Chicken Paprikash
Chicken simmered with sautéed onions and paprika, then finished silky with sour cream — Hungary's beloved home dish. The red, creamy sauce coats the tender chicken, and spooned over nokedli egg dumplings it makes the perfect plate.
Ingredients
- Chicken · legs/thighs, cut up800 g
- Onions · finely chopped2
- Minced garlic2 cloves
- Paprika · sweet Hungarian3 tbsp
- Tomato · or 1 tbsp paste1
- Bell pepper · optional1
- Chicken stock · or water1.5 cups
- Oil · or lard2 tbsp
- Salt & pepper · to taste
- To finish
- Sour cream0.5 cup
- Flour1 tbsp
- To serve
- Nokedli · egg dumplings/spaetzle, or noodles/rice
Steps
- ⏲ 7 min
Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Brown it in oil in a pot, then remove.
- ⏲ 10 min
In the same pot, cook the onions low and slow until soft and golden, then add the garlic.
- ⏲ 1 min
Off the heat, stir in the paprika quickly — burnt paprika turns bitter, so keep the heat off.
- ⏲ 35 min
Add the tomato, bell pepper, and stock, return the chicken, cover, and simmer gently 30-40 minutes.
- ⏲ 2 min
Mix the flour into the sour cream, temper with a little hot sauce, then stir into the pot to thicken — do not boil.
Adjust the seasoning and serve with nokedli, noodles, or rice.
Tips & Variations
Variations
- Mushroom paprikash: Use mushrooms for a vegetarian version.
- Spicier: Add hot paprika or chili.
- Beef or veal: Make it pörkölt-style.
- Gluten-free: Thicken with cornstarch instead of flour.
Tips
- Add the paprika off the heat — it turns bitter if it scorches.
- Cook the onions well so the sauce is deep and rich.
- Temper the sour cream and don't boil it, or it will split.
- Use plenty of good Hungarian sweet paprika — it's the heart of the dish.
Sign in to edit.
edits: 0 ·Edit history