Apricot Chicken

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What's great about it

One of my favourite meals when growing up was apricot chicken. Mum used to make it by simmering lean chicken thighs with tinned apricot nectar and a packet of french onion soup. I was inspired to reinvent this traditional recipe when I spotted fresh sun-ripened apricots at my local grocer. In place of the tinned apricot nectar, I've used fresh apricots that have been blitzed in my Vitamix. The packet soup has been swapped to my homemade chicken stock and I've used lean skinless chicken breast to make this dish into a delicious 10-minute meal.

Ingredients

Serves 4

2 onions, sliced

600g organic/free-range chicken breast fillets, cut into chunks

4 ripe sweet apricots, cut in half, stone removed (see notes for using dried apricot)

1 cup chicken or vegetable stock

2 heaped teaspoons whole fruit apricot jam

A good grind of black pepper

Method

Sauté the onion over a medium heat in a little olive oil until softened.
Add the chicken and brown on both sides. This should take about 5 minutes.
Pour in the stock and deglaze the pan, allowing all the caramelised pan juices to combine with the stock.
Blend the fresh apricots into a puree. You should have 1 cup of apricot puree.
Add the apricot puree to the chicken and mix through. Simmer for about 2 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
Add the whole fruit apricot jam as well as a good grind of pepper then mix through.
Taste your sauce and adjust where necessary to your palate - adding a touch more stock or jam if necessary. Your apricot sauce should be lovely thick, tasty and glossy.

Notes and Inspiration

When apricots are out of season - use 12 organic sundried apricots. Soak in your desired stock as per the recipe then blend together until smooth. You will develop a lovely apricot base for the whole dish.

This is a wonderful delicious and simple meal for the whole family.

To change it up a bit, I sometimes add aromatics such as cinnamon, ginger, chilli and saffron threads. What I love about this meal is that it's quick, budget friendly and simple to cook.