Honey Apple Chicken
There are many apple growers in Ontario, so a variety of apples are available throughout the fall and winter at both farmer’s markets and grocery stores. By using fresh apples (instead of canned applesauce), you can customize the flavour to your tastes. To prevent this dish from being too sweet, I used a couple of Empire apples along with a few Cortlands and it it turned out great!
I was tempted to toss in a sprig or two of fresh thyme but I didn’t want it to overpower the apples, so instead I used some some thyme honey from our pantry. In the end, the thyme flavour was not detectable, so using regular honey, commonly from clover, would be just as good. If you like thyme with your chicken, I’m sure a single sprig is safe.
Honey Apple Chicken
Prep:
30 minutes
Cook:
4-5 hours (low)
Yield: 6 servings
- 1 1⁄2 cups sliced red bell pepper
- 1⁄4 cups apple cider or (unsweetened apple juice)
- 1⁄4 cups sliced green onion
- 6 chicken breasts, bone-in, skinless
- 1⁄2 tsp salt
- 1⁄2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp vegetable oil (or grapeseed oil)
- 5 cups peeled, cored, finely chopped apples (5 medium apples)
- 3 tbsp honey
Toss chicken in a bowl with vegetable oil. Add salt and pepper, and toss some more to season the chicken breasts.
Sear chicken breasts in skillet over high heat for 2-3 minutes per side. Place into the slow cooker.
Combine the chopped apples, honey, cider and bell pepper in a bowl and stir. Pour over the chicken.
Cook on low setting 4-5 hours or 2-2½ hours on high.
Transfer the chicken breasts to plates. Stir the green onions into the apple mixture, then pour approximately 1 cup over each chicken breast to serve.
