Hungarian Chicken Paprikash (Traditional Recipe)
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Hungarian Chicken Paprikash is a traditional Hungarian dish made from simple, real food ingredients. Succulent pieces of chicken are simmered in the most flavorful sauce, made with the best Hungarian Paprika with a cream base. Serve it with Nokedli noodles or parsley potatoes and you’ve got yourself a truly amazing comfort food that you’ll want to have over and over.
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What is Chicken Paprikash
Chicken Paprikash (aka, chicken paprika) is perhaps the best known Hungarian dish. The name is derived from the abundant use of the spice that is very common to Hungarian cuisine…paprika. If you’ve been following my blog you’ll also know that I recently used it in my Hungarian Mushroom Soup, Pörkölt, and Hungarian Goulash too. You’ll also find it used for Hungarian Lecho.
This Chicken Paprikash is made from a few very simple, real food ingredients: chicken, onions and garlic, chicken stock, paprika, flour, and cream. Some cooks will add tomato paste or chopped tomatoes, whereas others argue that authentic chicken paprikash doesn’t contain any tomatoes.
I personally like the addition of tomato paste and that’s why I used it in this recipe. But feel free to skip it, if you’re from the other school.
What Type of Paprika is Best for Chicken Paprikash
You’ll want to use the best Authentic Hungarian Sweet Paprika. The difference between Hungarian sweet paprika and your regular paprika is in the depth of the flavor. Hungarians really take pride in the tastes of their paprika, and a simple comparison will show you why.
Contrary to its name, Sweet Hungarian Paprika is not actually sweet. Frankly, I believe the ‘sweet’ descriptor was just intended as a contrast to Hot Hungarian Paprika  (ie, if not ‘Hot’ then ‘Sweet’). I only used Sweet Paprika for this Chicken but if you want to spice things up a bit then feel free to add some hot paprika as well.
What Chicken is Best for this Recipe
Traditionally this Hungarian dish is made with bone-in, skin-on, chicken thighs and drumsticks and that’s what I used for this recipe. I believe that chicken on the bone tastes more flavorful. You can try my recipe for Chicken Chasseur with skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs (it’s out of this world delicious).
However, if you really don’t like bone-in chicken, you can use boneless chicken thighs – just watch them carefully as they’ll cook faster. You can also use chicken breast, but it has a tendency to become dry. Point being is that this is a personal choice; feel free to experiment.
If you’re interested in organic chicken you may want to check out ButcherBox. They take the legwork out of hunting for a good cut of meat by delivering it directly to your door. I’ve found that they always have good promotions running too (if you decide to sign up with them make sure to take advantage of the freebie).
Ingredients Needed to make this Hungarian Chicken
Here’s your grocery list of items that you’ll need to purchase or pick from your pantry (for exact measurements scroll down to the printable recipe card):
- Bone-in, skin-on, chicken thighs, and drumsticks;
- Cooking Oil;
- Onions;
- Garlic;
- Hungarian Sweet Paprika;
- Tomato Paste;
- Flour;
- Chicken Broth;
- Sour cream;
- Fresh Parsley.
How to Make Hungarian Chicken Paprikash
Here are easy steps to make this awesome chicken recipe:
Step 1: Season your chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat up a skillet, add cooking oil and sear the chicken in batches, until nicely brown. Do not overcrowd the chicken and use a splatter guard if the chicken is splashing around (tip: place chicken skin side down and do not disturb for 6-7 minutes, then flip and cook for 3-4 minutes on the other side; this will ensure a nice sear on the skin).
Step 2: Chop your onions and garlic. Once the chicken is seared on both sides, remove it to a plate and add onions into the same pan (if too much fat has accumulated in a skillet, remove some of it so you are left with approx 1 tablespoon of fat). Saute onions until translucent, for about 5 minutes.
Step 3: Add garlic and cook for one minute. Then add flour to the skillet and cook for 2 minutes. Then add paprika & tomato paste and mix well.
Step 4: Then add chicken broth and place chicken back into the skillet. Cover it and cook for about 20 minutes, until chicken is fully cooked through. Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the skillet so you can finish up the sauce.
Step 5:Â Â Prepare the roux: combine sour cream with flour and a splash of water. Start gradually adding a little bit of sauce to it to temper it until you have a full cup. Then pour it over the sauce and let it come to a boil.
Step 6: Serve the chicken with sauce (see below pairing suggestions).
Can Chicken Paprikash be Frozen?
Yes! You can freeze it in an airtight container and store it for up to 2 months. This is a great recipe to cook in advance or make more and freeze leftovers. Remove from the freezer and thaw for 24 hours in a fridge. Place in a deep pan and cook until bubbly and heat up through.
What to Serve Chicken Paprikash With
In Hungary, most of the time this chicken would be served with Nokledi, which are Hungarian noodles (very similar to German Spaetzle). But if you don’t want to make these you can serve this Chicken with:
- Egg Noodles;
- Mashed Potatoes;
- Parsley Potatoes; or
- Rice, Barley or Quina.
What Equipment is Needed to Make Chicken Paprikash
Here are some items that you will need to make this chicken. You may have some or all of them already at home, but in case you don’t here are a couple of my favorites:
- Cast Iron Skillet;
- Splatter;
- Measuring cup;
- Set of knives;
- Cutting board.
Other Popular Chicken Recipes to Try
- Mustard Chicken with Clementines
- Grilled Chicken Shawarma
- Oven Roasted Chicken Legs
- Olive Oil Chicken Mediterranean Style
- Chicken Provencal with Shallots and Garlic
Hungarian Chicken Paprikash
Ingredients
- 3.5 LB Chicken thighs and drumsticks
- 2 tbsp Butter or Cooking Oil
- 1 Sweet Onion chopped
- 3 cloves Garlic chopped
- 2 tbsp Flour
- 3 tbsp Sweet Hungarian Paprika
- 2 tbsp Tomato Paste
- 2 cups Chicken Broth up to 2.5 cups if you want more sauce
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Roux
- 3/4 cup Sour Cream
- 1 tbsp Flour
- Splash of Water
Instructions
- Season your chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat up a skillet, add cooking oil and sear the chicken in batches, until nicely brown. Do not overcrowd the chicken and use a splatter guard if the chicken is splashing around (tip: place chicken skin side down and do not disturb for 6-7 minutes, then flip and cook for 3-4 minutes on the other side; this will ensure a nice sear on the skin).
- Chop your onions and garlic. Once the chicken is seared on both sides, remove it to a plate and add onions into the same pan (if too much fat has accumulated in a skillet, remove some of it so you are left with approx 1 tablespoon of fat). Saute onions until translucent, for about 5 minutes.
- Add garlic and cook for one minute. Then add flour to the skillet and cook for 2 minutes. Then add paprika & tomato paste and mix well.
- Then add chicken broth and place chicken back into the skillet. Cover it and cook for about 20 minutes, until chicken is fully cooked through. Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the skillet so you can finish up the sauce.
- Prepare the roux: combine sour cream with flour and a splash of water. Start gradually adding a little bit of sauce to it to temper it until you have a full cup. Then pour it over the sauce and let it come to a boil.
- Serve the chicken with sauce and the side of noodles, potatoes or grains.
Nutrition
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Made this at work for the memory care residents. It is delicious. I used tomato juice instead of paste and mixed the sour cream into the sauce and made a slurry to thicken it. Thank you!!
I love chicken paprikash and would love to make this for a large group. Can you help me in any way with quantities of ingredients for 30 people, please???
Annette, I would probably multiple this recipe by 4. You would end up with enough food for the crowd. I would heat up the oven to 350F, sear the chicken on the stove then add it to one or two large foil trays, then make the sauce (maybe in 2 batches) and then pour it over the chicken. Place in the oven for half hour. Then see if the chicken is cooked through with thermometer (165F) and if the sauce is not thick, make a rough (2 portions at the time) and add to thinking the sauce. If you do that, you’ll need to place it back in the oven to make sure that the roux gets cooked. I hope it helps!