Apricot Cranberry Chicken

Week before Thanksgiving. I have been cooking in batches all weekend: the mac and cheese assembled and waiting in the fridge, the pie crusts made and resting, a jar of my apple butter sitting on the counter to bring as an extra. My apartment looks like a staging area for a military operation, which is approximately how I approach Thanksgiving at this point.

I called DeAnna on Friday and we ended up talking for two hours about Thanksgiving memories, which is its own kind of complicated territory for two people who grew up in care. She is spending this year with a friend from her medical assistant program and her friend's family, which she said feels both wonderful and overwhelming in the way that other people's family traditions sometimes do when you have not grown up with traditions of your own. I told her about the first Thanksgiving I spent with Gloria and James, when I was fourteen and I did not know what to do with the fact that someone had cooked a whole meal specifically for me and wanted me to be there. She said yes, exactly. We laughed about it, which is how you know you have survived something: when you can laugh at how lost you were.

The turkey is brining in a stockpot in my fridge right now. I had to rearrange everything else to fit it. Biscuit investigated the stockpot with intense curiosity and I had to put a cutting board on top as a deterrent. He respects the cutting board. We have an arrangement.

While the brined turkey is doing its slow, patient work in the fridge and the mac and cheese waits in its dish, I keep coming back to this apricot cranberry chicken — the recipe I make when I want that unmistakable Thanksgiving sweetness without the full production. It’s the kind of dish that tastes like someone wanted you there, which, after that conversation with DeAnna, felt like exactly the right thing to be cooking. Cranberry and apricot together hit that note between tart and sweet that I associate with the best part of the holiday: the moment the meal lands on the table and everyone exhales.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 2 lbs total)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup apricot preserves
1/2 cup whole-berry cranberry sauce (canned or homemade)
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Fresh thyme or rosemary for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Preheat and season. Preheat your oven to 400°F. Pat chicken thighs dry with paper towels, then season all over with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Sear the chicken. Heat olive oil in an oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Place chicken skin-side down and sear for 4–5 minutes until the skin is golden and crisp. Flip and sear the other side for 2 minutes. Remove chicken and set aside.
Make the glaze. Reduce heat to medium. Add apricot preserves, cranberry sauce, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, and ground ginger to the same skillet. Stir and cook for 2–3 minutes until the glaze is smooth and slightly thickened.
Coat and roast. Return chicken to the skillet, turning to coat each piece in the glaze. Spoon extra glaze over the top. Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast for 25–30 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 165°F and the glaze is bubbling and caramelized.
Rest and serve. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving. Spoon pan glaze over the top and garnish with fresh thyme or rosemary if desired.

Nutrition (per serving)

Apricot Cranberry Chicken — The Flavor of Showing Up, Even When It’s Complicated