Chicken Paprikash
on Sep 18, 2020, Updated Jul 14, 2023
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This classic Hungarian comfort food dish features tender chicken stewed with onions, broth, tomatoes, and generous amounts of paprika. Serve over egg noodles to soak up all of the delicious sauce.
This Hungarian chicken paprikash is the kind of dish that — upon first bite —reveals itself immediately and inarguably to be comfort food, even if you’ve never eaten it before in your life. The creamy, flavorful sauce envelopes tender chicken thighs in a dish that feels like a warm hug of a meal.
Traditional sides for Chicken Paprikash are dumplings or egg noodles. Mashed potatoes or rice or rice pilaf are other great options (the sauce is too good to leave any behind on your plate!). Even though there are some vegetables cooked right into the dish, you may also want to serve it with a salad or a vegetable side dish like Sautéed Brussels Sprouts, green beans, or roasted carrots. Scroll down for more side dish suggestions!
We must pause to pay homage to the best mention of the word paprikash in the history of film, in When Harry Met Sally. Please rewatch the Paprikash scene, no one says “Paprikash” better than Billy Crystal.
Table of Contents
Chicken Paprikash: This classic Hungarian comfort food dish features tender chicken stewed with onions, broth, tomatoes, and generous amounts of paprika. Serve over egg noodles to soak up all of the delicious sauce.
Ingredients
- Chicken – I like to use bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs for this dish, which become rich and tender after being browned and stewed.
- Onions – A generous amount of onions add a deep, sweet flavor to the paprikash sauce.
- Garlic
- Flour – This helps the chicken brown and also helps thicken the sauce.
- Sweet paprika – Authentic Hungarian Chicken Paprikash is so named because of the ample amount of paprika in the sauce, which adds flavor and rich color.
- Smoked or hot paprika – Adding in another type of paprika is optional but provides another layer of flavor.
- Bay leaves
- Crushed tomatoes – Add color and a sweet tanginess.
- Chicken broth – I prefer to use less-sodium broth, which allows you to control the amount of salt in the dish.
- Sour cream – Adds creaminess when stirred in at the very end.
- Egg noodles – These or dumplings are the most traditional accompaniment to this dish, but egg noodles are easier to make.
Variations
- You can use chicken breasts if you prefer. The cooking time should be about the same.
- If there is a gluten allergy or intolerance in your house, you can use gluten-free flour to make this a gluten-free dish.
- Try dumplings instead of egg noodles.
- You can also make Chicken Paprikash in an Instant Pot!
FAQs
It’s a classic Hungarian dish, which features chicken that is first browned, and then sautéed and stewed with various vegetables.
Paprikash is the Hungarian word for “pepper,” and paprika is a very traditional Hungarian spice made of ground, dried mild peppers.
Chicken stewed with a mixture of onions, broth, tomatoes (sometimes, not always), sour cream, and, of course, copious amounts of paprika.
In this recipe, I relied primarily on the typical sweet Hungarian paprika and then added a little bit of smoked paprika to give it another level of flavor. You could also add a bit of hot paprika to give it a different kind of kick. But don’t use too much hot or smoked paprika, or the flavor can come on too strong. You could even use a combo of all three, you crazy, crazy fun person.
How to Make Chicken Paprikash
- Brown the chicken: Cook the chicken in a hot skillet until the skin is crispy, and it is browned on the bottom. Remove the chicken to a plate.
- Saute the aromatics: Cook the onions and garlic in the same pan.
- Make the sauce: Stir in the flour, paprika, bay leaves, tomatoes, and broth. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
- Finish cooking the chicken: Return the chicken to the liquid and simmer for another 20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
- Cook the egg noodles.
- Finish the sauce: Remove the chicken and bay leaves, and stir the sour cream into the sauce.
- Serve: Place the chicken over the hot noodles and spoon over the sauce.
Tips
- You don’t want to heat the sour cream in the sauce over the stove, or it might curdle. Just stir it into the pot at the very end, and it will blend right in, and add a tangy-creamy note to the warm sauce.
- Make sure to brown the chicken well and get the skin crispy. The skin will soften during the braising process, but it will have a much better texture than unbrowned skin.
Storage and Leftovers
You can keep leftovers for up to 4 days covered in the fridge. Heat in a pan on the stove over low heat until hot throughout. Don’t let the sauce come to a full simmer. The sauce might separate a bit when reheated, but it will still be delicious.
Side Dishes for Chicken Paprikash
If you are the kind of person to make your own dumplings or noodles, this is a great moment to whip out that skill set. These are excellent traditional accompaniments to authentic Chicken Paprikash. For the rest of us, and for a weeknight dinner, a bag of egg noodles fits the bill perfectly.
Other great side dishes for Chicken Paprikash are Endive, Radicchio, and Citrus Salad with Bacon Vinaigrette, Light Green Crunchy Salad, and Mixed Greens with Pomegranate Vinaigrette.
Cooking Tips
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More Braised Chicken Recipes
- Chicken Cacciatore
- Chicken Adobo
- Braised Chicken, Mushrooms, and Baby Artichokes
- Coq au Vin
- Chicken Thighs with Onions and Green Olives
- Chicken and Dumplings
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Chicken Paprikash
Ingredients
- 4 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 8 large pieces)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 2 large onions (quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise)
- 2 cloves garlic (finely minced)
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons sweet paprika (preferably Hungarian)
- 1 teaspoon smoked or hot paprika (optional)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- ¾ cup sour cream
- 1 12-ounce bag egg noodles
Instructions
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a very large, deep heavy skillet (such as cast iron) over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the chicken, skin side down, and cook for about 8 minutes, until the skin is nicely crispy. Flip the chicken and cook for another 8 minutes or so until the bottom of the chicken is nicely browned (it will not be cooked through). Remove the chicken to a plate.
- Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan. Return the pan to medium heat, and add the onion. Sauté for about 5 minutes, until soft and moderately browned. Stir in the garlic and sauté for another minute. Stir in the flour and the sweet paprika, as well as the additional smoked or hot paprika if using, until is all well incorporated into the oil, one more minute. Add the bay leaves, tomatoes, and broth. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Return the chicken to the liquid, skin side up, and cook for another 20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
- Meanwhile, cook the egg noodles according to package directions. Remove the chicken to a clean plate. Remove the bay leaves, and stir the sour cream into the sauce. Place the chicken over the hot noodles, either on a serving platter or on individual serving plates, and spoon over the sauce.
Notes
- You don’t want to heat the sour cream in the sauce over the stove, or it might curdle. Just stir it into the pot at the very end, and it will blend right in, and add a tangy-creamy note to the warm sauce.
- Make sure to brown the chicken well, and get the skin crispy. The skin will soften during the braising process, but it will have a much better texture than unbrowned skin.
- You can use chicken breasts if you prefer. The cooking time should be about the same.
- If there is a gluten allergy or intolerance in your house, you can use gluten-free flour to make this a gluten-free dish.
- Try dumplings instead of egg noodles.
- You can also make Chicken Paprikash in an Instant Pot!
I loved this, and my very picky husband did too, I will definitely be making it again !
This was delicious! Husband loved it also and he is alway hesitant to try anything new – but he really liked it! Will definitely make again!