Russian Chicken is a deliciously sweet and sour chicken dish that our whole family loves. This apricot chicken recipe is one of my mom’s special recipes. Chicken covered in a Russian dressing and apricot jam glaze, and baked to perfection. Yum!
Russian Chicken Recipe (Sweet & Sour)
Russian Chicken is an amazing apricot glazed chicken dish that has been in the family for years. This is my mom’s classic sweet and sour chicken recipe that we all love. It’s the ultimate easy recipe! This was my brother’s favorite family recipe growing up, and I know you’ll all love it too!
The chicken breasts are covered in a sweet and tangy glaze made with Russian dressing, apricot jam, onion soup mix, and a couple other ingredients for the most amazing flavor. It’s a simple baked chicken recipe that can be made any night of the week.
Serve this tasty apricot chicken recipe over rice (white or jasmine is best) and dig in!
This tangy Apricot Russian Chicken is one our family’s all-time FAVORITE chicken recipes. Give it a try and you’ll see why we can’t get enough of it!
Baked Apricot Chicken Recipe
This baked Apricot Chicken recipe is one of my mom’s specialties, and I’m so glad she shared the recipe with us here. It’s more commonly known as Russian Chicken, but we’ve always just called it sweet and sour chicken. It has the most amazing sweet, sour, tangy flavor!
Here’s what my mom had to say about it:
“Sweet & Sour Chicken has been a family favorite recipe since the late 1970s or early 1980s, when my mother-in-law first served it. Lipton Dry Onion Soup Mix was all the rage at the time and this recipe was sweeping the nation.
It had been eons since I fixed this dish. My mother-in-law gave me the recipe in 1979ish, and I used to make it often. After my son was born it became his most-loved dish when chicken was on the menu.
So, thank you Bec for asking me to do a guest post for The Cookie Rookie and for requesting this recipe. I feel like I’ve found a long-lost friend.”
Thanks mom for sharing this apricot glazed chicken recipe. If you like this recipe and want to see more, please check out her blog, Simply Sated!
What is Russian Dressing?
Russian dressing is a sweet and tangy salad dressing made with tomatoes, vinegar and spices. It’s the perfect base for the apricot glaze we used on this baked chicken. There’s also a creamy version of this dressing that contains mayo; either option works depending on what you prefer.
Apricot Glazed Chicken
Our sweet and sour Russian Chicken needs a little bit of sweet to balance out the sour. So in addition to the Russian dressing, we added apricot jam into the glaze mixture. You could also use pineapple or peach jam for a twist of your own. The point is to just have a nice sweet and tangy flavor combo!
What’s in the apricot chicken glaze?
- Red Russian Dressing (Western Dressing works as well)
- Apricot Jam (or pineapple or peach)
- Dry Onion Soup Mix Packet
- Soy Sauce
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Dry Mustard
How to Make Baked Russian Chicken
Russian Chicken is an incredibly easy baked chicken recipe. Just 6 ingredients (in addition to the chicken breasts), a couple of quick steps, and less than an hour from start to finish! I love recipes like this for family dinners because it’s delicious AND simple.
How to make Apricot Chicken:
- Place chicken breasts in a baking dish and preheat oven to 350°F.
- Combine all ingredients (russian dressing, apricot jam, onion soup mix, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, dry mustard) in a bowl to make the glaze.
- Pour glaze directly over the chicken and cover the dish, then bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove the cover and bake another 15-20 minutes.
This apricot glazed chicken is best served with rice, which you can easily make while the chicken is baking. Simple but so tasty!
Easy Baked Chicken Recipes
This sweet and tangy Russian Chicken recipe is one of our favorite baked chicken recipes. Sweet, sour, tangy, savory…it’s filled with flavor!
We have so many other chicken recipes around here, I don’t even know where to begin. You can check our Baked Chicken Guide for ALL the recipes, or find some of absolute our favorites below.
I can’t wait for you guys to try this sweet and sour Russian Chicken recipe. I know you’ll love it just as much as we do!
See the recipe card for details on how to make Sweet and Sour Apricot Glazed Chicken. Enjoy!
Try these other delicious chicken recipes for dinner this week:
- Best Sweet and Sour Chicken (with Homemade Sweet & Sour Sauce)
- Creamy Swiss Chicken Bake
- Baked Caesar Chicken Recipe
- Creamy Basil Chicken
- French Onion Chicken Skillet
- Sweet and Spicy Bourbon Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts - skinless & boneless
- 1/2 cup Western or Red Russian Dressing
- 1/2 cup Apricot Pineapple, Peach Jam or a combination
- 1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup Mix - dry
- 1 tablespoon Soy Sauce
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Spray a baking dish.
- Place the chicken in the dish.
- Combine all other ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well.
- Pour the Jam mixture over the chicken.
- Bake covered at 350F for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, remove the cover and bake 15-20 minutes or just until breasts are cooked through.
- Serve with rice.
- Enjoy!
Is the red Russian the creamy one like Kens or wishbone or like Catalina red thinner?
Thank you Becky, for your quick response!
It is relatively spicy, but you can use less red pepper if you’d like!
Is this spicy at all, considering the red pepper flakes?
Any substitute for the jam? All i have are strawberry and jelly on hand
Thank you!
Hey Nicole, this actually isn’t a slow cooker dish. The dish bakes for 20 minutes (covered) and then 15-20 more uncovered at 350. Sorry for any confusion!! Thanks for stopping by :)
Hi! I’m looking at the recipe and I’m unsure as the when the crockpot comes into play. 20 minutes cook time doesn’t seen long enough to me in a crockpot. Am I just reading it wrong?
I can’t find the red Russian dressing or western In any stores. Is there an alternative that you would recommend substituting instead?
I love when savory dishes have hints of sweetness! I bet this is delicious with the jam … although I think I’d have to go with a combination because I couldn’t pick just one of those flavors!
Oh my heavens that looks good, I am starving now!!!
Love this guest post. Susie’s chicken looks fantastic!
Wahou! I love your Sweet and Sour Chicken. Can’t wait to make it :)
This looks Amazing! It’s clear where Becky gets her skills from!
This chicken looks fantastic!! Pinning
The photographs of this recipe are fabulous and the dish sounds really good.