Sheet Pan Apricot Chicken and Potatoes is a quick, easy sheet pan meal that turns a few simple ingredients into an amazing meal in only 30 minutes!
Baked chicken thighs and fresh apricots with apricot jam, sweet potatoes and even a side salad with a homemade creamy apricot dressing. This simple hands-off meal delivers big flavor with ease!
Foolproof sheet pan dinner
This foolproof sheet pan baking method results in the BEST baked chicken thighs. And easily answer sthe question of “what’s for dinner” any night of the week!
Complete with everything you need to serve a well-rounded, delicious meal right on the sheet pan. Juicy baked chicken things with a crispy apricot glazed skin. Paired with caramelized sweet potato wedges and sauce-like mixture of roasted fruit and onions.
Add hearty side salad seasoned with a homemade Creamy Apricot Dressing made with the same ingredients that seasoned the chicken! This baked chicken thigh recipe hits all the flavor notes and keep you coming back for more!
Ingredients
Simply chicken, sweet potatoes, apricot jam, fresh apricots (or canned peaches when not in season!), red onion, and a few seasonings.
- Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs – or other similar dark meat chicken (like legs or drumsticks) will result in the most juicy, flavorful baked chicken. Chicken breasts or tenderloins can be substituted with some recipe modifications. See below for the ‘Make it even Faster’ version.
- Fresh apricots- or other fresh stone fruit like peaches, plums, nectarines or even try apples or canned peaches. Fresh apricots are in season from early May to August in many parts of the U.S. Slightly longer in California and Washington, the top apricot producing states. If available locally, pick some up! They’re great to snack on or use in sweet apricot recipes and savory apricot recipes like this.
- Sweet potatoes – pair with the sweetness of the roasted apricots and onions so well and get caramelized but tender after baking. But they can easily be omitted or substituted with regular potatoes. Russet or Yukon gold yellow potatoes will take slightly longer to roast than sweet potatoes. So if using cut into smaller pieces or start baking the potatoes 10 minutes before adding chicken to pan.
- Apricot jam – apricot preserves are a great substitute for sugar in the marinade. Adding a beautiful shiny glaze to the chicken, great flavor to the sauce and also serving as the base for the salad dressing. Substitute peach, plum or even grape jelly instead.
- Dijon mustard – or deli mustard is nice with this but just a bit spicy.
- Garlic cloves
- Salt and pepper
- Apple cider vinegar
- Olive oil
- Salad greens – torn kale leaves and red cabbage give a little extra heft to this sheet pan meal. But can easily be substituted with any other leafy greens or lettuce of your choice.
Step by step instructions
This foolproof sheet pan method also uses the same twofer seasoning method like Blueberry Grilled Chicken Salad and Citrus Glazed Salmon Salad. The apricot seasoning/marinade is doubled up and used later as also the base for the dressing. Providing cohesive flavors and saving so much time! Also heating up the sheet pan in the oven prior to adding the food creates great caramelization and really gets this sheet pan meal on the table fast!
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F and place large baking sheet in oven to preheat.
- Combine apricot jam, Dijon mustard, garlic, salt and pepper.
- Cut sweet potatoes into similar sized wedges (or chunks if you prefer) and add to a large bowl. Season potatoes with 1 tablespoon apricot seasoning and drizzle with olive oil.
- Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Using half the remaining apricot mixture cover the skin of each chicken thigh. Reserve remaining apricot seasoning mixture to use later as the base for a homemade salad dressing.
- Carefully remove preheated sheet pan from oven. Add seasoned potato wedges in a single layer and top with chicken thighs, skin side up.
- Roast, uncovered, 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, move chicken to one side of sheet pan. Stir potatoes and mix in onions and apricots.
- Continue roasting, uncovered, 10-15 minutes longer. Or until potatoes and apricots are caramelized and chicken is tender with a delicious crispy, sticky skin.
- Meanwhile, prepare salad greens and make homemade Creamy Apricot Dressing. Whisk 2 tablespoons cider vinegar into the remaining apricot seasoning mixture. Then whisk in bowl or shake in jar with 2 tablespoons olive oil until emulsified. Toss salad greens with dressing and serve with chicken, potatoes and caramelized onion/apricot mixture.
- Enjoy!
Yield
This recipe yields roughly 4 servings of 2 thighs per serving.
What to serve with
To add a bit more heft to the meal roast sliced carrots, broccoli or green beans. Simply add them to the sheet pan during the final ten minutes of roasting. You could also serve with rolls or french bread. And a sprinkle of fresh thyme or tarragon is a nice addition as well.
Make it even faster!
For a lightening speed version of apricot chicken simply substitute boneless, skinless chicken breasts or chicken tenderloins for the thighs. Omit the potatoes and instead add onions and apricots to the baking sheet at the same time as the chicken. And serve with rice or other carby side.
Make ahead freezer meal
Turn these flavors into freezer bag meal. Combine apricot jam mixture with sliced onions, peaches or apricots, sweet potatoes and chicken in a freezer bag. Freeze for up to 6 months. When ready to use defrost and bake as directed.
Slow cooker apricot chicken
Easily be adapted for the slow cooker or pressure cooker. Simply brown chicken thighs, add onions, peaches and chicken then pour sauce over. Cook according to device instructions. About 3 hours on high or 6 hours on low in the slow cooker. Or 30 minutes with natural steam release in the automatic pressure cooker. Serve with oven roasted sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, rice or any other starchy side to soak up the delicious juices.
Ingredients
- 3-4 pounds bone-in skin-on chicken thighs about 8 thighs
- 3 medium sweet potatoes or red garnet yams
- 1 large red onion sliced
- 1 pound fresh apricots sliced or peaches (1 can, drained)
- ½ cup apricot jam
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves optional
- 4 cups kale torn or sliced
- 1 cup cabbage sliced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
- Place large, rimmed baking sheet in oven to preheat.
- Combine apricot jam, garlic, Dijon mustard and salt and pepper.
- Peel, wedge and wash sweet potatoes. Season with 1 tablespoon of apricot seasoning mixture and a 2 tablespoons olive oil.
- Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Using only half the seasoning, cover the skin of each chicken thigh with apricot mixture, reserving the other half to use as
- as the base for a homemade salad dressing.
- Carefully remove preheated sheet pan from oven. Add seasoned potato wedges in a single layer and top with chicken thighs, skin side up.
- Return pan to oven and bake, uncovered.
- After 20 minutes move chicken to one side of sheet pan. Stir potatoes then mix in onions and sliced apricots.
- Continue roasting, uncovered, 10-15 minutes longer. Or until potatoes and apricots are caramelized and chicken is tender with a delicious crispy, sticky skin and internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
- Meanwhile, prepare salad greens and make homemade Creamy Apricot Dressing. Whisk 2 tablespoons cider vinegar into the remaining apricot mixture then whisk or shake 2 tablespoons olive oil in until emulsified.
- Toss salad greens with dressing and serve with chicken potatoes and caramelized onion/apricot mixture.
Nutrition
Rena Neiger
Can there really be 1106 calories per serving? The recipe looks delicious but the calorie count sounds excessive…?
Tristin Rieken
I use a nutrition facts calculator provided by my recipe card and re-ran it because you are correct that calorie count does seem excessive and it came out the same again. The majority of calories are from the 3 pounds of bone in skin on chicken thighs, 1 pound of apricots and the 1/2 cup of apricot jam and also the sweet potatoes. You can reduce this calorie count quite a bit by using skinless thighs, or even substituting white meat chicken if you prefer and also reducing the amount of fruit and fruit preserves. Another thing is that I have it written as a 4 serving recipe but honestly that would be 4 HEFTY servings, so it could be more like 4-6 servings or even 8 servings if only serving 1 piece of chicken per person rather than 2. Hope this helps 🙂