Slow Cooker Apricot Ginger Chicken

apricot chicken plated

Life’s been a little hectic lately so I’ve relied often on my handy-dandy slow cooker.  This is another yummy slow cooker recipe that calls for chicken thighs which I like because they don’t get easily dried out like chicken breast can.  My husband and little girl really enjoy this over brown rice with veggies.  The apricot and ginger are not overpowering at all.  They create good flavor and a nice little sauce to pour over your chicken and rice, too.

Apricot Ginger Chicken

Ingredients

  • about 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • kosher salt & freshly ground pepper
  • 1 jar apricot preserves (I use a 12 oz. jar of Smuckers)
  • 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
  • 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tsp. fresh ginger, minced
  • 1/4 tsp. red chile flakes
  • 1/4 cup onion, diced
  • 1 medium (or half large) red bell pepper, diced

Place chicken thighs in your slow cooker (I rinse my chicken and snip off excess fat).  Salt and pepper them lightly.  In a bowl, mix the preserves, mustard, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and chile flakes together.  Pour over the chicken.  Mix chicken and sauce a bit to coat chicken.  Place diced onions on top of chicken.  Cover and cook on high for 4 hours.  When about 45 minutes of cook time remain, mix the bell pepper in.  Serve with rice.

*Please adjust cook time to suit your slow cooker since they can vary slightly.

Enjoy! ♥

Adapted from Make It Fast, Cook It Slow.

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Slow Cooker Whole Chicken

slow cooker whole chicken plated

Sometimes there’s nothing better than a baked chicken dinner.  But then life can get in the way and I get home too late in the afternoon to stick one in the oven.  Or maybe I’m just feeling lazy (likely story).  In any case, once in a while I “bake” it in the slow cooker.  Simple and comforting.  An added bonus?  It releases and cooks in its own juices which means you also get homemade broth without any added effort.  Simply add a bit of water after dinner, add the bones back into the slow cooker and let it do its thing while you sleep.  Pretty snazzy.

slow cooker whole chicken raw 1

You can season it however you like.  I don’t add much beyond some onions, carrots, celery and a few seasonings.  You really can’t mess it up.  However, since all slow cookers differ a bit, adjust the cook time to suit your cooker.  I cook mine 4 hours on high which yields a darn good chicken.  Cook it too long and, like many meat-based slow cooker recipes, you’ll end up with a dry and mealy dish.

slow cooker whole chicken plated meal

Last night we enjoyed it with asparagus, a simple salad, and corn on the cob.  Nothing fancy.  Just a little comfort.

Slow Cooker Whole Chicken

Ingredients

  • 4 lb whole chicken (I prefer organic)
  • 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
  • 2 ribs of celery, chopped
  • 1 medium onion (or half a large onion), halved and sliced
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1-2 tsp. thyme
  • half a lemon (I use Meyer)
  • kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Rinse the inside and outside of the chicken.  Place half the carrots, celery and onion slices in the bottom of your slow cooker.  Place chicken in slow cooker.  Salt the inside and outside of chicken.  Grind pepper all over chicken as well (to taste–we like a lot of pepper).  Sprinkle thyme all over chicken.  Place remaining carrots, celery, and onion slice over chicken.  Squeeze lemon over chicken.  Place lid on slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours.  Remove chicken from cooker and let sit for a few minutes before slicing/cutting and serving.  Top servings with some of chicken’s broth.

*Bonus: Since the chicken produces its own broth as it cooks, I add the bones back to the slow cooker after our meal.  I add a bit of water and set the slow cooker on low for 10 hours to create even more broth.  Mm!

Enjoy! ♥

May Clutter-Busting Challenge: Day 13 & 14

Day 14

I’m joining Crystal of Money Saving Mom in her May challenge: Clutter-Busting Challenge: Get Rid of Seven Things Every Single Day in May!   Wanna join me?  Here’s what you do… Each week day in May go through your house and find 7 things you can toss, donate, recycle, sell, or find someone else who can use them.  That’s it.  These can be big […]

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fridge exterior day 11

I’m joining Crystal of Money Saving Mom in her May challenge: Clutter-Busting Challenge: Get Rid of Seven Things Every Single Day in May!   Wanna join me?  Here’s what you do… Each week day in May go through your house and find 7 things you can toss, donate, recycle, sell, or find someone else who can use them.  That’s it.  These can be big […]

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day 10

I’m joining Crystal of Money Saving Mom in her May challenge: Clutter-Busting Challenge: Get Rid of Seven Things Every Single Day in May!   Wanna join me?  Here’s what you do… Each week day in May go through your house and find 7 things you can toss, donate, recycle, sell, or find someone else who can use them.  That’s it.  These can be big […]

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May Clutter-Busting Challenge: Day 9

day 11

I’m joining Crystal of Money Saving Mom in her May challenge: Clutter-Busting Challenge: Get Rid of Seven Things Every Single Day in May!   Wanna join me?  Here’s what you do… Each week day in May go through your house and find 7 things you can toss, donate, recycle, sell, or find someone else who can use them.  That’s it.  These can be big […]

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May Clutter-Busting Challenge: Day 2 through 4

day 2 through 4

I’m joining Crystal of Money Saving Mom in her May challenge: Clutter-Busting Challenge: Get Rid of Seven Things Every Single Day in May!   Wanna join me?  Here’s what you do… Each week day in May go through your house and find 7 things you can toss, donate, recycle, sell, or find someone else who can use them.  That’s it.  These can be big […]

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labeled complete herb pots all four

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May Clutter-Busting Challenge: Day 1

day 1 pic

Happy May!  I have a feeling May is going to be a good month.  Power of positive thinking, right? To get me going on the right track, I’m joining Crystal of Money Saving Mom in her May challenge: Clutter-Busting Challenge: Get Rid of Seven Things Every Single Day in May!  *Note: I am a big fan of Crystal, […]

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Cooking with Gooseberry Patch: Buttery Apple Pound Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze

buttery apple pound cake 78 number 2 labeled

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Tomato Feta Orzo Salad

orzo salad 904

I ate about 2 cups of this with my dinner the other night.  That’s a lot.  Especially since the 2 cups was consumed with 2 BBQ drumsticks, corn on the cob, potato salad, and asparagus.  And French bread.  With butter.  I never said I was a light eater. However, this is a light side dish (or light lunch) that […]

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Orange bundt cake 806

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Blackberry Jam Potter Squares

blackberry jam squares 1

Books play a big role in my little girl’s days.  Cooking together is also a large part of our Mommy & Munchie days.  So we often try to create or recreate meals or dishes that we read about in books.  Since there aren’t always many food/recipe details we just use our imagination. All the talk […]

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twice baked mashed 3

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country lemon pie 3

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blueberry crumb cake 1

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heart pancakes 3

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Munchie’s Mini Chocolate Chip Muffins

cheese shapes

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Meyer Lemon Cake with Lemon Buttermilk Glaze

lemon cake 2

A friend was kindly teasing me recently because she thought I don’t use cake mixes.  Oh no, no, no.  I always have a few boxes of Duncan Hines on hand for cake popping and easy cakes.  Though I generally prefer from-scratch cakes, I certainly don’t turn my nose up at box mixes and have a few […]

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