Just found your blog recently and I'm so glad I did! I have a crock pot that I would love to use more and this recipe sounds wonderful. Defintly a must try!! I have you bookmarked and will be checking back often to see what new recipies you are trying.

Morning Steph,

I had to chuckle when I saw "or equivalent body parts" - maybe I've been watching to much crime tv. Or maybe it's just Monday.

I think I may have to try this with some tofu next week...

Have a great Monday! :)

Try this with 1 package of Lipton onion soup mix, 8 oz of Russian Salad dressing and 1 cup of the apricot preserves. It is great!

Thanks, country mouse!

geeky poet, I bet tofu would taste amazing.

anon, I bet that tastes great! It's hard to go wrong with apricot preserves. They are so yummy all on their own.

--steph

I can't wait to try this! Any thoughts on using frozen boneless breasts? Or what I could do if I need it to go 10 hours :)?

Apricot anything sounds good to me, so I pounced on this one. Great idea for a coolish day. Yum.

Yum! that looks excellent :-)

that looks reeeeeally good!

oh my goodness! This looks delicious! I'll add it to my menu for next week!

can't wait to try this one! looks yummy!

I have made several things from your site and all have been wonderful. I've also recently added a link to you in my "Daily Reads" section of my blog. Just thought you would want to know.

thanks, everybody!

Dana, thank you so much for leaving a comment---it means a lot that a rockstar has linked to me.

xox
steph

I really, really enjoy the recipe anonymous posted, with the onion soup mix, russian salad dressing and apricot jam. I worked in a restaurant many years ago and that's what they used to baste their chicken. Yummy!

Steph - I made this tonight/today. I did 6 boneless skinless breasts - FROZEN - for 7 hours and then it was on "warm" for the remaining 3. I served it with "sticky" rice and it was a HIT with my hubby (2 servings) and my girls.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

this is also good with pork!

I wonder, could you use any other kind of preserves or jelly?

canadian saver, that is good to know. I need to keep my eyes open for Russian Dressing.

emily, I am so happy that you and your family liked it! thank you for reporting back.

jennifer, I am sure it would be wonderful with pork.

petunia, I bet a bunch of different types of jam/preserves would work. Orange marmalade, peach, lemon...
I guess it depends on what type of mood you're in!

--steph

I made this last night and it was so very yummy! We saturated our rice with the sauce! Even my two year old loved it! Thanks for adding to my recipe base!

question: in the ingredients photo you show chili flakes but not listed as an ingredient. Should I be adding it in? I have made it twice now without, showed my mom the site and she noticed that in the picture. I think it's fine as is but just wondering!

eeek! thanks, adam's mom, and adam's mom's mom!

I've updated the ingredient list.

xoxo
steph

I made this and it was awesome! DH told a friend and we sent him to your site. I will definitely try more of your recipes and links. Your wit and honesty make this site a great "read" as well. Thank you so very much.

I give you a five "smiley" star rating. :) :) :) :) :)

This was TERRIFIC! I've been cooking from your site ever since swim team practice started and killed my ability to make dinner in the afternoon. Lots of creative ideas - thanks! So far this is the best!

Hoo boy, this was good! I even burned it by leaving it too long, but I still ate the entire batch in one sitting...

I love this dish. I have some kids who don't eat sugar, so I made the apricot stuff by chopping a bag of apricots, and adding honey and orange juice. I let that cook for a couple hours in the crock, then proceeded to (mostly) follow your recipe. I like that your recipes are easy for me to adapt. Thanks for the great blog.

Another yummy recipe to add to my crockpot file.... thanks so much! The family loved this one, especially the sauce!

Wow, this is insanely good! I barely had the willpower to stop eating for long enough to comment. But I did, because I'm quite proud of myself for successfully making them. (This is my fourth or so attempt at a crock pot dinner, and so far your recipes have usually turned out to be my favorites.) Thanks so much for this one, and for all the others!

I'm the HUGEST fan of the Apricot/Lipton Onion/Russian Dressing recipe. Throw in some baby whole potatoes (in a can) and they are sooo soft and perfect!!

I luuv your blog! I just stumbled upon it and will definitely try this recipe!!

I've made the Lipton Onion Soup Mix recipe with a can of whole cranberry sauce (in place of the apricot preserves, which I'm sure is also delicious) for years. It's my go-to recipe when I need to make a meal for someone. The Russian Dressing can be hard to find sometimes. I like the Wishbone and have only been able to find it at Wally World.

My husband made this last night and it was deeeelicious. Will definitely make again and wouldn't hesitate to make it for company. Thanks!

Steph, about how many pounds of meat is "6 chicken thighs"? I plan to make this with pork (it was on sale!) and need to convert.

Also, what do you think of adding some fresh apricots to this? We have some we need to use up, but I am afraid they would turn mushy if I add them at the beginning...?

Thanks!

Hi Graceling,

I'd guess 3 pounds or so of meat. As for the fresh apricots, if you do decide to throw them in (are you still going to use the jam?) I'd dice them and add in the last two hours.

--steph

Hi, could you just use chicken breast? Would that work? Thanks sherry D.

I have made this so many times- and make a fried rice to go with it-I have used chicken tenders also that works really well---thank you so much!

I'm making a meal for 12 people this week; could I double the recipe if I've got a large crockpot? Do I cook it longer? Thanks so much for this amazing website! I will visit this often.
Yay Crockpots!

Hi Catherine,

sure! Usually you don't need to increase the cooking time when you double and increase the size of the slow cooker. I'd set the timer for the same amount of time, and then adjust if necessary.

xxoo steph

we loved this tonight! thanks-even tho i was/am a devote blog follower, i'm loving my cookbook, too!

This is the first recipe I made in my brand new slow cooker that arrived yesterday.
It's definitely a winner!
Thank you so much for this fantastic site and all the humorous comments on the recipes :-)

I do have one question, how do you know if the food is ready?
I was so afraid to undercook the chicken that I ended up overcooking it a little. Next time I would like to prevent this, but I don't know how (yet).

Hi Faragon,

Congratulations on your new slow cooker! I'm glad you liked this recipe. To see if the chicken is done, it's the same way as in traditional cooking: cut into it, and see if the meat is cooked through and the juice runs clear.

I don't follow the no-peeking advice. I peek and stir and taste quite often while I slow cook.

oxox steph

You certainly don't have to be a kid to like this. I am a grandma who would love it.

I just made this tonight and LOVED it! I'm always looking for easy recipes and this one really is. We will definitely be having this again.

Thank you so much for sharing all your amazing recipes! You're making life as a new mother a lot yummier!

I made the crockpot apricot chicken recipe and the whole family liked it. My six year old decided that I should "make probably 16 or 17 more recipes from that crackpot lady"! ;) He is a very picky eater and yes, he did mean "crock pot".

Could I use a different kind of fruit? Perhaps peaches or pears? Or fruit cocktail? Yeah...I'm a rebel.

Yum, yum yum. Just did this with Mango jam and a pork tenderloin roast. EVERYONE liked it...even my (sometimes) picky kids. Thanks for another winner, Steph!

One of my friends sent me the link for your recipes because I was looking for some crock pot recipes. The fact that they're gluten free has absolutely made my day!

Made this recipe 3 times in the past 6 weeks -- been a hit every time.

I added 1 cup of whole cranberries to this and it was GREAT!

I just made this today but added in 2 tablespoons of creamy peanut butter. I also added chopped onion, bell pepper, celery and carrots in the last hour and vented the lid to reduce the sauce a bit. Served it over brown rice and it was SO GOOD. It reminded me of Yoshinoya rice bowls I used to eat as a kid!

Inspired recipe! My adaptation - instead of the preserves, I used 1 c. dried apricots pureed in the food processor with a little orange juice and honey (thanks to the commenter above) and enough water to make it the consistency of preserves. I discovered that it wanted to burn on the bottom, so I had to stir it and add a little more water. Served shredded on toasted hamburger buns. Savory and really good!

This turned out great. It was a little juicy, so to thicken up the sauce a bit a I added 1 can of cream of chicken soup. It added just enough to make it more sauce like and less watery. (Although the flavor was great without the addition of the soup) Will definitely try this one again. Thanks for the recipe!

Making this for my husband and myself right now. Last time he said he wanted it spicier, so I'm going to throw a whole Serrano in about 30 min. before it is done. Going to serve with brown rice and a Creamsicle Parfait for dessert!

BTW, I think you and I have the same spice rack!

Awesome awesome awesome blog!!!!
As someone who has in recent months jumped on the gluten free bandwagon. I have found it near impossible to find gluten free recipes online that don't contain 55 types of different flour. I'm usually just looking for a simple dinner recipe but the gluten free recipes always include some sort of flour (severe lack of thinking outside the box LOL!!)
Anyway thank you for this fantastic blog!!
I'll be venturing here on a daily basis :-)

I just made this tonight and I LOVE it! Even my 2 yr old who refuses to eat most anything loved it. I poured the left over sauce into a container to save. It will make a great sauce for many other things too!

Just made this today and everyone loved it! Even my 4 year old who generally doesn't eat much meat ate every last morsel. Thank you so much for this and all the other yummy recipes on here! I served it over rice and added a finely chopped yellow pepper and 2 handfuls of baby spinach during the last 30 minutes.

Made this tonight and it was a hit!! We are a family of 5 and I made this with 8 chicken breast and it was ALL gone and they were wanting more!! (3 growing boys!!!) Fixed it with white rice and green beans.

Will definitely fix this regularly!!

Love this! I made it with fresh boneless, skinless thighs. Checked it after 4 hours on low and it was DONE, so I ate it for lunch. Also, I used Polaner's sugar free with fiber preserves (sweetened with Splenda) and it came out great!

If you are having trouble finding the red Russian dressing, Kraft's Catalina dressing or a country French dressing works just as well.

I'm so glad I found this. I have seen all the recipes for the onion soup mix/preserves, and onion soup mix/preserve/salad dressing. Right now, though, I'm trying to avoid all processed foods, extra sugar, MSG, soy, etc. for one month. this was the ticket. I had apricot jam sweetened only with fruit juice and instead of onion flakes (we don't have any!) I just sliced an onion in the bottom of the cooker. I used mustard powder since we didn't have Dijon. hope it will work well! (we're a boring kitchen. it's unusual to use anything other than salt & pepper & butter on our food...so I've made quite a departure with this month of meals!)

I didn't like the way it came out. The boneless/skinless chicken thighs I used released enough fat and juices to thin out the sauce, which did not taste very good. Sorry, but I won't make this again.

This recipe sounds great and commenters' changes do to. I think I'm going to try them all, starting with yours Stephanie!

I made this last night and it was delicious. I did season the chicken with salt and pepper and browned the chicken on the stove before I put it in the slow cooker. Thank you for a great recipe.

I don't eat soy so I used Coconut aminos in place of the soy sauce. It is cooking in my slow cooker now. Should be good since I always replace soy sauce with coconut aminos and everything turns out

OMG!! I made this today and we put it over rice and we have got to double this for next time! The sauce is amazing on rice and everyone loved it!

I made this the night before last and it was delicious. My dinner companions raved about it. I used a whole chicken cut into pieces. The only change I made to the recipe was using real chopped onion instead of dehydrated flakes. This was a very EZ recipe to make. I always enjoy it when I have "dinner in the oven" just after lunch and can relax. Thanks for posting this recipe.