Roast Chicken With Apricots and Olives

By Susan Spungen

Published March 16, 2021

  • Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Susan Spungen.
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Total Time
1 hour, plus at least 2 hours’ marinating
Rating
4(1,227)
Comments
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This festive dish is a fairly easy main course for the Seder meal — or anytime. Marinating overnight leaves very little work on the day of serving, but two hours is enough to infuse the chicken with tangy citrus and the sumac. Dried apricots, already more tart than sweet, are marinated along with the chicken and become almost savory in the oven. Using pitted Castelvetrano olives will save you a lot of elbow grease, and their meaty texture and mild flavor are perfect here. After roasting together, everything goes under the broiler to deeply brown and thicken the cooking juices into a tasty sauce.

Featured in: 5 Fresh Seder Dishes You’ll Want to Make All the Time

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

  • 3 ½ to 4 pounds bone-in chicken pieces (see Note)

  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt

  • 1 ½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

  • ¼ cup fresh lemon juice, plus 1 lemon, sliced and seeded

  • ¼ cup fresh blood orange or regular orange juice

  • ¼ cup honey

  • 4 to 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

  • ¾ teaspoon dried thyme

  • 3 tablespoons ground sumac

  • 4 tablespoons olive oil

  • 1 cup (6 ounces) dried apricots

  • 1 cup (4 ounces) pitted Castelvetrano olives with 2 tablespoons brine

  • 4 large or 8 small shallots, roots trimmed, peeled and cut lengthwise into quarters or halves

  • ¼ cup dry white wine

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

60 grams carbs; 319 milligrams cholesterol; 1304 calories; 39 grams monounsaturated fat; 16 grams polyunsaturated fat; 21 grams saturated fat; 82 grams fat; 7 grams fiber; 1439 milligrams sodium; 83 grams protein; 45 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Slash each piece of chicken through the skin a few times, about 1 inch deep. Season with the salt and pepper and place in a large bowl or large resealable plastic bag. Whisk lemon juice, orange juice, honey, garlic, thyme, sumac and 3 tablespoons olive oil in a bowl to combine. Add lemon slices, apricots, olives and olive brine. Pour the marinade over the chicken and cover tightly or remove as much air as possible before sealing it. Set on a small sheet pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours, turning the bag from time to time.

  2. Step 2

    Position a rack 8 inches from the broiler heat source. Place an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and heat oven to 450 degrees. Toss shallots with remaining tablespoon oil and spread out on a large sheet pan, cut sides down. Place on the lower rack and cook, turning once, until starting to turn golden, 10 to 12 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Remove the pan from the oven and use your hands and a slotted spoon to scoop the chicken, apricots, lemon slices and olives onto the pan, reserving the marinade. Arrange in an even layer with the chicken skin side up and return to the oven. Cook for 15 minutes, baste the chicken with the drippings, and cook until chicken juices run clear, about 10 minutes longer. Remove the pan from the oven. Heat the broiler to high.

  4. Step 4

    Pour the reserved marinade and wine over the chicken, and broil until the chicken is browned and the liquid is thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. If the apricots start to get too dark, turn them over in the sauce. Transfer to a platter. If you used chicken breasts, cut them in half. Pour the sauce over everything or serve it on the side.

Tip

  • You can buy your favorite bone-in parts or cut a whole 3½- to 4-pound chicken into bone-in pieces: 2 breasts, 2 thighs, 2 drumsticks, 2 wings.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
1,227 user ratings
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Comments

Danny

This recipe is delicious but unnecessarily complicated. I don’t understand why the wine is left out of the marinade and only added at the end nor do I see the need to cook the shallots on a bottom rack before adding the chicken and moving to the top rack. I just threw all the ingredients together in the marinade and then baked it all together. I baked at a lower temp (400) for 45 minutes, then increased the temp to 450 for the last 15 minutes for browning. It came out perfect and saucy.

AG

I am lazy, I guess, but I would simplify steps. After cooking the shallots separately, I'd just put all the other ingredients including marinade, in the pan, mix them around, and roast, turning them (especially the chicken), several times, so it browns--rather than basting it repeatedly. This is what I do when I cook chicken with oranges and honey, for example, and turning it when roasting at 400 cooks it nicely and caramelizes things. And I won't worry about those raw chicken juices then.

Anne

Will the marinade be heated up long enough to deal with the raw chicken juices in it, if it’s just under the broiler for a few minutes?

Kate

So delicious! I served it over the rice pilaff with carrots.

Lavinia

I was shocked to open my drawer and realize, after marinating, that I was out of shallots. So I used onions. I realized that this recipe was simply a variation of Chicken Marbella from the iconic Silver Palate cookbook from the 80's, with prunes instead of apricots, juice instead of vinegar. So, no need to broil or reduce. Just roast the onions, throw in the chicken and marinade and bake at 375 till done. Top was nicely browned and there was just enough sauce to drizzle. And yes, more salt!

pria

I used a small heritage chicken, spatchcocked through the breast so that i could leave the back attached. Marinated about 24h. I cooked the entire thing on a sheet pan in my Breville countertop oven - 425 first for 15, then a baste, another 20, then a baste, another 5. then turned off the heat and let it rest in the close oven for 12. It came out super juicy with crisp skin. Because others mentioned the apricots burning, I made sure that they were all underneath

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