Easy Sticky Apricot Chicken

Easy, delicious sticky apricot chicken flavored with a little soy sauce and chilli flakes is a perfect dinner when served with almond and lemon pilaf rice.

Listen, let’s not beat around the bush here, we all know I am slightly obsessed with chicken. A quick gander through this blog will give you all the evidence you need. I love it roasted, fried and grilled. But when chicken is covered in a sticky, fragrant glaze. Well, there’s just something fantastic about that, isn’t there? And when the food I eat forces me to lick my fingers, all the better!

This ridiculously easy, quick apricot chicken is everything to me at the moment. Not only does it remind me of the apricot chicken my mom used to make for us as kids, it’s also a fool proof way to get my kids to eat everything on the plate (sticky chicken is magic like that) PLUS it doesn’t take much thought or effort on my part. The glaze is a simple combination of apricot jam (preserves), soy sauce, lemon juice and seasoning. I sauteed the chicken thighs in a large, deep pan until golden brown and almost cooked through before I poured over glaze because 1) I wanted the chicken fat to render a little and b) if added too early, the glaze will catch and burn and no-one has time for that. Doing it this way, you can pour off the excess fat which will just make your sauce greasy and the glaze is allowed to caramelise and cling to the chicken in the best way possible.

Now, let’s talk about your options when serving time comes. Mashed potatoes, soft polenta or even a good hunk of bread will all do just fine but if you want to take this up a notch, add the gloriousness that is my lemon-almond pilaf. First of all, the rice itself is so delicious, I could eat bowls and bowls and bowls of it (and I actually might have done just that…) but it is also the perfect absorber of all that delectable sauce. All sweet and sticky and apricotty and chickeny. Yaaassss! So make the effort and whip up a pot of pilaf alongside that sticky chicken, add some greens of your choice (I’m not fussy here, anything goes) and tuck into simple perfection. You’re welcome!

4.25 from 4 votes

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Sticky Apricot Chicken

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

35 mins

 

Easy, delicious sticky apricot chicken flavored with a little soy sauce and chilli flakes is a perfect dinner when served with almond and lemon pilaf rice.

Course: Chicken, Dinner, Easy

Servings: 4 -6

Author: Alida Ryder

Ingredients

• 8 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
• olive oil for browning

for the glaze

• 3/4 cup apricot jam/preserves
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• zest and juice of 1 lemon you need approximately 2-3 tablespoons of lemon juice
• pinch of chilli flakes optional
• salt & pepper to taste
• 2-3 tablespoons water to thin down

to serve

• fresh parsley
• Almond pilaf

Instructions

1. Heat a large, deep frying pan over medium-high heat.
2. Add a splash of oil and brown the chicken pieces all over until the skin is crisp and golden, approximately 10-15 minutes.
3. In the meantime, mix together all the glaze ingredients. Add 2 tablespoons water to thin the glaze out a little but not enough to make it overly watery.
4. When the chicken is golden brown and almost cooked through, pour off the excess fat.
5. Return the pot to the heat and add the glaze.
6. Allow the glaze to simmer gently, basting the chicken regularly until the glaze has reduced and the chicken is cooked through.
7. Serve the chicken on rice with a generous amount of glaze spooned over.