21 Apricot Recipes for Luscious Desserts, Sweet-Tart Salads, and Tangy Drinks
A good apricot is fragrant and luscious, with a tangy brightness that holds up even after cooking. Good apricot recipes take advantage of these attributes, pairing the stone fruit with nuts or buttery pastry, crisp greens or savory proteins. That’s right—apricots aren’t just for dessert, but below you will find our favorite apricot cakes, tarts, and compotes, alongside summery salads and refreshing drinks. Want to grill some apricots to serve at the end of a summer barbecue? Head to the market to scope out the best source for fruit; after scrolling through all the recipes below, you might find you want to carry an extra bag.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle1/21Almond-Apricot Food Processor Cake
This apricot recipe masterfully packs stone fruit flavor into a wonderfully moist cake. It all comes together quickly in a food processor, with some apricots puréed and some folded into the batter, infusing their summery flavor throughout. Bring this one along to a backyard gathering; even gluten-free friends can enjoy it.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell2/21Chicken Salad With Apricots, Celery, and Blue Cheese
Apricots add juicy flavor to this summery salad. A mild goat cheese brings out the fruit's sweetness, while a shredded rotisserie chicken makes it main-course worthy.
Photo by Alex Lau5/21Radicchio–Stone Fruit Salad
This pretty salad is packed with contrasts: strident bitter greens, juicy stone fruit, toasty walnuts, and creamy sheep's cheese. Serve with any of your favorite grilled mains—perhaps some cedar plank salmon?
6/21Grilled Apricots with Almond Cream and Fregolotta
Juicy apricots love a crispy topping. For this summer dessert from Samin Nosrat, the dough for fregolotta, an Italian cookie, is broken up into small pieces, then baked.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food styling by Anna Stockwell7/21Stone Fruit Clafoutis
This fuss-free French dessert doesn't require much in the way of equipment, so it's the perfect vacation option. Choose juicy cherries or fragrant apricots—or a mix of both.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton8/21Rumtopf
Rumtopf is a traditional German tipple that you build over the course of the entire harvest season. Add halved and pitted apricots, sugar, and rum to a clean crock, then rest for a month or more before eating the fruit on top of pound cake and sipping the flavored spirit.
Maren Caruso9/21Stone Fruit Slaw
Slightly underripe apricots and nectarines work well in this crunchy slaw. Serve with grilled pork chops.
Photo by Mikkel Vang10/21Almond Praline Semifreddo With Grappa-Poached Apricots
You don't need an ice cream maker for this cool, creamy frozen dessert, served with grappa-poached apricots.
Photo by Romulo Yanes12/21Apricot Pandowdy
Here's an old-school apricot dessert, made up of cooked fruit covered with a pie crust or biscuit crust that is often cut up halfway through baking and pushed into the fruit. For this easy version, we leave the crust whole.
Peden + Munk13/21Little Apricot Cakes
These mini cakes are baked in a muffin pan, and they're perfect for bringing along to a picnic.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Ali Nardi14/21Grilled Maple-Butter Apricots with Vanilla Ice Cream
Photo by Christopher Testani15/21Apricot Compote
Simply glazed apricots are wonderful served over yogurt or ice cream—a few tarragon leaves make this easy dish feel fancy.
Christopher Baker17/21Stone-Fruit Sangria
Stone-fruit purée gives this beautifully colored sangria an intensely flavored base that's reinforced with juicy sliced fruit. Choose any combination of the ripest, most fragrant stone fruit (if, say, nectarines aren't looking great, swap in good-looking apricots). Chill the sangria before serving; the flavor will improve the longer it sits—up to two days.
Photo by Con Poulos19/21Yogurt with Pistachio Brittle
Get your favorite dessert bowls out, then fill them with creamy Greek yogurt, sliced apricots, and homemade pistachio brittle.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Prop Styling by Anne Eastman, Food Styling by John Bjostad21/21Chicken Tagine With Apricots and Almonds
Here's some good news. Some of our favorite apricot recipes can be made year-round—because they rely on dried apricots instead of fresh. Don't miss this Gourmet classic, a tagine that's a little bit savory and a little bit sweet.
