Pressure Cooker apricot chicken with apricot jam just needs 5 ingredients and is the perfect dinner atop a bed of rice! Make as an Instant Pot or Ninja Foodi recipe that is super cheap, only $15 to feed all 5 of us.

Pressure Cooker Apricot Chicken
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If you’re looking for a family friendly meal that even your kids will love, this pressure cooker apricot chicken is it! Tender chicken swimming in a sweet sauce served on a bed of rice, it’s now one of our favorite Instant Pot recipes. (affiliate links present)

Instant Pot Apricot Chicken

Have you ever made apricot glazed chicken?? It. Is. So. Good. I’m talking it’s a meal your kids will ask you to make over and over again. With a sweetness that is not too extreme but satisfied the sweet toothers in your house it is cheap and will have your fam asking for seconds. ๐Ÿ˜‰

If you’re new to this kind of cooking we will make it easy on you. You can use any brand you might have at home including a Ninja Foodi, Mealthy or make as an easy Crockpot Express recipe some night. Find what you need at your grocery store or defrost some frozen chicken to get started.

If you are new to pressure cooking we have a lot of easy one pot meal recipes for you here. To begin with let’s start with a few basic tips:

For reference, this is the model I have (a 6 quart) and use for all recipe creations.

A white Instant Pot with a Star Wars theme sits on the kitchen counter, ready to tackle your favorite beef arm roast recipe. The digital display glows "On." Next to it lie a patterned cloth and some green onions, all against the backdrop of blue kitchen cabinets and a stovetop.

Ninja Foodi Apricot Chicken

Sounds delicious right? With French dressing or Catalina style and some jam you can coat your bite size poultry pieces with a sweet sauce your kids will love. With this machine you will use the lid that is not attached and the pressure cook button.

Who invented apricot chicken?

It is said to have started around 1950 by the Lipton dry soup mix company. Used to make this Instant Pot apricot chicken too, it has become a family favorite for everyone around here.

How do you thicken apricot chicken?

If at the end you want the sauce thicker then use 1 tbsp cornstarch whisked together with 3 tbsp cold water. Set pressure cooker to saute and add this in, stir and it won’t be as thin.

What is apricot sauce made of?

You are going to want a jar of apricot jam and Catalina salad dressing believe it or not. These are the main ingredients in the sauce with some seasonings and a bit of chicken broth to thin it out.

instant pot apricot chicken

Ingredients

  1. Chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces, boneless skinless – could use chicken thighs as well
  2. Chicken broth or stock works better than water to thin out the sauce
  3. Apricot jam / preserves in a jar or homemade
  4. Catalina dressing bottled
  5. Onion soup mix in the pack
  6. Onion sliced, this is really optional
  7. Cornstarch if you want to thicken sauce

Substitutions

You are going to use jam for the sweetness and fruit here. You could alternatively use orange marmelade and it would be more similar to our Instant Pot orange chicken recipe too. Add a bit of heat if you like with red pepper flakes or a bit of Sriracha and go!

Some like to add a bit of soy sauce to cut down the sweetness even more, either way is good to us.

Can you make apricot chicken with frozen chicken?

You could. For frozen chicken in the Instant Pot you wouldn’t be able to cut it into small pieces like you see here. What you would want to do is follow the instructions above to cook with broth for 12 minutes. Then you’d drain, shred the meat, set to saute and add the ingredients for this sauce. Allow to bubble and thicken and then serve!!

This takes just 20 minutes to finish this and a batch of Ninja foodi white rice. Of course you can serve it with anything you like but typically we make chicken bowls with broccoli on the side.

How long should you cook apricot chicken?

That depends on what else is in your pot. For pressure cooker chicken and rice it’s the same but breasts need to be cubed bite size. Here’s a peek at what you’re going to need, and what we used to make this sweet and savory dish.

instant pot apricot chicken 2
Pouring catalina dressing into a measuring cup beside a jar of apricot preserves on a kitchen counter, prepping for a delicious pressure cooker apricot chicken dish.
How many calories are in apricot chicken?

That depends on the serving but in the printable recipe card below there is information for this. Thighs would have more fat than white meat so you need to keep that in mind. Different brands of jam and dressings will vary too so refer to the back for the most accurate calculations.

Why do we call it apricot chicken?

No there are no whole apricots inside, but it uses apricot preserves so it has the same flavor and coats the meat so it is sweet. I mean you could add chunks of sliced fruit in there too but I would add at the end or it will get too soft.

apricot chicken in electric pressure cooker

You could transition this easy Instant Pot chicken recipe into this if you wanted to? I would boil egg noodles to al dente in another pot and then when this is done, fold them together. There is enough sauce to coat everything without a problem.

How to Make Apricot Chicken in Ninja Foodi

  1. Add all ingredients except cornstarch into your pressure cooker, stir together so everything is coated well.
  2. Close lid and set steam valve to a sealing position. Set to high pressure cook for 4 minutes. Do a quick release when done. 
  3. Turn pot off, then push saute. In a separate small bowl add 3 tbsp cornstarch + 4 tbsp. of hot liquid from your pot. Whisk together so it is smooth.
  4. Pour this cornstarch mixture into your pot once the liquid in your pot starts to bubble and cook on high. Stir.
  5. Slowly stir for 1-2 minutes, will thicken slightly. Then turn pot off.
  6. Allow to sit for at least 5 minutes so sauce continues to thicken. Serve over rice and enjoy

Printable recipe below with nutritional information included as well. Keep in mind I do not calculate these, the system does and it accounts for exactly what I have listed below. Then try our creamy pressure cooker chicken and rice which turns out great every time.

A spoonful of apricot chicken held over a pressure cooker, ready to delight your taste buds.
Bowl of white rice topped with bright orange sweet and sour apricot chicken pieces made in a pressure cooker, garnished with chopped green onions.
5 from 3 votes

Pressure Cooker Apricot Chicken

By The Typical Mom
Pressure Cooker apricot chicken just needs 5 ingredients and is the perfect dinner atop a bed of rice! If you have an Instant Pot you’ve gotta’ try this! 
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 4 minutes
Total: 19 minutes
Servings: 6
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Equipment

  • 1 pressure cooker

Ingredients 

Instructions 

  • Add all ingredients except cornstarch into your pressure cooker, stir together so everything is coated well.
  • Close lid and steam valve and set to high pressure for 4 minutes.
  • Do a quick release when done. 
  • Turn pot off, then push saute. In a separate small bowl add 3 tbsp cornstarch + 4 tbsp. of hot liquid from your pot. Whisk together so it is smooth.
  • Pour this cornstarch mixture into your pot once the liquid in your pot starts bubbling. Stir.
  • Slowly stir for 1-2 minutes, will thicken slightly. Then turn pot off.
  • Allow to sit for at least 5 minutes so sauce continues to thicken. Serve over rice!

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 4oz, Calories: 566kcal, Carbohydrates: 43g, Protein: 28g, Fat: 30g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Cholesterol: 113mg, Sodium: 733mg, Potassium: 363mg, Sugar: 28g, Vitamin A: 290IU, Vitamin C: 9.1mg, Calcium: 29mg, Iron: 1.6mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Entree, Main Course
Cuisine: American
Tried this recipe?Mention @thetypical_mom or tag #thetypicalmom!

About The Typical Mom

Justine is the creative mind behind The Typical Mom and The Typical Family on YouTube. She began blogging about easy recipes, budget friendly activities for kids, and fun family travel destinations in September 2012.

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5 from 3 votes

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10 Comments

  1. I tried this tonight with a few minor adjustments. I used 3 lbs of chicken, increased the apricot preserves by .25 cups, added a sliced yellow bell pepper pressure cooked for 12 minutes and gave it a 5 minute natural release and omitted the corn starch. OMG, this was really good, my wife even said it was the best thing Iโ€™ve ever made in our Instant Pot! The chicken was fork tender with excellent flavor, and the sauce with onion and peppers was terrific over the brown rice!

  2. This recipe was so delicious, but had to keep an eye on it to stir it… burn message kept popping up. I made it with apricot jam my nieces made. I sautรฉed the onion with chicken first, which ensured chicken was fully cooked, since I had to keep opening it up to prevent burning. My hubby loved it! Will definitely make it again!

  3. I have not made this but I used to make a similar recipe with Russian dressing and apricot preserves! The sugar at 28 gems omg. There has to be a better way lol

  4. You said this recipe has five ingredients…but The ingredient list also calls for French onion soup mix and cornstarch. Do you use these ingredients as well?

  5. I haven’t had Catalina dressing in years – this brings back memories! Thanks for sharing this tasty recipe! A new family favorite for sure.