It’s time to whip out the trusty slow cooker for this delicious apricot chicken! This tasty dish is perfect for those nights when you come home late but still want to enjoy a home cooked meal as you can just pop it on in the morning to be ready for eating at night.

And with so much time in the cooker, the chicken is incredibly tender and absolutely packed with flavour from the sweet apricots! Plus, you can serve it all in one go or pop it in the fridge to enjoy as leftovers the next day. Yum!

Ingredients

• 8 chicken thigh, excess fat trimmed
• 40g pkt French onion soup mix
• 410g can apricot halves, drained
• 405ml can apricot nectar
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• Steamed rice, to serve
• Steamed broccolini, to serve
• Fresh thyme sprigs, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add half the chicken, skin-side down, and cook for 3 minutes or until golden. Turn and cook for a further 3 minutes. Transfer to the bowl of a slow cooker. Repeat with the remaining chicken.
2. Sprinkle the soup mix over the chicken. Add the apricot halves and pour over the apricot nectar. Cover and cook on Low for 6 hours.
3. Use tongs to transfer the chicken to a warm oven tray and cover with foil to keep warm (alternatively, pop the tray into a preheated 180C/160 fan forced oven, without the foil, for 5-10 minutes). Increase the slow cooker heat to High. Stir the cornflour with 1 tablespoon of water until smooth. Add to the slow cooker and stir to combine. Cover and heat for 5 minutes. Stir again.
4. Serve the chicken and apricots with rice and broccolini, and sprinkled with thyme leaves, if desired.