This Apricot-Glazed Chicken is an easy grilled recipe perfect for summer barbecues and picnics. The chicken is coated with a tangy apricot glaze and then cooked over an indirect heat, allowing the meat to cook to perfection.
This is a great recipe to make on the grill over indirect heat. The sauce is infused into the chicken as it slowly cooks over the fire
Cooking Raw Chicken on the Grill
I have always been fearful of cooking raw chicken on the grill. There is nothing worse than cutting into a piece of chicken that hasn't fully cooked and is still pink and raw on the inside. That is why, for the most part, I always would parboil my chicken before grilling it.
However, I read about grilling meat over an indirect heat to allow it to cook fully and yet not burn the outside. I decided to give indirect grilling a try and see how I would do with it. The results turned out delicious and I decided to share this recipe and experience with my readers.
How to Grill over Indirect Heat
If your grilling over indirect heat, you may wonder how to get the grill marks on the meat! It's very simple, and I am happy to share with you how to grill over indirect heat until your meat is cooked to perfection.
To Prepare the grill for indirect grilling on a gas grill, heat one side of the grill to medium-high and leave the other side with no heat.
If using a charcoal grill, arrange hot coals on one side of charcoal grate, leaving the other side empty.
To begin, the meat will be cooked for 5 minutes on each side over direct flame. Once the meat has seared and grill marks have been made, the meat is place on the side of the grill with no flame to continue cooking.
It is important to keep the lid of the grill closed when cooking over indirect heat. This allows the heat to remain trapped and cook the meat as if it were in an oven!
What you need to make Apricot Glazed Chicken
A gas or charcoal grill: I love the results of both, but when cooking on the grill myself I much prefer a gas grill and this is the one I use.
Chicken: I used drumsticks, but you can use chicken breast or thighs if you wish. This recipe serves 4 people so you need at 1 pound of chicken.
Red Wine Vinegar give this sauce the tang and helps to tenderize the chicken as it cooks.
Make this Grilled chicken recipe your own
- Give the sauce a little Asian touch use soy sauce instead of vinegar. I would reduce the amount of soy sauce to 1 tablespoon.
- Use peach preserves or orange marmalade in place of apricot jam.
- Remove the skin from the chicken prior to cooking, the meat will still turn out tender and juicy!
Related Recipes
Blueberry, Blue Cheese, and Pecan Grilled Romaine Salad
Cilantro Lime Grilled Pork Chops
Firemen's Field Day Chicken Barbecue
Steak with Grilled Corn Avocado Salad
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📖 Recipe
Grilled Apricot Glazed Chicken
Equipment
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Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken legs
- 3 tablespoons apricot preserves
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 ½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 garlic clove minced
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Cooking spray
Instructions
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the apricot preserves, red wine vinegar, olive oil and minced garlic.
- Prepare the grill for indirect grilling (see notes below). Sprinkle the chicken evenly with salt and pepper. Place chicken, meaty sides down, on grill rack coated with cooking spray over; grill over direct heat 5 minutes or until browned.
- Turn the chicken over and brush with apricot mixture. Grill 5 minutes over direct heat or until browned.
- Turn the chicken over, moving it over indirect heat. Brush the chicken with more apricot mixture. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Repeat this step one more time cooking the chicken for 20 minutes more or until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
Tangled Noodle says
I am so ready to gnaw on that drumstick right now! I will say it again - I love sweet and savory (and grilled to boot)!
Laurel says
I made this too! As soon as it saw it on myrecipes, it went on my to make list.
Maria says
Hubs will love this one!
Meghan says
OMG... looks delish!
Ingrid says
I hear ya about being paranoid of undercooking chicken which is why I always overcook it and my poor children think they don't like chicken. 🙁
~ingrid
nora@ffr says
yummm!! love chicken specially ven roasted.. yes look amazing and gonna try ye way soon with apricot sauce.. yumm yumm!! first visit and m loving ye blog.. keep it up!!
cheers!!
Helene says
Your chicken looks delicious. I like the idea of adding apricot sauce. That must had just the right amount of sweeteness to the chicken. This is bookmarked. Love the pics and that truck is nice.
tastyeatsathome says
Sounds so yummy, perfect for weeknight BBQ!
alwayswinner786 says
BBQ chicken with apricot sauce heavenly delicious!
Amy J. says
Yum, that looks great, and reminds me that we need to grill out more in this warmer weather!
Marthe says
This looks delicious!! One of the first things I bought after arriving in Canada this week was picking up the June 2009 Cooking Light issue and a Cooking Light special: 5 ingredients in 15 minutens.
J.Danger says
looks like fun! and that chicken looks great!
Juliana says
This chicken looks great...can only imagine the flavor...I love fruity flavor in chicken...yummie! Nice pictures as well.
CookiePie says
That chicken looks so yummy!!
Stephanie-Oh says
Ohhh Sounds so good/ Love grilled chicken.Will definitely try this weekend. Thanks foe the opportunity to win sub. to Cooking Light.
Birdsong Designs says
Looks tasty!
etirv says
I love this recipe, thanks!
lola says
this looks great!
Carrian says
I'll for sure give this one a try. We have a very similar recipe, but sometimes a small change can make it totally different. Sounds delicious