Chicken Paprikash
Easy Hungarian chicken paprikash recipe made with boneless chicken breasts simmered in a rich paprika sour cream gravy. All on the stovetop in one skillet, served over buttered egg noodles.
My all-time favorite dish growing up was my dad's chicken paprika, a Sunday dinner treat during the cold winter months. Of course, no recipe is written down and I have yet to try and recreate his version, although I think I could do it. His big pot of chicken legs and thighs, simmered in onions, chicken stock, generously seasoned with paprika and finished off with sour cream ~ I could drink that gravy!
Early in my marriage and living in Chicago with two little ones and another on the way, I came across a recipe for Chicken Paprikash in one of my cooking magazines. I gave it a try, and it had the same wonderful flavor profile as my dad's. It wasn't quite like he made his, but it was so good. I made it for him once, and, much to my surprise, he was impressed ~ he thought it was really good and wanted to know exactly how I made it.
What is chicken paprikash?
Chicken paprikash (or paprikàs) is classic Hungarian comfort food, with ample amounts of their famous paprika. It really is just several simple ingredients ~ chicken, onion, paprika, chicken stock and sour cream. The gravy is rich and heavily laden with paprika.
I use sweet paprika and swap a bit out with smoked paprika. Love the addition of a little smokiness to the gravy. We called my dad's version chicken paprika, and with it we always had plenty of homemade Czech bohemian-style bread dumplings to soak up all the gravy.
What to serve with chicken paprikash?
Like I mentioned above, Czech-style bread dumplings are our perfect choice (and I don't have the time to make!), or traditional Hungarian nokedli dumplings. But here in the states it is most often served with buttered egg noodles. German spaetzle would be delicious, and you can't go wrong with boiled potatoes or rice. You need something starchy to soak up all that gravy!
For a fairly simple, traditional and quick Chicken Paprikash, try this incredibly flavorful dish ~ it will warm you right up on these cold winter nights, guaranteed. Here's to you Papa ~ I'll be trying your way with dumplings next time ~ Kelly
Another delicious easy chicken dinner you might also like is my Chicken Stroganoff ~ easy comfort food with mushrooms, paprika and sour cream gravy.
If you’ve tried this recipe, please rate it below in the comments and let me know how it went ~ I love hearing from you! HUNGRY FOR MORE? Subscribe to my Newsletter and come hang out with me on INSTAGRAM, or give me a follow on FACEBOOK or see what I’m pinning on PINTEREST.
UPDATE NOTES: This post was originally published in December, 2016. It has been spruced up to look nicer with new photos and copy additions in August, 2019. No changes to original recipe.
Chicken Paprikash
Ingredients
- 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves cut crosswise into ½-inch-wide strips
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper
- 3 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1½ tablespoon butter
- ½ cup onion, chopped ~ small dice
- 1 large plum tomato, seeded, chopped ~ small dice
- 1 cup chicken stock or broth, preferably homemade ~ if using canned, use low sodium
- ¼ cup sour cream
Instructions
- Place chicken in small bowl and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sweet paprika, salt and pepper. Toss to combine well.
- Melt 1 tablespoon butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and sauté until just cooked through, about 5 minutes. With slotted spoon, transfer chicken to plate and set aside.
- Add remaining ½ tablespoon butter to same skillet and sauté onion until softened, about 3 minutes.
- Add remaining 2 teaspoons sweet paprika and 1 teaspoon smoked paprika (can use 3 teaspoons sweet paprika, omitting smoked), stir for 10 seconds to combine.
- Add chopped tomato and stir to soften a bit, about 1 minute.
- Add chicken stock/broth and stir and bring to a boil. Cook at a steady simmer until slightly thickened and sauce thinly coats a spoon, about 6 minutes.
- Return chicken and any accumulated juices to pan with sauce mixture, reduce heat to low. Add sour cream and whisk/stir to combine and heat through ~ do not boil. Taste and adjust for salt and pepper. Serve with buttered egg noodles or bread dumplings.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
*Adapted from Bon Appétit December, 1996
This was EXCELLENT! I enjoyed the process of making it and it was just delicious...three teenagers in this house agree!
I actually used about half plain yogurt….
Delicious - even fussy husband thought so! I did add little flour and bit more sour cream but would have been fine without the additions. I’d definitely save this recipe!
Excellent recipe. Came out so tasty and perfect. Followed recipe as written and it was delicious. Thanks.
I was just Googling easy Chicken Paprikash recipes. I LOVE that this recipe is for two servings. That's all I need. Almost every recipe I look up serves 6-8 servings. I will definitely be following this website! I can't wait to try this recipe!
Yes, me too! Sometimes I double it if there's more than 2 or 3 of us. It's so easy to just make more of it. Glad you liked it, it's so good!
Seriously good. I added a jalapeño/ Serrano and half to the onion sauté mix then at the end added some fresh jalapeños on top! It was amazing! My family said this was a DEFINITE repeat. ( also added hot hungarian paprika as substitute for one of the teaspoons.) I didn’t have sweet paprika but regular seemed to work just fine.
Chicky Poppy Gosh! No matter how you say it, it’s delicious.
Yuuumy! Cooked this for dinner and served on top of buckwheat - delicious! Will definitely make again. Thank you for sharing!
Where can you get the sweet paprika? I never knew there were different kinds.
Thank, RayeAnn
@RayeAnn, you can find anything on the internet. I just bought sweet paprika from Hungaria on Amazon ($6).
My family loves this I make mine a tad different stick of butter one onion, let that cook while I deskin the chicken thighs place in pot to with paprika and cook low and slow so chicken breaks apart easy. Add sour cream at end and serve with rice.
I made this last night after a friend visiting from Hungary brought me a selection of Hungarian paprikas. It came together easily and quickly so a great short-on-time dinner.
A few variances from the recipe above: I added in some red bell pepper. I used a combination of paprikas because 1. I had them thanks to my friend and 2. We like a little spiciness. I used sweet (two-thirds), hot (one-third) and smoked (a pinch) paprikas in my blend. The smoked paprika actually was something I already had in my spice cabinet and I’m not sure that it’s really a thing in Hungary. That said, I liked the hint of smokiness it added to the dish.
I served it with some egg trofie pasta because fortunately I live very close to the Italian border and it’s easy to get excellent quality egg pasta. However I selected the trofie shape as I felt it would capture and soak up the sauce well and it did!
I would definitely make this again particularly since I’m now well stocked in some excellent paprikas.
Bon appétit!
I, too, just returned from Budapest with sweet paprika! This recipe was a great find--similar to what we had in Hungary. I did add red bell peppers which I sautéed along with the onions, and added some crushed Italian tomatoes. Heaven!!
Thank you for sharing your recipe. Just returned from a great trip to Budapest and I'm excited to try this one with the paprika I brought home!!!
I hope you like it! It's a really easy rendition. The first time I made it, I used paprika my aunt brought back from Hungary.
hi
I cook all the ingredients at the same time except the sour cream, in 20 min you have a fabulous company food.
at the end, stir in sour cream and serve with noodles.
I grew up with much the same. Slice the onions thin and saut'e. use bone in cut up chicken whole. Instead of sour cream use Heavy cream. Ad the german spatzels.