Apricot chicken
55 min · 50 g protein · 522 cals / serving
The Australian family classic, made from scratch: chicken braised in a glossy, sweet-savory sauce of apricots, soft onions and a little soy and mustard until it is fork-tender, with carrots soaking up the sauce. Served over rice with green beans, it tastes like the childhood favorite without the packet mix.
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1/3 lb chicken thigh, trimmed, halved
- 1 lb 7 oz chicken breast, in large chunks
- 1/4 tsp salt
Sauce
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 3 medium carrots, in thick coins
- 1 can (15 oz) apricot halves in juice canned apricot
- 3/4 cup + 1 tbsp chicken broth
- 1 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp cornstarch, mixed with 2 tbsp water
To serve
- 2/3 cup long-grain rice white rice
- 14 oz green beans, trimmed
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (optional)
Steps
- Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet or casserole over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and brown it in batches, 3 minutes per side, until golden. Move to a plate.
- Lower the heat to medium, add the onion and carrot to the pan and cook 5 minutes, scraping up the browned bits, until the onion softens.
- Drain the apricots, keeping the juice. Blend half the apricots with all the juice until smooth. Pour the purée into the pan with the broth, soy sauce, mustard and onion powder, stir, and return the chicken and its juices. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook gently 25 minutes, until the chicken is very tender and well past 165°F.
- Add the remaining apricot halves and stir in the cornstarch mixture. Simmer uncovered 2–3 minutes, until the sauce turns thick and glossy.
- Meanwhile, cook the rice and steam the green beans 4–5 minutes. Serve the chicken and sauce over the rice with the beans, scattered with parsley.
Good to know
How do I get the kids involved?
Children can drain the apricots, hold the lid on the blender while it whizzes the sauce, and trim the green beans by snapping off the ends. Snapping beans is oddly satisfying at any age.
Can I make it in the slow cooker?
Yes. Brown the chicken first if you have time, then put everything except the reserved apricot halves and cornstarch in the slow cooker and cook on low 5–6 hours. Stir in the halves and cornstarch for the last 20 minutes on high.
My picky eater only eats chicken breast
Use all breast meat, in large chunks, and shorten the covered simmer to 15 minutes so it stays juicy; it's about the same score. Thighs are juicier and more forgiving, which is why the recipe mixes the two.
Per
- Calories
- 90
- Protein
- (41%)
- 9 g
- Fat
- (16%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (43%)
- 10 g
- of which sugar
- 4 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 156 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 2087 kcal goes into the pot and 2378 g of ingredients comes out as about 2325 g of food: 90 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.