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Fresh Apricot Glazed Chicken is bursting with mouthwatering Asian inspired flavors. Serve with bok choy salad and rice and your guests will be in food heaven.
If you love tender chicken thighs in a sweet and sticky sauce, you’ll also want to try my teriyaki chicken and my shoyu chicken recipes.
Fresh apricots. I love to cook with them. When we got a ton of them in our CSA box, and then even more the next week, I told my husband I wanted to make an apricot almond upside down cake. He gave me a lecture (if you’re reading this, dear husband, yes it was a lecture) on how I’m making too many desserts and that we have too many sweets in the house. Can there be such a thing? Anyway, I still made the cake but there were so many apricots I needed to find something else to do with them. Then, my CSA gave me bok choy. Then it hit me! I’ll make an Asian inspired dinner.
Growing up my mom used to make this really good dinner with chicken thighs and plum sauce. I couldn’t find plum sauce so I figured I’d get creative with my apricots. I was so glad I did.
Below are some of the awesome ingredients. You’ll see apricots, garlic, shallots, and ginger.
Add toasted sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce and a bit of sugar to the ingredients above and you’ll create a sauce that will make your mouth sing!
I scooped on some extra sauce to mix in with the rice. Oh so good. Right after hamburgers, my convert-foodie husband’s most favorite food is anything Asian. He was so happy when I made this dinner. Feel free to make this dinner for your husband and be sure to report back if it makes he ends up loving it so much that he voluntarily does the dishes after dinner without complaining.
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup shallots sliced (1 large shallot will usually yield about 1/4 cup)
- 4 Tablespoons fresh ginger peeled and finely chopped – reduce the amount if you don't love ginger
- 2 Tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 2/3 cup soy sauce
- 2 cups fresh apricots pitted and chopped (about 5 medium-sized apricots yielded 2 cups chopped)
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs you can double the amount of chicken without doubling the sauce ingredients
Instructions
- Sauté vegetables: Over medium heat, cook shallots and ginger in sesame oil in a large skillet, stirring occasionally, until softened and golden, about 3 minutes. Add garlic, stir, and continue to cook for another 2 minutes.
- Add vinegar and sugar: Stir in rice vinegar and sugar. Bring mixture to a boil and cook until reduced by about half.
- Add soy sauce and fruit: Add the soy sauce and apricots and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes.
- Blend: Purée the sauce in a blender until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids), then cool the sauce in the refrigerator. Alternatively, an immersion blender can be used to puree the sauce.
- Marinate: Place chicken in a large resealable bag and pour in just enough marinade to fully coat the chicken. The remaining marinade should be stored in the refrigerator. Seal the bag, pressing out any excess air. Place the bag in the refrigerator and marinate for at least 8 hours, up to 24 hours. Turn the bag occasionally to ensure the chicken remains fully coated.
- Bake chicken: Preheat oven to 400°F with the rack in the middle of the oven. Line a baking sheet or 9×13 pan with parchment paper. Shake off any excess marinade and arrange the chicken thighs in a single layer. Roast for about 15 minutes, turn each piece and then top with a spoonful of excess sauce. Cook for another 10 minutes or so, until the internal temperature reaches 165°F. At this time, set the oven to broil on high, and broil the chicken until the tops are golden brown and the sauce has seized, about 4-5 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Bok choy salad . The directions are missing from your recipe.
yum! love this simple glaze
I love a sweet chicken recipe! This looks tender and delicious!
I am always looking for different ways to cook chicken, and this looks like an awesome summer recipe! Will be making it for dinner soon.
This looks delicious, I am going to make this over the weekend.
Apricot and chicken sound like a great combination. Will have to try this recipe when I can get my hands on some apricots!
I’ve tried apricot with chicken a few times, and every time it was a winner. Fantastic recipe that I am so keen to try!
All ingredients put together came to be extremely flavorful…I marinated chicken breast for an hour then grilled chicken using remaining marinade to base chicken as it cooks…AWESOME!
Thanks for letting me know, Tarkia! Glad you liked it. -Krissy