Chicken thighs baked in the oven with a homemade apricot sauce. Serve with steamed rice and green vegetables for an easy and delicious meal.
Tray bakes are a great way to infuse a lot of flavour into your meat. On top of that, they are really easy to prepare! My Apricot Chicken Tray Bake is made with chicken thighs which are already full of flavour but get taken to the next level in the sweet apricot sauce.
In this recipe I have used chicken thighs, you can swap for chicken breasts but they may dry out in the oven. So bake until they are just cooked through, you may have to cut one in half to test once they are cooked.
How to make Apricot Chicken:
Preheat the oven to 200°C fan bake. Cut each chicken thigh into three pieces and add to a large casserole dish. Drain the apricots over a glass jug, reserving the liquid for later. Scatter the apricots over the chicken thighs.
Add the garlic, cumin, soy sauce and cornflour to 100ml of the reserved juice and mix everything together. Pour over the chicken then bake for 40 minutes.
Turn the chicken, scatter the almonds over and bake for another 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
Serve on top of fluffy rice with sliced spring onion and steamed green vegetables.
Baked chicken thighs make for such a tasty meal. If you like this type of meal, check out my recipes for Coq au Vin and Baked Garlic Chicken.
Common questions and tips for Apricot chicken :
What else could I serve this meal with? Apricot chicken could also be served on mashed potatoes or your favourite noodles.
How long does this meal keep for? Cooked chicken will keep well in the fridge for 2-3 days in an airtight container.
Pin this post to your dinners board on Pinterest and save it for later
[social_warfare buttons="facebook, pinterest"]
MADE THIS RECIPE?
PLEASE CLICK ON THE STARS BELOW AND RATE IT!
Apricot Chicken Tray Bake
Sticky chicken thighs baked in a delicious apricot sauce.
Ingredients
- 1kg chicken thighs, boneless & skinless
- 1 can apricots halves, 410g
- 1 Tbsp crushed garlic
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 3 Tbsp dark soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp cornflour
- 30g sliced almonds
To serve
- Steamed white rice
- Steamed green vegetables
- Spring onion
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C fan bake.
- Cut each chicken thigh into three pieces and add to a large casserole dish.
- Drain the can of apricot reserving the liquid for later. Scatter apricots over the chicken thighs.
- Add the garlic, cumin, soy sauce and cornflour to 100ml of the reserved apricot juice and mix together. Pour over the chicken and bake for 40 minutes.
- Turn over chicken, scatter over the almonds and bake for another 10 minutes until the chicken is golden and cooked through.
- Serve on top of fluffy rice with spring onion to garnish and steamed greens on the side.
Notes
- Any leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for up to three months in the freezer. Reheat until piping hot before serving.
- This could also be served on top of mashed potatoes.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 441Total Fat: 26gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 18gCholesterol: 213mgSodium: 738mgCarbohydrates: 13gFiber: 2gSugar: 1gProtein: 42g
Nutritional values are approximate. Please use your own calculations if you require a special diet.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR CHECKING OUT MY RECIPE.
FOLLOW ALONG AT MY FACEBOOK PAGE.
OR TAG ME ON INSTAGRAM @VJ_COOKS AND HASHTAG IT #VJCOOKS
The best chicken dinners
Mexican Chicken Salad
Seasoned BBQ chicken served with fresh summer vegetables, corn chips, rice and a chipotle dressing.
Noelene Ross says
I am going to have a go at making this, but as I live by myself I will be reducing the ingredients. What I would like to know is, you always state fan bake. My oven doesn't have fan bake, so what temperature do I adjust to. Thanks
VJ cooks says
Hi Noelene, the general rule of thumb is to add 20°C for a conventional oven. So for 200°C fan bake, I would recommend 220°C for a conventional oven. I hope that helps!
Noelene Ross says
Thanks for that, good to know. 🙂
Emma says
Hi, can I use bone in chicken thighs for this? Thanks
VJ cooks says
Absolutely 🙂
Laura Lucas says
I am assisting an old age care centre to raise funds. I live in a fruit growing village in Karoo South Africa. Please advise whether we may use your Apricot Chicken Tray Bake recipe if we identify you as the creator of the recipe and mention your blog VJ Cooks
VJ cooks says
Yes, you're welcome to use the recipe. Good luck with the fundraising.
Hannah says
Hiya, just wondering if the soy sauce is meant to be dark soy or whether this is a mistake? I made this recipe today but it was very very dark compared to the photos in the recipe. Perhaps it is meant to be regular or light soy??
Cheers, Hannah
VJ cooks says
That's strange. I definitely used dark soy as per the ingredients picture. Feel free to use a lighter version if you prefer.
Sharon Johns says
Hi VJ Unsure as to wether to cover and also cook in middle of oven or lower?????
VJ cooks says
Hi Sharon, I would say to cover it if it was required. Place it uncovered in the middle of the oven.
Susan says
Hi, would this recipe work well with chicken drumsticks? I am looking forward to trying it. 🙂
VJ cooks says
Yes that would be fine! Just be sure to cook them the whole way through.