Chicken Breasts with Apricot-Onion Pan Sauce

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After sautéing chicken breasts, Melissa Rubel Jacobson adds diced onions and white wine to sweep up the delicious browned bits left in the skillet, then sweetens the sauce slightly with dried apricots and apricot preserves. More Chicken Breast Recipes

Chicken Breasts with Apricot-Onion Pan Sauce
Photo: © Lucy Schaeffer
Total Time:
35 mins
Yield:
4

Ingredients

  • 3 ½ ounces dried apricots

  • 4 skin-on boneless chicken breasts (9 ounces each)

  • Salt and freshly ground pepper

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

  • 1 large onion (diced)

  • 1 garlic clove (thinly sliced)

  • 2 thyme sprigs

  • 1 bay leaf

  • ½ cup dry white wine

  • 1 ½ cups chicken stock

  • 2 tablespoons apricot preserves

  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°. In a bowl, cover the apricots with hot water and let stand until soft, about 15 minutes; drain.

  2. Meanwhile, dry the chicken with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. In a stainless steel skillet, heat the oil. Add the chicken, skin side down, and cook over moderately high heat until golden brown, 5 minutes. Flip and cook about 3 minutes longer. Transfer the chicken to a baking sheet and roast for about 14 minutes.

  3. Add the onion, garlic, thyme and bay leaf to the skillet. Season with salt and cook over moderate heat until the onion is tender. Add the wine and boil until reduced by half, scraping up the browned bits in the skillet. Add the chicken stock, apricots and apricot preserves and bring to a boil. Cook over high heat until the sauce thickens. Off the heat, swirl in the butter until melted. Discard the thyme sprigs and bay leaf. Season the sauce with salt and pepper. Transfer the chicken to plates, spoon the sauce on top and serve.

Suggested Pairing

Full-bodied California Viogniers are ideal with the fruity sauce on these chicken breasts.

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