What is Chicken Paprikash?
Going back to its origins in Hungary, the dish is called "Paprikás Csirke", which literally means "Paprika Chicken." As the name would imply, its namesake spice plays a major role in the flavor of the dish, which gives Chicken Paprikash a similar flavor profile to other traditional Hungarian stews such as Goulash.
Like its Russian cousin Beef Stroganoff, this Hungarian paprika chicken recipe has managed to work its way from relative obscurity into the hearts and stomachs of comfort food seekers around the world. For my version, I like to make it with bone-in chicken pieces, fresh green peppers, sour cream, and of course: tons of paprika.
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Ingredients for Hungarian Chicken Paprikash
Chicken
While chicken breast meat can be delicious when cooked to the right temperature, it's very lean, which is why it tends to get dry and mealy when overcooked. Since stews like this Hungarian Chicken Paprikash recipe require longer cooking times, I highly recommend using leg meat such as chicken thighs and drumsticks.
I like using bone-in skin-on chicken legs which not only adds more flavor to the sauce, it also keeps the meat moist and juicy. The one exception is if you are in a hurry. It won't be quite as flavorful, but you can shave about thirty minutes off the cooking time if you use boneless chicken thighs cut into cubes. Just follow all the same steps and reduce the amount of chicken to about 600 grams.
Paprika
You'll want to use good Hungarian paprika. I'm not saying this because I have a problem with paprika from other countries (I have four cans of Spanish paprika in the pantry). Nor is this about some misguided loyalty to the dish's roots. My recommendation is merely a practical one. There are so many different kinds of paprika, with colors ranging from orange to blood red, tastes running from spicy to sweet, and flavors going from smoky to fruity, the paprika landscape can get a little confusing.
Thankfully in Hungary, the national spice is divided into eight grades, each one with its unique characteristics. The one that's most commonly found in the US is called édes nemes or "noble sweet" which is full-bodied, fruity, and a stunning vermillion hue; perfect for Chicken Paprikash. If you can't find it a more generic sweet paprika will work in a pinch.
Peppers
While paprika provides the primary flavoring for its eponymous dish, I first learned to make this dish from a Hungarian lady who always added some fresh green peppers to her Paprikash. The difference between red peppers and green ones is how ripe they are when they're picked. This is why red peppers tend to be sweeter while green peppers tend to have a more concentrated flavor than their fully ripened counterparts.
I've tried making this with and without adding fresh peppers, and I've found that adding green peppers gives the dish a more robust flavor. I used a local variety of green chili called Piiman, but any mild green pepper such as Bell, Cubanelle, or Yellow Wax Peppers (a.k.a. Banana peppers) will work.
Sour Cream
Hungarian Chicken Paprikash is finished off with a generous dollop of sour cream. This adds a mild tang, balancing out the richness of the stew while imparting a roundness that adds depth and dimension to this humble traditional Hungarian dish. It won't be quite the same, but if you're trying to cut back on fat, a strained yogurt does a pretty decent job as a substitute for sour cream. Finally, if you need to make this kosher, you can use raw cashew nuts puréed with water and a bit of lemon juice in a blender to approximate the richness and acidity of the sour cream.
How to Make Chicken Paprikash
For my Paprika Chicken recipe, I like to build a strong foundation of umami by browning the chicken in batches. Then the onions and peppers get caramelized in the same pot. To this base layer of flavor, the paprika gets added and sautéed for a few seconds. The high temperature helps the spice release its full bouquet of aromas, particularly if your paprika isn't the freshest. Just be careful not to burn it as it's easy to do, and will make your sauce bitter.
Next, some chicken broth goes in before the chicken gets added back and simmered until the meat is fall-off-the-bone tender. Finally, a roux of sour cream and flour is made to thicken the sauce, but you don't want to add it directly to the stew. Since adding cold sour cream to a hot liquid will make it curdle, it's important to temper the mixture by slowly introducing the hot cooking liquid to the roux until it is warm before adding it to the pot.
What to serve with Chicken Paprikash
The classic pairing is a small Hungarian dumpling called Nokedli which is similar to German Spaetzle. They're made with eggs and flour and can be prepared from scratch while you're waiting for the chicken to cook. In the US, Paprika Chicken is usually served with egg noodles, but I find the craggy surface of Nokedli is better suited for hanging onto the delicious Paprikash sauce. Other suitable options include boiled potatoes, Blue Mashed Potatoes, rice, or bread.
If you're striving to get more protein into your diet, I have a list of easy, tasty, high protein recipes in this article, Easy High Protein Chicken Recipes.
Other Chicken Recipes
- Cabbage & Chicken Stew
- Cream Stew
- French Mustard Chicken
- Chicken Chili
- Chicken Biryani
- Japanese Curry from Scratch
📖 Recipe
Units
Ingredients
- 1 kilogram whole chicken legs (12 drumsticks and thighs)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 275 grams onion (1 large onion, chopped)
- 100 grams mild green pepper (1 large pepper, seeds removed & chopped)
- 30 grams sweet paprika (~¼ cup)
- 1 cup low sodium chicken stock
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Use paper towels to dry the 1 kilogram whole chicken legs thoroughly. Reducing the moisture content on the surface of the chicken is essential to get it to brown.
- Sprinkle the chicken evenly with the 1 teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper.
- Heat a heavy bottomed pot (such as a Dutch oven) over medium heat until hot. Add the 1 tablespoon olive oil and swirl to coat the pan.
- When the pot is hot, add the chicken in a single layer, skin side down, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. If they don't all fit in your pan, divide the chicken into two batches. Leave the chicken undisturbed until golden brown (about 5-7 minutes).
- Flip the chicken pieces over and brown the other side. Repeat with the rest of the chicken if necessary.
- Transfer the chicken to a bowl and then add the 275 grams onion and 100 grams mild green pepper to the pot. Stir to distribute evenly and then cover with a lid to let the vegetables steam for about 10 minutes.
- Remove the lid and sauté the onions until they are golden brown.
- Add the 30 grams sweet paprika and fry, continually stirring for about 10 seconds. Paprika burns easily and will become bitter, so be careful not to burn it.
- Add the 1 cup low sodium chicken stock, and then return the chicken to the pot along with any accumulated juices. Cover with a lid and turn down the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook the chicken until it is tender (about 45 minutes).
- While you're waiting for the chicken to cook, mix the ½ cup sour cream and 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour in a bowl until it's free of lumps.
- When the chicken is done, temper the sour cream by transferring some cooking liquid from the chicken a spoonful at a time to the cream mixture and stirring after each addition. You want to slowly raise the temperature of the sour cream until it is very warm.
- Once the sour cream is tempered, you can pour it all back into the pot and stir to combine. Do not let it boil once you've added the sour cream. Taste the sauce and add some more salt if needed. The paprika chicken is done when the sauce has thickened.
Melissa Plumb says
Chicken paprikash I love it then an even more now. When I was just 10 a child. My neighbor
was Hungarian and she taught my mom how to make it. Cuz I loved it so much . Thank you! very much for showing me how to make it again. It tastes just the same. My mother was very good at all in one dishes. We had a Hungarian neighbor and she taught my mom and I haven't had it since I was 10. Thank you very much for providing the recipe for me.
Miss Melissa ~
Marc Matsumoto says
I'm happy to hear this was able to bring back some memories. Thanks for taking the time to let me know!
Vrat says
Hi Marc, over the years I found much inspiration at your web - mainly japanese recipes, and thank you very much. Just now I was looking for another inpiration for a recipe involving chicken and I was very suprised to find Paprikash (in a good way ofc), as the recipe is not so well known across the world. We cook it quite often & love it. The recipe has hundres of variations, in our family one we add the salt, ground black pepper & ground cumin into the flour, coat the chicken and cook the chicken to golden color in flavor neutral plant based oil (not olive oil). Later on no more flour is used in the recipe, but we use 50% more onions. The onion is chopped in 2 batches, one batch very fine chopping and the other one like you did (the very fine chopped one, will be kind of overcooked of course, and will dissolve and serve as thickening agent instead of flour + we like the taste more) + additionally 3-4 cloves of finelly chopped garlic. We In addition to your recipe, we use also smoked hungarian paprika (there are many kinds, some have more smoky taste than others, the amount depends on your liking of smoky taste). The amount of stock is dependent on the size of the pot, it should fully submerge the chicken (may need to add some more later, if it thickens too much). Our sause is little less thick, but still creamy. Instead of sourcream we use whip-cream + additionally when adding the stock, we add also some more ground black pepper, ground cumin and 1-2 bay leaves, 7-8 whole black peppers 1-2 all-purpose peppers (cooked in cooking sachet for easier removal at the end). I dont mean to lecture, simply wanted to share another version, which brings out different taste spectrum and I think is worth of trying. Greetings from Slovakia & Looking forwards to your next recipes.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Vrat, thank you for sharing your family recipe! I bet the use of smoked paprika and cumin result in a more savory stew. I'm curious to try it out 😀
Denise says
I have been making this recipe for years, because it is so delicious. I use both sweet paprika and some hot paprika. I also remove the chicken pieces when they are done and discard the skin and bones before adding the chicken meat back in. Then the sour cream mixture finishes it off perfectly. I serve with spaetzle. Love it! Thanks for the recipe!
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Denise, I'm happy to hear you've been enjoying this! Good call on making the chicken easier to eat!
Karen McDonald says
Can you use cornflour to thicken, I don't have any all purpose flour.
Marc says
Hi Karen, just to confirm is cornflour in your country the same as "cornstarch"? If so, it will work but the texture will be a little different (it will be more gummy). Cornstarch is a much more potent thickening agent than flour so you will want to reduce the quantity, but you'll need to experiment to figure out how much. My recommendation would be to mix a tablespoon of cornstarch in a 1/4 cup of water to disperse (you won't need all of it). Then with the paprikash at a full boil (before you add the sour cream), drizzle about 1/3 of the mixture in and stir for a about 20 seconds to see if it achieves the thickness you're going for. If it doesn't add a little more at a time stirring it in each time until you're happy with the consistency of the sauce. Then you can finish it off by turning down the heat and temperating the sour cream per the instructions (without the flour) and adding it in.
Melanie Kish says
This is so similar to the recipe that I was given when I lived in Downriver Detroit copied from a Hungarian recipe book. But my recipe starts with making tarhonya a grated noodle. the egg and flour mixture is very stiff and is grated on the large holes of a box grater and then left to dry. When dried they should look like lightly crushed corn flakes. The tarhonya is browned with butter in a large skillet till just a lightly darker golden color, stirring constantly, this will only take a few minutes. Next add chicken broth to cover and a little bit more. The Tarhonya will absorb all of the chicken broth and swell to easily double the quantity. The more chicken broth the softer & fatter the Tarhonya but ALL of the broth should be absorbed. NOW pile your beautiful Paprikash on top with a healthy helping of the wonderful sauce.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Melanie, thank you for the explanation of Tarhonya, I've never had it but it sounds delicious. Will give it a try!
Valerie says
We made this recipe with the noodles and it was delicious! Thank you for the tips on tempering the sour cream, it was super helpful! We'll definitely make this again :)))
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Valerie, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed this! Thanks for taking the time to let me know😀
Charisma Lukacs says
I so love this recipe.. Very easy to follow. I made this for lunch and it turned out so good! Everybody loved it. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Charisma, I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it! This is one of my favorite winter-time meals.
Cynthia says
This is an excellent recipe. It’s delicious and easy to make .ive made my Polish mother’s recipe and this is just as authentic as hers but much easier to make. I love tempering the sour cream .
I give this a 10++++.
Marc Matsumoto says
Thanks Cynthia! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Jacks says
Thank you for this fantastic recipe!
Marc Matsumoto says
You're welcome Jacks!
MJ Kulp says
LOVE, the recipe, but have made it twice and can't figure out how 12 chicken thighs and legs come out to 2.2 lbs. Mine are WAY more. And no one else seems to have questioned this so not sure whether I've misunderstood something..
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi MJ, I'm glad to hear you've enjoyed this! As for the chicken, it's 6 whole legs, or if the leg has been split into two parts it would be 12 thighs and drumsticks. In the US legs are rarely sold whole, which is why I stated them separately. The other possibility is that the legs in your country are larger than the ones in the US. This is why I always recommend using the weight measures in recipes when they're available because they are more precise. I hope that helps!
MJ Kulp says
Thanks Marc! I thought you meant 12 thighs and 12 drumsticks rather than 12 pieces--6 thighs and 6 drumsticks. This last time I did get whole legs with thighs attached to drumsticks. I am in the USA also. I thought maybe your were in a country with tiny chickens! 🙂
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi MJ, I figured that was the confusion. I thought about changing it to 12 pieces drumsticks and thighs, but I'm not sure that fixes the confusion. Any suggestions? Also good to know it's possible to get whole legs in the US now. I'm based in Japan now, but I lived there for 34 years before moving here and I know American chickens have smaller legs than the ones in Japan, so I picked up imported US chicken for this.
Ivan Majhen says
I love this dish!
Marc Matsumoto says
I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Nan Borton says
Did I miss the Hungarian dumpling recipe?
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Nan, there's a link to the recipe in the headnotes, but here it is: https://norecipes.com/nokedli-recipe/
George D Hoffine says
Are you sure the measurement of 1 cup of stock is correct? when i added the 1 cup it was just a paste. added another cup of water and everything turned out ok and looked smooth like in the pics and video. just double checking
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi George, the chicken and vegetables should release a substantial amount of liquid as they cook, so provided your heat is low enough, and the pot is covered with a tight-fitting lid, you should end up with about the same amount of liquid in the pot as you started out with. That being said if you are getting too much evaporation and your sauce ends up too thick, you can add more liquid to make a sufficient quantity of sauce.
jean wilkinson says
The flavor was beyond what I imagined. So much deliciousness for the amount of effort. Directions spot on. No peppers in the house. Added 2 cloves garlic and the last of some sun-dried tomatoes. Could not wait for lunch today to eat leftovers. Absolutely will we enjoy this a few times per month.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Jean, I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it!! Great ideas of additions. I'm all about a good taste to effort ratio, so I hope you check out some of my other recipes😉
Julie McCarron says
My grandmother's recipe calls for tomato juice and a little bit of sugar. it makes this recipe very tasty!!
Andy says
I've tried several different variations of paprikash recipes, and this one is hands-down my favorite. My only edit is that I want more of the sauce, so I double the chicken stock, paprika, sour cream, and flour, and it turns out amazing.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Andy, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it! I guess you can never have too much sauce😆 Thanks for dropping by to leave a comment.
Cathy Buchanan says
This has become one of my go-to recipes. The sauce is hearty and full of flavor, and the chicken comes out fall-off-the-bone tender. It's wonderful served over jasmine rice with fresh or frozen peas.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Cathy, I'm so glad to hear you've been enjoying this, thanks so much for stopping by to let me know! This is one of my favorites in cool weather, and I love the idea of serving it over rice with peas, for a splash of color.
Cathy Buchanan says
It's so easy and satisfying to make. Your instructions for heating up the sour cream were perfect, and the leftovers just gets better when they sit for a day.
Jennifer Gorst says
This tastes just like my childhood. Thank you.
Marc Matsumoto says
I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it Jennifer, thanks for stopping by to let me know!
Alexandra Zepeda says
Hi, Marc! This looks like a great chicken paprikash recipe. Do you have any thoughts about freezing this dish? This would definitely be more than one meal in my household. Prepare through step 11 and freeze, adding the sour cream and flour when reheating? Or complete the recipe and freeze the chicken in the finished sauce? Thanks for any advice you can offer.
Marc Matsumoto says
Thanks Alexandra, I'm typically not a fan of freezing finished meat dishes because home freezers aren't cold enough to flash freeze food. The slower freezing results in the formation of large ice crystals in the meat, which turns into pockets of water giving the meat a spongy texture. Frozen dinners are able to get away with being frozen and reheated because they are flash frozen. That being said, if you normally freeze food and are okay with the changes in texture, I'm sure it will be fine. You could also halve the recipe.
Alexandra Zepeda says
You're absolutely right about the changes in texture, but I'm willing to make the trade-off in order to keep a supply of homecooked meals at the ready for busy nights. I prefer to avoid commercially prepared entrees; I like to know exactly what's in my dinner. 😉 But your response also made me chuckle because we had a comical argument over dinner the other night regarding the verb "halve" vs. the noun "half". Glad you're on my side! Thanks again!