Chicken with Apricots & Olives Recipe
Published Oct 28, 2019
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This recipe is very, very loosely inspired by chicken tagine with apricots and olives. That traditional Moroccan dish usually consists of seasonings like turmeric, cinnamon, and herbs like parsley. This Chicken with Apricots & Olives recipe doesn’t use a tagine (because I don’t have one) – instead, it uses a Dutch oven or a stock pot. And instead of turmeric and cinnamon, I used thyme, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. It’s really just the chicken, apricots and olives that are the same, but inspiration can veer pretty far from the original path, so just go with me on this.
This dish is flavorful and a little out of the ordinary compared to most chicken dishes. I used a mixture of Marukan seasoned gourmet rice vinegar with olive oil and dried thyme to deglaze the onion and garlic and create a nice simmering liquid for the chicken so that it cooks up moist and flavorful. The result is a fantastic main dish that is unique enough to serve to guests, yet just as good served on a weeknight to change up the usual chicken dinner. Serve it over rice, quinoa, or cauliflower rice and add a veggie side dish or salad and you have a complete, balanced meal.
Chicken with Apricots & Olives
Ingredients
- ½ cup Marukan Seasoned Gourmet Rice Vinegar
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 8 bone-in chicken thighs
- Kosher or fine sea salt
- Black pepper
- 1 large white onion, , cut in half then sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, , minced
- 1½ cups low sodium gluten free chicken broth
- 4 small or 2 large bay leaves
- 8 ounces dried apricots
- 2 cups pitted Sicilian olives, , smashed
- Paprika, , for garnish
- Chopped parsley, , for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine the vinegar with ¼ cup olive oil and the thyme. Set aside.
- Remove the skin and excess fat from the chicken thighs and season generously with salt and pepper.
- Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a Dutch oven or stock pot over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the chicken, in batches, meaty side down, and brown well on both sides, about 4 minutes per side. Remove the chicken from the pot, add the onion along with a big pinch of salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring for 30 seconds. Add the vinegar mixture to the pot and cook, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan, for 1 minute. Add the chicken broth and bay leaves, stir to combine and cook for 3-4 minutes or until the sauce is just beginning to thicken slightly. Add the apricots and olives, stir to combine, and nestle the chicken thighs into the mixture. Cover the pot and cook for 40 minutes. Remove the lid and cook for another 15 minutes.
- Sprinkle the top with paprika and chopped parsley and serve with rice, quinoa, or cauliflower rice.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Very good. Fairly easy to make. Wasn’t too time consuming. The combination of flavors was excellent.