Yahoo Finance 40 Apricot Recipes That Celebrate the Underrated Summer Fruit
When summer arrives, everyone’s minds go to the same place: peaches, berries and corn. This year, we urge you to make room in your farmers market tote for apricots, one of the most underrated summer fruits out there. Not only are they a great source of potassium, vitamins and even protein, but they also taste divine. They’re almost like a sweet-and-sour peach-plum hybrid (they’re a type of stone fruit, after all). Here are 40 apricot recipes to make this season that put the produce center stage.
RELATED: 23 Nectarine Recipes to Make This Summer, Because They’re Just as Tasty as Peaches
1. Skillet Chicken with Apricots and Fresh Herbs
Behold, the summer equivalent of a Thanksgiving turkey. This beauty is beyond impressive and drenched in a simple white wine gravy. Did we mention it comes together in just one hour?
2. Paleo Almond Butter Granola Bars
Sure, you’ve never had raw apricots before. But odds are you’ve had dried ones in trail mix or granola before. Here, they add a bit of sweetness to the bars, alongside tart dried cherries.
3. Apricot and Frangipane Cake
Just the dessert for that garden party you’ve been meaning to plan. Thanks to its moist, tender texture (thanks, juicy apricots), the gluten-free masterpiece doesn’t even need frosting.
4. Mini Apricot Meringue Pies
Why should lemon and lime have all the fun? Cloud-like meringue tastes just as delicious atop four-ingredient apricot filling.
5. Freekeh Salad
You and quinoa go way back. But have you heard of freekeh, a grassy ancient grain made from sun-dried, toasted green wheat? It pairs impeccably with ripe apricots, tangy halloumi and toasted pistachios.
6. Raw Apricot Candy
Dried apricots + whole almonds + four pantry staples = the easiest homemade candy of all time. Don’t be shy with the shredded coconut coating.
7. Gluten-Free Pistachio Apricot Tart
This fruit-topped stunner is so naturally gorgeous that all it needs is a flourish of pistachios and confectioners’ sugar before being served.
8. Poached Apricots and Peaches with Toasted Almonds
The fruit is gently simmered in vanilla-lemon syrup before being spiked with cognac. Serve it with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or custard.
9. Kale Salad with Persimmons, Crispy Chickpeas and Fried Shallots
Apricots are at peak deliciousness during the summer. Luckily, dried apricots are there to hold us over in the off-season, like in this Insta-worthy autumn salad.
10. Moroccan Couscous-Stuffed Roasted Cornish Hens
Cinnamon, honey and a dash of ras el hanout seasoning (aka a spice mix that’s popular in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia) drive the Moroccan influence home.
11. Heart Thumbprint Cookies
We fill ’em with raspberry jam for Valentine’s Day, but apricot jelly would taste just as delicious. If the jam you have is too chunky, blend it in the food processor to smooth it out before filling the cookies.
12. Maple-Bourbon Apricot Barbecue Sauce
Whether you slather it on ribs, pulled pork, burgers or grilled tofu, this 15-minute masterpiece deserves a spot on your picnic table.
13. Sheet Pan Maple Apricot Chicken
Complete with tender sweet potatoes and crisp green beans. The recipe calls for chicken tenders, but feel free to substitute thin-sliced chicken breast (or even fish) if you’d like.
14. Roast Pork Loin with Caramelized Persimmons and Onions
Apricots make a cameo in yet another cold-weather dish in the form of jam. It’s one of three ingredients that make the pork’s tangy, sweet sauce possible.
15. Sweet-and-Sticky 3-Ingredient Apricot Chicken with Cauliflower Rice
You’re only 40 minutes away from this weeknight delicacy, thanks to an inconspicuous shortcut ingredient: Russian dressing.
16. Harissa Grilled Lamb Chops with Fresh Apricot-Serrano Salsa
How’s *that* for a fancy barbecue main? The chutney is just as flavorful as the meat, since it’s loaded with fresh herbs, ground coriander and lime juice.
17. Israeli Couscous with Pistachios, Apricots and Cranberries
It’s as simple as cooking the couscous until tender and fluffy, then folding in all the mix-ins and dressing. (Dried cherries and cranberries would taste great alongside the dried apricots, BTW.)
18. Crock-Pot Grilled Habanero Apricot BBQ Ribs
The ribs are first slow-cooked in beer overnight. Once they’re done, they’re ready to be grilled and drenched in the zingy sauce.
19. Moroccan Fruit and Nut Truffles
Just about any dried fruit will do here, since most pair well with nuts and cinnamon. Think dates, golden raisins or dried cranberries.
20. Apricot Almond Pop Tarts
One bite and you’ll never look at the store-bought kind the same way again. The three-ingredient almond glaze would also taste great over cake, shortbread or donuts.
21. Ghraybeh
Apricot jam and delicate rose water are absolute soulmates. But you could totally break away from tradition and substitute strawberry jam if you’d like.
22. Grilled Chicken Kabobs with Apricot Glaze
The key to flawless summer skewers: Cut the vegetables as uniformly as possible, so all the pieces cook evenly and at the same speed.
23. One-Pan Apricot, Walnut and Brie Stuffed Chicken Breast with Roasted Potatoes
Any main oozing with that much melted Brie and cream cheese is a dinner after our own heart.
24. Stone Fruit Tart
It’s essentially impossible to screw this five-ingredient treat up, largely because it all starts with one of our favorite shortcuts in the book: frozen puff pastry. Plums, nectarines and peaches will work here, too.
25. Charcuterie Boards, Two Ways
Choose your fighter: A meat-and-cheese platter piled high with dried apricots and apricot jam, or a vegan cheese board including fresh apricots.
26. Apricot, Ham and Cheese Sandwich
The Hawaiian bread’s sweetness complements the salty meat and cheese just as well as the fruit preserves. Bonus points for grilling or pressing it in butter.
27. Healthy Summer Broccoli Salad
Come for the fresh veggies, stay for the five-ingredient tahini dressing that could double as a killer chicken or tofu marinade.
28. Pastry-Wrapped Baked Brie with Thyme Butter Roasted Plums
Have you ever tried a plumcot? It’s a cross between a plum and an apricot and it’s, in a word, epic. They’re even more heavenly when baked with cheese and sugared puff pastry.
29. Apricot Pork Chop Sheet Pan Dinner
Forget the dry, underwhelming pork chops you’ve had in the past. These are beyond juicy and succulent, since they’re brushed with buttery mustard-apricot glaze before being baked.
30. Tabasco Chicken Meatballs in Spicy Tomato and Apricot Sauce
Name a more iconic summer duo. We’ll wait. If you’re feeling extra inspired, substitute fresh diced tomatoes for canned, since they’re in season.
31. Moroccan Spiced Lamb Burgers with Apricot Chutney and Pistachio Feta Pesto
We love a run-of-the-mill backyard cheeseburger just as much as the next guy. But these 40-minute gems blow the usual way out of the water.
32. Crispy Chicken Strips with Apricot Mustard Dipping Sauce
Believe it or not, your kids won’t have a single complaint about this next-level take on chicken fingers. The panko breading offers crunch while apricot preserves flawlessly round out the zesty Dijon mustard.
33. Rice Pilaf with Nuts and Dried Fruit
This grain dish has Thanksgiving side written all over it, between the warm spices and dried fruit. Serve it with chicken shawarma, Moroccan beef or lamb kebabs.
34. Mesquite Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp
Sure, we’re psyched for the citrusy, garlicky shrimp and shatteringly crisp bacon. But we’re really here for the sweet-and-spicy apricot cocktail sauce.
35. Sheet Pan Moroccan Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Cauliflower
BRB, drowning ourselves in homemade feta yogurt sauce. Anyone up for making this main a handheld by stuffing a toasted pita with the chicken and veggies?
36. Cajun Steak with Apricot Orange Glaze
Much like vinegar or pineapple juice, acidic OJ in the marinade ensures that the meat will cook up buttery and tender.
37. Sachertorte (Austrian Chocolate Apricot Cake)
Sachertorte is the Austrian equivalent to American apple pie: It’s a national treasure. This version is inspired by the O.G., with rich cake and rum-infused apricot jam…but it uses dark chocolate ganache instead of traditional boiled icing.
38. Honey Strawberry Apricot Tart
Homemade almond-vanilla cream meets golden-brown summer fruit. The fluffy, light-as-air whipped mascarpone cream is merely the cherry on top.
39. Broiled Fruit with Rosemary-Honey Mascarpone and Crushed Amaretti
For the uninitiated, amaretti cookies are a popular type of Italian cookie made with almond paste, almonds and apricot kernels. Save the rosemary honey for Greek yogurt, chicken marinades and beyond.
40. Summer Harvest Peach and Apricot Pie
Want to make sure the crust doesn’t get soggy under all that juicy stone fruit? Baking the pie at a high temperature ensures that it bakes crispy—and stays that way.
RELATED: 65 Easy Fruit Desserts to Make All Summer (and Fall, Winter and Spring Too)
For even more great recipes, check out our first cookbook, Only the Good Stuff.
