This is such a nifty recipe that I know you’re going to have it on repeat; mainly because it’s so easy, but also because it’s unbelievably tasty! Follow me…
Apricot Sauce for Chicken
Chicken pairs nicely with a range of different fruits, but apricot has to be one of my favourites. And please don’t be put off if you’re not a huge fan of apricots, I’m confident you’ll still love this! The sauce is actually more of a sticky glaze. It only requires 4 ingredients:
Apricot Conserve – I couldn’t confidently tell you the difference between jam, conserve and preserve without probably being wrong, but I buy apricot conserve. Either way, try and get a good-quality pot as it makes up the bulk of the sauce. Soy Sauce – This balances out the sweetness with some salty flavour. Vinegar – This is also used to cut through the sweetness. I use rice vinegar but any clear vinegar will work (white wine, apple cider etc). Sriracha – Adds a very gentle background heat. You’ll barely notice it, but it helps to balance the flavours.
Process shots: add ingredients to bowl (photo 1), stir to combine (photo 2).
Preparing Apricot Chicken
I prefer using chicken thigh over breast in this recipe for a couple of reasons. First is that it’s fattier, meaning the excess fat can be used to fry the onion (plus more fat = more flavour). It’s also more difficult to overcook, meaning you can build up a nice crust without the meat drying out.
Coating the chicken
I coat the chicken in seasoning and flour before frying it. The flour is important as it helps build up a crust on the chicken, which in turn helps absorb the sauce and help it cling to the chicken. Otherwise, it just slips off.
Cashew nuts
I LOVE adding cashews to this recipe. They not only bulk out the dish, but they pair beautifully with both the chicken and the sauce (fruit + nut = heaven). Please don’t skip them unless you can’t have them. Process shots: season chicken then add flour (photo 1), stir to coat (photo 2), add cashews to oil (photo 3), fry then remove (photo 4), add chicken (photo 5), fry photo 6).
Sticky Apricot Chicken
The final step is adding the onion to the leftover oil. The onion helps further provide some savoury depth to the dish and balance out the apricot jam. After you’ve fried the onion you can add the chicken, cashews and sauce to the pan and give it all a good stir. Because this sauce is so thick you don’t need to spend time simmering it. Just bung it in the pan, give it a mix and you’re good to go! Process shots: remove chicken (photo 7), add onion (photo 8), fry (photo 9), add everything back to pan and stir (photo 10).
Serving Apricot Chicken
You can serve this with a variety of different things (check out my Side Dishes for inspo). I actually love serving with giant cous cous. I typically free-ball the quantities, but just toss the cooked cous cous with a knob of butter, plenty of finely diced fresh parsley and plenty of lemon juice (work to taste). Season well too. For more fruity recipes check out my Pomegranate Chicken, Pork & Pineapple Stir Fry and Salmon & Mango Salsa! Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for this apricot chicken shall we?!
How to make Apricot Chicken (Full Recipe & Video)
