Published September 30, 2022.This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This one-pot Hungarian chicken paprikash dish comes together in 1 hour and is served with a delectable creamy sauce to go over the top. The flavors in this recipe will blow you away.
Weekdays can get extremely busy, and it’s easy to get into a rut. If you love big flavors and comfort food and want to try out some new chicken recipes, try my Chicken Satay or Chicken Adobo.
Chicken Paprikash
Chicken Paprikash or also known as paprikas csirke in Hungarian is a traditional dish consisting of chicken and onions cooked in bacon fat and then braised in liquid with paprika and other vegetables and seasonings. The sauce is thickened with sour cream and flour and commonly served with Nokedli.
This is a one-pot meal that comes together in about 1 hour and is perfect for a weeknight meal but also has enough uniqueness to serve to guests. I also believe the addition of browning the chicken and using chicken stock enhance my recipe above the traditional one. Don’t forget to watch the video below.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Chicken – I like to break down an entire chicken and use the meat. You can use just split chicken breasts, thighs, and drumsticks, or a combination of them.
- Peppers – The classic pepper would be a Hungarian wax pepper, but with limited availability in the US, the best option is the yellow bell pepper.
- Onions – A yellow, white, or sweet onion will work for this.
- Garlic – Some garlic will help enhance the flavor of the chicken paprikash sauce.
- Stock – I prefer good chicken stock, but water or vegetable stock can also be used.
- Fat – Rendered bacon fat would be the most used. However, you can use oil or clarified butter.
- Paprika – A good sweet Hungarian paprika should be used in this, but you can use regular paprika if that is all you have.
- Tomatoes – I like to use Roma tomatoes no matter the year’s season.
- Sour Cream – This will help add fat and thicken up our sauce.
- Flour – All-purpose flour is used to help thicken the Paprikash sauce.
How to Make Chicken Paprikash
If you are using a whole chicken, start by separating it into parts and season them on both sides with salt and pepper.
Heat some rendered bacon fat in a large rondeau pot over medium-high heat until it begins to smoke lightly.
Next, add the chicken skin and cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side or until golden brown.
Remove the chicken and set it aside on a plate.
Add onions to the pan and cook for 15 to 20 minutes over low to medium heat while stirring until they have become caramelized.
Add the peppers and sauté over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes.
Stir in the garlic and cook it until it’s fragrant, which takes about 30 seconds.
Pour in the tomatoes and cook for 4 to 5 minutes to stew them and break them down.
Stir in the paprika until combined.
Pour in chicken stock and season it well with salt and pepper.
Place the cooked chicken back in, place on a lid, and cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the chicken is very tender.
In a bowl, whisk together sour cream and flour until combined.
Pour about a ½ cup of the chicken liquid into the bowl with the sour cream and mix.
Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the pan and whisk in the sour cream mixture and bring to a boil to thicken. It should be thick like alfredo sauce.
Add the chicken back to the pan and heat up for 2 to 3 minutes before serving with additional sour cream and optional chopped chives. Serve with dumplings, also known as nokedli.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: You can make this chicken paprikash up to 1 hour ahead of time; Just keep it in the pan covered over low heat.
How to Store: Cover it and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. This will freeze covered for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator for 1 day before reheating.
How to Reheat: Add the desired amount of chicken paprikash to a saucepan and heat over low heat until hot.
Chef Notes + Tips
- If, for some reason, the sauce does not thicken after bringing it to a boil with the sour cream mixture, try to make a slurry of 2 tablespoons of cornstarch mixed with water and add it to the pot once it is boiling.
More Chicken Recipes
- Arroz con Pollo
- Butter Chicken
- Grilled BBQ Chicken
- Chicken Cordon Bleu
- Chicken Francese
Video
Save
Hungarian Chicken Paprikash Recipe (csirkepaprikás)
5 from 25 votes
This one-pot Hungarian chicken paprikash dish comes together in 1 hour and is served with a delectable creamy sauce to go over the top.
Servings: 6
Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour hour
Ingredients
- 1 whole fryer chicken broken down into parts, breasts, thighs, drums, wings
- 3 tablespoons rendered bacon fat
- ½ peeled small diced large yellow onion
- 1 seeded small diced yellow bell pepper
- 2 finely minced garlic cloves
- 2 roughly chopped Roma tomatoes
- 3 tablespoons sweet paprika
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
If you are using a whole chicken, start by separating it into separate parts and season them on both sides with salt and pepper.
Heat the rendered bacon fat in a large rondeau pot over medium-high heat until it begins to smoke lightly.
Next, add the chicken, skin down, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side or until golden brown.
Remove the chicken and set it aside on a plate.
Add the onions to the pan and cook for 15 to 20 minutes over low to medium heat while stirring until they have become caramelized.
Add the peppers and sauté over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes.
Stir in the garlic and cook it until it’s fragrant, which takes about 30 seconds.
Pour in the tomatoes and cook for 4 to 5 minutes to stew them and break them down.
Stir in the paprika until combined.
Pour in the chicken stock and season it well with salt and pepper.
Place the cooked chicken back in, place on a lid, and cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the chicken is very tender.
In a bowl, whisk together the sour cream and flour until combined.
Pour about a ½ cup of the chicken braising liquid into the bowl with the sour cream and mix.
Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the pan and whisk in the sour cream mixture and bring to a boil to thicken. It should be thick and creamy like alfredo sauce.
Add the chicken back to the pan and heat up for 2 to 3 minutes before serving with additional sour cream and optional chopped chives.
Notes
Make-Ahead: You can make this chicken paprikash up to 1 hour ahead of time; Just keep it in the pan covered over low heat.
How to Store: Cover it and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. This will freeze covered for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator for 1 day before reheating.
How to Reheat: Add the desired amount of chicken paprikash to a saucepan and heat over low heat until hot.
If, for some reason, the sauce does not thicken after bringing it to a boil with the sour cream mixture, try to make a slurry of 2 tablespoons of cornstarch mixed with water and add it to the pot once it is boiling.
Nutrition
Calories: 476kcalCarbohydrates: 13gProtein: 29gFat: 34gSaturated Fat: 12gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 124mgSodium: 339mgPotassium: 571mgFiber: 1gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 805IUVitamin C: 52mgCalcium: 57mgIron: 2mg
Course: dinner, main dish
Cuisine: Hungarian
Author: Chef Billy Parisi
Elevate Your Every Day Cooking
Get Chef Billy’s go-to tips that transform “blah” into “brilliant” plus weekly newsletter!
Add a comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
45 comments
- Ed
You have to make this recipe. I tried it with Hungarian Hot Wax Peppers and cooked it in a Dutch Oven.
Oh boy, this turned out awesome. My daughter, who is a very picky eater, loved it!
Greatly appreciate the cooking details. Your site has definitely improved my ability to cook.
Thanks Chef Parisi!- Reply
- Karen
I made this tonight and it was dang delicious! Thank-you!
- Catherine
Hi
This sounds really good! Can I swap Greek yogurt instead of sour cream?
Thanks- Reply
You could.
- Reply
- CT Smith
I made this recipe last night and it’s delicious, just like my Hungarian Grandma made when I was a kid. The only thing I would do differently next time, and there will be a next time, is add more peppers and onions (and cut the onions in slices rather than diced). Otherwise, the flavor is great and I highly recommend it.
- Reply
- Andrea Smith
I made this yesterday, and it was delicious! I served it over egg noodles, with roasted cauliflower.
Two problems with the recipe though- it actually takes closer to 2 hours to prepare – I’m glad I started early.
And two – my sauce never got as thick as Alfredo sauce. After 2 rounds of a cornstarch slurry, it did reduce some, but never really thickened. It was still really good though, so I’m giving it 5 Stars.
Thank you Chef! I love your recipes, and I’ve learned so much about cooking from you. ❤️- Reply
- PriscillaATL
Girlfriend of mine just got back from Germany and I was hearing her tell about her trip. She said she had the best meal she’s ever had she told me the name said oh let me look it up. I’ll see if I have a recipe for it and of course, I was shocked when I saw that Billy Parisi had one, so I told her about how to find it, she’s not much of a cook so I don’t know if she’ll ever make it but I looked at it and I thought well if she thought it was the best thing she’s ever had I’m going to make it because I wanted to try it to. I followed the recipe exactly explicitly I special ordered sweet paprika , I did not want to just serve some other kind of noodle with it so I went the distance and I made another one of his recipes “ Nokedli Recipe (Hungarian Dumplings) “ because when my friend had told me what she had tried, I Google search the restaurant they went to to see what the dish looked like to make sure I was going to make the right thing and they had these noodles served with it or dumplings whatever you wanna call it. I made the whole recipe and followed it to the tea exactly except I did not have a spit cell. I used the large holes on my box grater it worked out it wasn’t ideal, but it worked out great. This was such a delicious recipe my daughters and my husband loved it, I gave a full dinner portion to my daughter and her fiancé and they had it last night. Her fiancé messaged me and said he had no idea what he was eating but it was delicious and he wants me to make it more often. My family said it was a winner. I told my girlfriend I had made it. She was blown away, that I went to all this effort to re-create a dish that she ate that I’ve never heard of or tried don’t be afraid of making some thing you’ve never tried I’ve never been to Germany. I probably honestly never will be, but I wanted to try it since she thought it was so wonderful and I just was looking for another chicken dish because I was tired of my rotation, this was very good since I special ordered the sweet paprika. I already have the smoky and I have the typical whatever that was I will now be making this dish upon request. I have to say it was delicious. I was quite proud of myself for making such an authentic recipe from some thing I had never heard of or tried , I wish I could post my pictures of my dish. It was absolutely delicious. How fortunate away that we have a chef sharing his recipes with us now I only need to get that fabulous Rondeau pan that he has. Lol
- Reply
- Catt
Loved this recipe. Will be making again.
- Reply
- Paula
This is exceptional. Thank you!!
- Reply
my pleasure!
- Reply
- Monika
If i make or use homem spatsle or dumplings do i cook them seperatly or cook them inside the paprikash sause?
- Reply
separately
- Reply
- ken kus
Thanks Billy I made this for dinner last night and it was delicious….
- Reply
excellent!
- Reply
- Julie G.
Delicious and so easy to make~ another great recipe!
- Reply
- Sue Deskiewicz
Easy to make & so good
- Reply
- Kathryn St. Louis
Delicious! Chef, your recipes do not disappoint.
- Reply
many thanks!
- Reply
- Maria
Just made this tonight!! Can’t say enough good things, easy and delicious. The only thing I did differently was to sub one tablespoon of regular paprika with smoked paprika, and I had no peppers so I gave a squirt of Hungarian pepper paste instead.
- Reply
love it!
- Reply
- CLARA
This recipe gave me a different way to cook chicken. It is delicious!
I saved the recipe, so I can cooke it many times.
I love all his recipes and how he shows them.- Reply
amazing!
- Reply
- Cindy
My son was lucky enough to travel to Hungry and play waterpolo. He always says how much he loves the food so I had to give this a try- Everyone loved it! Great recipe and instructions! It is so much easier than I thought.
- Reply
excellent!
- Reply
- Elena Wolf
This is one of my favorites by far. Whenever I make it for friends they love it and it’s so easy to make. Thank you for this recipe.
- Reply
Awesome!
- Reply
- Robert
Delicious! Will certainly make this again and again. Thanks
- Reply
Many thanks
- Reply
- Tammy R Randolph
This turned out amazing and I served it with buttered egg noodles and sauteed asparagus I wasn’t sure what to actually add as a side dish if you have other ideas I would love to try them out thank you
- Reply
so good!!
- Reply
- Kirsten Klein
Delicious!! Another hit with my family!
- Reply
thank you so kindly!!
- Reply
- Karen
I love your recipes. You really take your time explaining the recipe. Can’t wait to try this one!
- Reply
- Joan santoro
Easy. Easy. Easy. And delicious every time. Family fav.
- Reply
so good!!
- Reply
- Paula Hegelund
There or four times I made this it was exceptional!! Thank you so much for the recipe.
- Reply
Amazing!
- Reply
- Renee Kerkstra-Swab
I’ve made several versions of this recipe and this one is my favorite !
- Reply
Awesome!
- Reply
- Cameron
Fantastic chicken! I followed the recipe to the letter and my family loved it. Will be trying more of Billy’s recipes for sure. Thanks, Billy!
- Reply
thanks for giving it a shot!!
- Reply
- Ula
Outstanding recipe! Since I was using up what I had in my kitchen, the Roma tomatoes were just ordinary tomatoes on the vine, peeled, seeded and chopped. I cut the chicken into 4 pieces, rather than 8, because it’s just easier. And I dry-brined my chicken pieces in salt for a few hours (rinse, pat dry before frying). But otherwise I followed the recipe precisely. Served with buttered Bavarian spatzle and roasted carrots/broccoli (because that’s what I had laying around, although they paired well with the dish.) Really, really good!
- Reply
That’s awesome. Thanks for making it!
- Reply
- Yvette
This was delicious, flavourful and very easy to make. Yum.
- Reply
- Lynnea
This turned out amazing! Beyond expectations!!! Will definitely do it again. Used rich home-made rchicken stock and a can of organic diced tomatoes as I didn’t have fresh on hand. Organic chicken breasts and thighs. Added a little wine…you know, the normal improv. LOVED IT! Maybe will do the dumplings with it next time. This time, just wild rice under all that wonderful sauce!
- Reply
