Student recipes traditionally refer to recipes that are made with fresh ingredients and are reasonably priced (and easy to prepare) aka – something you can throw together on a budget that tastes great and doesn’t take hours of slaving in the kitchen. Our Chicken and Apricot casserole is a bit of a cheats dish because we didn’t prepare the seasoning ourselves. However, we are all about convenience and budget when it comes to student life, so take a look at our quick and easy recipe and get ready for a tasty treat:

Chicken and Apricot Casserole

Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 90 mins

Ingredients:

6-8 portions of chicken
25ml Sunflower oil (or use a TBSP of butter)
1 cup Apricot Juice (I small liqui-fruit)
1 packet Knorr Brown Onion Soup
Salt and pepper to taste

Optional extra:

1 onion peeled, halved and sliced

A half a cup of chicken stock

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Remove the skin from the chicken pieces. Empty the soup powder into a bowl and rub the chicken pieces with the soup powder, coating them well. Put the oil / butter into a large heavy-based pan on the heat and brown the chicken pieces. Remove the chicken pieces from the pan and place them in a casserole dish. Combine the apricot juice with the leftover soup powder and pour the mixture over the chicken pieces (you can also add half a cup of chicken stock if you would like to make the gravy a little looser, or, to add a little extra flavour include some sliced onions if you like). Cover the casserole dish (this is important – don’t let your chicken pieces burn) and bake at 180 degrees for 90 minutes.

Serve with steaming hot rice and either salad or veg. Easy peasy….

A note on using instant or packet soups or convenience products

Gone are the days when using instant or packet soups were a complete no-no in the culinary world. Soup powders, gravies, stocks and other ready to use mixes are continuously being improved. They offer consumers with busy lifestyles an easy, ready-to-use and convenient product base to assist with the cooking process. Don’t be shy to stock up on these essentials in your grocery cupboard. Soup powders can be used to thicken gravies and stews as well as create easy one-pot casserole dishes for the busy student or family.

If you’re a student and you have any budget friendly, easy to prepare recipes, please share your ideas in the comments section below. We would love to hear your ideas…

Images via http://free-food-image.blogspot.co.za/2015/10/apricot-chicken-recipes.html; www.bombshellbling.com; www.knorr.co.uk