Apricot-Glazed Chicken Breasts

We are always on the lookout for quick, unique roast chicken breast recipes. We’ve come across apricot-glazed chicken recipes numerous times, though we’ve been skeptical of their approach. We wanted to put our own spin on the recipe and make it both delicious and foolproof. Here’s what we discovered:

Test Kitchen Discoveries

• Use bone-in, split chicken breasts for the best flavor and moistest texture.
• Brown the chicken on the stove in a skillet to ensure that the skin crisps. The browning improves the flavor of the chicken. The browned bits of chicken that stick the skillet will also add valuable flavor to the sauce.
• Most recipes rely solely on apricot preserves thinned with orange juice for flavor, but we found the flavor of this approach lacking. We developed a much richer tasting sauce by simply adding dried apricots and tart lemon juice.