Apricot Chicken {Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free}
Published
This gluten-free Apricot Chicken recipe combines the sweetness of the apricot preserves with the saltiness of soy sauce and the complexity of the sweet but slightly spicy ginger. The chicken pieces are fried to perfect crispiness with using a perfect flour blend to make the lightest crunchy coating.
Gluten-Free Chinese Food
I crave Chinese food. Big time!
There is not a PF Chang’s (my favorite gluten-free Asian restaurant) where I live and I have not found a safe Asian restaurant in my town where I can eat.
Some of my favorite Chinese food dishes are orange chicken, General Tso’s chicken, lemon chicken, and sesame chicken. Are you seeing a common theme here? I like my Chinese food a little on the sweet side.
Apricot Chicken
This gluten-free apricot chicken recipe combines the sweetness of the apricot preserves with the saltiness of soy sauce and the complexity of the sweet but slightly spicy ginger. The chicken pieces are fried to perfect crispiness with using a combined coating of gluten-free flour and cornstarch.
My husband has always really disliked “home Chinese food”, but this recipe is now one of his favorite meals. Be adventurous and try the BEST home Chinese food recipe tonight!
Looking for other Asian inspired recipes? Try my Asian Sticky Wings and Honey Lemon Ginger Chicken.
Gluten-Free Asian Apricot Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken:
- 2 boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 2 cups of vegetable oil, I like peanut oil for frying.
Dry Coating:
- 1/2 cup rice flour, I use Pillsbury Gluten Free Flour
- 1/2 cup cornstarch, I use Argo
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- one egg, beaten
Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons of gluten-free soy sauce, I use La Choy
- 1 teaspoon of ground ginger
- 3/4 cup apricot preserves, I use Smuckers
- 1/4 cup of water
Instructions
- Heat the vegetable oil on high in a large pan or wok.
- Combine the rice flour, cornstarch, and ground ginger in a large plastic storage bag, (Think Shake and Bake). This is the easiest method, but you could also dredge the chicken pieces in a bowl.
- Cut the chicken breasts into small bite size pieces. I find the best way to get the best size pieces is to cut the chicken in half and then cut them once more in half.
- Add chicken pieces to a bowl with the beaten egg and stir to fully coat the pieces.
- Place all chicken pieces in the bag of flour mixture. Keep turning over the bag until the chicken pieces are fully coated.
- Add chicken pieces to hot oil and fry until light golden brown.
- Remove chicken pieces from hot oil to drain. I use a metal colander with a paper towel lined plate underneath.
- Pour hot oil from pan into a glass bowl to cool off so you can dispose of it later (or safe for another frying recipe).
- Either spray your pan with a nonstick cooking spray or put a little oil back into your pan. On medium heat add all the ingredients for the sauce, stir until combined and sauce thickens a bit.
- Return your chicken pieces to the pan and stir to evenly coat the chicken with the sauce.
- I serve this dish with rice and sugar snap peas. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Have you ever tried this in the air fryer vs the hot oil?
Hi Jennifer, we have not, but a few readers have and had success!
This was so good!! We will be making it again for sure
I love this recipe! I’ve missed Chinese food since my Celiac diagnosis. This is delicious and really hits the spot!
This is one of our favorites. We save it as a special treat since it’s a bit sweet. But still so yummy! I have a corn allergy, so we make a few adjustments. We use tapioca flour/starch instead of the cornstarch and it works great. We also use our air fryer rather than frying on the stovetop. We find it’s a little less messy/healthier. I still make the sauce on the stovetop and once the chicken is done we toss it into the sauce with some veggies.
I would like to try cooking the chicken in the air fryer too — would you please share for how long and at what temperature you cooked it in the air fryer? TIA
We make this over and over again! I’ve probably already left a review LOL. Can’t get enough. I always double the sauce and I’ll throw in green beans or broccoli. Have to always make enough for leftovers!
This dish was so amazingly good! It is now one of my “repeater favorites”. I doubled the sauce too, it only seemed natural being it was so good! Thanks for the great recipe. I had an extra chicken breast so I used the same egg and flour mixture and made a fried chicken breast with an oriental flair and saved it for my lunch the next day. Yummmm!
I made this tonight for dinner and all I can say is it was AMAZING! The whole family absolutely loved it. Thanks so much for the great recipe!
I made this last night. Great comfort food since. I stir fried broccoli, carrot and onion to serve with it. So delicious! Thanks Audrey for the recipe.
Thank you so much Diane for the awesome 5-star recipe review! I am so happy that you enjoyed the apricot chicken. You are so welcome, I love sharing the recipes I make for my family. It’s one of my personal favorites. Thanks again!
Delicious. I haven’t had sticky chicken since 2013. It felt so good to get back to some comfort food!
Thank you os much Miri for the wonderful 5-star recipe review, it really made my day. I am so happy that you enjoyed the apricot chicken. Especially since it’s been 7 years since you had it. It definitely is comfort food for me too and one of my favorite meals. Thanks again!
Absolutely amazing! I was feeling sorry for myself and craving Asian food and came across this recipe… heaven sent ??
Thank you so much Jobie for the amazing 5-star recipe review! I am so happy that you enjoyed the apricot chicken. You really made my day. I totally understand Asian food is one of the things I miss the most. Thank you again!