This slow cooker apricot chicken recipe is tender chicken thighs in a delicious sweet and savory sauce made with apricot jam, soy and ginger. A super easy crock pot dinner option!
Apricot chicken is a unique dish that will please both kids and adults alike. Serve your chicken over rice pilaf or Instant Pot mashed potatoes for a complete meal.
This site doesn’t have a lot of slow cooker recipes, mostly because I’m not the biggest slow cooker fan. That being said, this slow cooker apricot chicken is FABULOUS and you’ll love it, even if you’re like me and you don’t use your crockpot that often. The sauce is what makes this dish special, it’s sweet, savory and tangy, all in one. And don’t even get me started on the melt-in-your mouth chicken!
How do you make apricot chicken?
This recipe starts with bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, which are seared until golden brown. Onions go into the pan to cook, then place the chicken and onions in your crockpot. Whisk together apricot ham, Dijon mustard, soy sauce and ginger, then pour that mixture over the chicken. Let the chicken simmer in the sauce until tender. Add a sprinkling of parsley, then serve and enjoy.
Tips for the perfect chicken
- I use chicken thighs because they have a lot of flavor and are less likely to dry out during the long cooking time. You can also use chicken breasts if you prefer.
- Fresh ginger is best for this dish, but if you don’t have any on hand, you can substitute 1/4 teaspoon of dried ginger.
- If you’re pressed for time, you can skip browning the chicken and onions. That being said, I feel that this step really adds a lot of flavor, and it’s definitely worth taking the extra few minutes to do it.
- Serve your chicken over rice, mashed potatoes, or couscous with a steamed vegetable on the side.
Apricot Chicken Variations
This recipe is delicious as-is, but you can switch up the ingredients to customize it to your tastes.
- Protein: Try using bone-in pork chops instead of chicken thighs.
- Jam: No apricot jam on hand? This recipe also works great with peach jam. You can also use pineapple jam for a tropical flair.
- Potatoes: You can add potatoes to the crockpot along with the chicken and onions. I recommend using whole baby Yukon gold potatoes.
Can you freeze apricot chicken?
This recipe is a great candidate for the freezer. Simply cool the chicken, then freeze it in a resealable bag or airtight container for up to 2 months. Thaw the chicken overnight in the refrigerator, then reheat it on the stove top until warmed through.
This recipe is really is one of the best slow cooker meals I’ve had. The chicken just falls off the bone and that sauce is the perfect blend of sweet and savory. Try it tonight and watch the rave reviews pour in!
Other Recipes You’ll Love
- Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken
- Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore
- Grilled Chicken Kabobs
- Honey Mustard Chicken
- Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
Slow Cooker Apricot Chicken Video
Ingredients
- 6 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs can also use boneless skinless chicken thighs
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 onion thinly sliced
- 1 cup apricot preserves
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the apricot preserves, soy sauce, dijon mustard and ginger. Set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan over high heat. Season the chicken thighs on both sides with salt and pepper.
- Place the chicken thighs skin side down in the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side until deep golden brown. Add the onions to the pan and cook for 5 minutes or until softened.
- Place the chicken thighs and onions in a slow cooker. Pour the apricot sauce over the chicken and onions.
- Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or HIGH for 3-4 hours. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
I just spent 20 minutes typing a review and then something happened and before I could hit post it disappeared. Darn it. So here I go again. This recipe is so delicious! Everyone you need to make this. You won’t be disappointed! If I could give it more than 5 stars I would. Not only is it delicious, but it’s economical and so easy to customize and prepare. I followed the sauce recipe exactly except that I double it because I wanted lots of sauce because I had 6 large thighs and I planned on adding a couple things. I hate it when people completely change a recipe and then rate it based on their changes, but in this case I did not change the core of this recipe. I browned the chicken, but not the onions because I knew the onions would cook fine in the sauce so I sliced two small onions and I chunked up a yellow bell pepper and a red pepper into about 1/2 to 3/4 inch chunks ( I didn’t want them to disintegrate). I put the onions and peppers into the crock pot and layered the chicken on top and I poured the double batch of sauce over everything and put the lid on. I forgot to say that I also grated a couple garlic cloves into the sauce. I cooked it on high for 4 hours and low for another hour. I then added a can of drained pineapple chunks and I scooped out about 3/4 ‘s of the sauce and put it into a sauce pan and brought it to a very low boil and I added a heaping tablespoon of cornstarch that I had mixed up with a tablespoon of water into the sauce and cooked until thickened. Then I poured it back into the crock pot. I served it over basmati rice. Even though it didn’t really need a side I made some bok choy that I cooked in a hot wok with a quick sauce that I made of a little soy sauce, oyster sauce and honey and garlic, a small squeeze of ginger paste and a small bit of chili sauce. I shook it all up in a jar and after the bok choy had started to soften I poured the sauce on and put a lid on for a few moments until the stalks had softened to my liking. This meal was so good. It reminded me of orange chicken but better! Thank you so much for this gem of a recipe. I can’t wait to try it in pork chops! I will be making this again and again and can’t wait for leftovers tomorrow!
This is such a great recipe! Will definitely be keeping it in the rotation and trying it with different cuts of chicken and pork
Made this for dinner tonight & realized I’d never left a review! This is one of my household’s favorite recipes; we’ve made it many times over the years. I don’t brown the chicken, don’t add onion (just personal preference), & always use 2 large boneless chicken breasts, following the recipe as otherwise written. I shred the chicken near the end of the cook time & it soaks up all the delicious sauce — yum! Thank you for the wonderful recipe! Even with all the jam, it’s nice & savory so you can use it so many different ways; I love this chicken on a sandwich 🙂
I tried this tonight in my Instapot using the slow cooker function on high. I browned the chicken thighs with onions first. Once in the pot with the sauce, the chicken measured 200 degrees F after only 40 minutes and the sauce was boiling and thinned out quite a bit. After an hour, the meat was falling off the bone and the sauce was thin but the meat had absorbed the flavor.
I was hoping for a thicker sauce. Any thoughts?
If you’re making it in an Instant Pot you could remove the lid and switch to saute mode for just a minute or two to thicken the sauce, just be careful not to burn the sauce!
This recipe is I keeper in my house now I don’t brown my boneless skinless chicken thighs. I just put them in. Put the onions on top and pour the sauce on and put it on low for 6 to 7 hours. It’s falling apart and absolutely delicious.
Literally the best recipe. Super versatile and delicious! It’s def a monthly in our house!
I used boneless thighs, absolutely incredible. I put this recipe in my keepers!
This dish was certainly easy to prepare and the sauce was delicious. Not sure how your sauce was golden. The soy sauce made mine very dark.
I browned 4 medium boneless, skinless thighs and used a 4 quart cooker on high for 3 1/2 hours. I wonder if less time would be better since the thighs are partially cooked to start. I found them ever so slightly dry.
I plan to make this for 8 people and it seems that I could still use the 4 quart cooker because there was plenty of room when I did 4 medium thighs.
Nothing in the recipe says the sauce will be golden. She says to cook the chicken thighs skin side down until golden in color. Of course the sauce is not going to be golden because of the soy sauce. But the skin on the chicken thighs will turn a golden color.
So easy and so delicious. I’ve made it twice in two weeks! Once sautéing the chicken and one time not, both fantastic.