As Easy as 1, 2, 3: Saucy Apricot Chicken

I recently made this recipe for out-of-state guests and it was a huge success. Even my picky-eater husband enjoyed it. A couple of us also agreed that the sauce was good not only on our chicken, but also on our sweet potato wedges, and that, chilled, it would make a really delicious salad dressing.

You can find the original recipe in Fix-It and Forget-It Recipes for Entertaining: Slow Cooker Favorites for All the Year Round by Phyllis Pellman Good and Dawn J. Ranck.

The perks of this recipe, aside from how delicious it is, is that it requires only three ingredients, and takes only three steps to prepare.

Saucy Apricot Chicken

What you'll need:

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 2 12-oz. jars apricot preserves
• 1 package dry onion soup mix

One of the best things about this recipe (aside from the scrumptious result) is that it only requires three ingredients, making it both easy and inexpensive.

It's as easy as 1, 2, 3:

1. Place chicken in slow cooker.

The first step is simply to place all the chicken in your slow cooker. Note that when these photographs were taken, I was doubling the recipe for a large family gathering, so what you see here is actually double the amount the recipe calls for.

2. Combine preservers and onion soup mix in separate bowl. Spoon over chicken.

The second step is to combine the onion soup mix and the apricot preserves.

3.Cover. Cook on low 4-5 hours.

The third and final step is to pour the preserve-soup mixture over the chicken, and cook on low for 4-5 hours. If you are doubling the recipe, as shown above, you will want to cook it for roughly 7-8 hours.

Serving Suggestion:

The recipe suggests serving the chicken over rice. The first time I made it, I simply served it on its own with sweet potato wedges (for a recipe, click here), potato wedges, and broccoli (for a delicious and easy way to fix broccoli, click here), though I am sure it would have been very tasty over rice, quinoa, couscous, or anything of the sort. This most recent time, I again served it on its own, with sweet potato wedges, potato wedges, applesauce, jimaca orange salad (to learn more about jimaca, click here), and whole wheat bread my dad baked using whole wheat flour he ground himself (so good!)!

The complete meal is shown above, labeled here beginning in the upper left corner, clockwise. Potato wedges, whole wheat bread, sweet potato wedges, and jimaca orange salad. In the center is the saucy apricot chicken, and in the small bowl to the upper right, cinnamon applesauce. A good rule of thumb for a nutritious meal is to make a colorful plate. Here, you have white, brown, orange, green, and yellow. Success!

Kitchen Tip:
If you are in the habit of washing your meat, you might want to break yourself of that habit. A recent study found that washing your meat before preparing it can spread bacteria up to three feet away from your kitchen sink.