom of the pan.
-
Add Chicken Broth:
Once the onion is slightly browned, add the chicken broth and reduce the heat to medium.
-
Puree apricots:
Set aside 1 2/3 cups of the apricots for the finished dish. Puree the remaining apricots in a blender along with the released juice. Add the puree to the pan with the broth and onion.
-
Boil sauce:
Stir the cinnamon, rosemary and Tabasco into the sauce. Bring the sauce to a simmer. Then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 10 to 20 minutes, or until the sauce thickens slightly. Taste and season with black pepper. Taste again and add more salt and Tabasco if needed.
-
Finish the dish:
Just before serving, add the chicken and reserved apricot pieces to the pan. Simmer gently for 5 minutes or until sauce is hot and chicken is cooked through. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with rice or egg noodles.
What is the temperature of cooked chicken?CONTINUE READING:
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 452 | calories |
| 16g | Fat |
| 26g | carbohydrates |
| 51g | protein |
