Chicken · Slow cooker adaptation

Apricot Chicken (Slow Cooker)

The 1970s Aussie weeknight classic: browned chicken in an apricot-nectar and French onion gravy, finished with evaporated milk for that silky retro-creamy sauce. Adapted for the slow cooker so the sauce simmers down all day.

R By Richard · Adapted from Lees Cooking · Published 11 June 2026
👁 79.3k source views ❤️ 2.7k source likes
⏱Prep 25 min
🍲Slow cook 6 hr (Low) / 3 hr (High)
🍽Serves 4
Apricot Chicken, The 70's Classic That Still Tastes Great

Source video by Lees Cooking on YouTube. This recipe was adapted with strict source-fidelity rules and is marked for human review.

Lees Cooking brings back the 70s weeknight standard with one church-cookbook tweak that lifts it: a half-cup of evaporated milk swirled into the apricot and French onion gravy at the end. The original is an oven-braise (160C fan, 45-55 min in a casserole dish). Adapted for the slow cooker, you brown the chicken on the hob, build the sauce in the same pan (flour and soup mix toasted, water, apricot nectar, two stock cubes), pour it over the chicken in the slow cooker, then stir the evaporated milk in for the final 30 minutes so it doesn't split. Serve with rice and a green vegetable.

Slow cooker notes: Original is an oven-braise in a casserole dish. Adapted for the slow cooker: keep the hob browning of the chicken and the on-hob sauce build (toasting the flour and French onion soup mix in the pan fat, then deglazing with water and apricot nectar) because those two steps carry the colour and depth. Transfer the browned chicken to the slow cooker, pour the sauce over and cook Low 6 hours or High 3 hours. Stir the evaporated milk in for the last 30 minutes so it warms through without splitting in the long cook.

Ingredients

Chicken
  • 1.3 kgchicken drumsticks (or bone-in pieces or boneless thigh fillets)
Browning
  • vegetable oil
  • butter
Sauce
  • 0.25 cup (Australian, 250 ml)plain flour
  • 1 packetFrench onion soup mix
  • 1.25 cups (Australian, 250 ml)water
  • 410 g (tin)apricot nectar (or pureed tinned apricot halves in natural juice)
  • 2chicken stock cubes, crumbled
  • salt and black pepper
Finishing
  • 0.5 cup (Australian, 250 ml)evaporated milk (or sour cream) (add late)
To serve
  • fresh parsley, chopped (add late)

Method

  1. Heat a little oil and butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Brown the chicken pieces on all sides, around 15 minutes in total. Transfer to the slow cooker. If there is a lot of fat in the pan, drain off all but a little; you want a little fat left for the next step.

    ~15 min

  2. Return the pan to medium-low heat. Stir in the quarter cup of plain flour and the packet of French onion soup mix. Cook, stirring, until the flour is nicely browned, about 2 minutes.

    ~2 min

  3. Remove the pan from the heat. Whisk in the 1 1/4 cups of water and the tin of apricot nectar (or pureed apricot halves). Crumble in the 2 stock cubes. Season with a little salt and some pepper. Whisk until smooth to get rid of any flour lumps.

    ~3 min

  4. Return the pan to a moderate heat and bring the sauce up to a simmer.

    ~2 min

  5. Pour the hot sauce over the chicken in the slow cooker. Lid on. Cook on Low for 6 hours or High for 3 hours.

    ~360 min

  6. For the last 30 minutes of cooking, stir in the half cup of evaporated milk. Replace the lid and let it warm through.

    ~30 min

  7. Taste the sauce and adjust the salt and pepper. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve over rice with a green vegetable.

    ~2 min

Frequently asked

Can I use chicken thigh fillets instead of drumsticks?
Yes. Boneless thigh fillets work well and were the narrator's usual choice. Drop the slow cooker time slightly if you do, around Low 5 hours, since they cook through faster than bone-in pieces.
What if I can't find apricot nectar?
Buy a same-size tin (410 g) of apricot halves in natural juice and blend it to a puree. That gives you the thicker consistency the recipe needs. Apricot fruit juice will not work, it's too thin.
Do I have to brown the chicken first?
Yes. Browning renders some of the fat for the next step and builds colour and flavour in the sauce. Slow cookers steam rather than brown, so without the hob sear the sauce ends up pale.
Can I skip the evaporated milk?
You can, but it's the church-cookbook tweak that lifts this version. Sour cream is the stated alternative if you don't want evaporated milk. Either gets stirred in at the end so it doesn't split.
How many does this serve?
About four. The 1 to 1.3 kg of chicken plus the generous amount of sauce comfortably feeds four with rice and a green vegetable.
Extraction notes (transparency): Oil and butter quantities for browning not stated ('a little bit'). Salt and pepper quantities not stated ('to taste'). Default servings not stated; estimated 4 from 1.3 kg of drumsticks. Cups are Australian (250 ml), confirmed by the narrator.