Chicken Paprikash with Nokedli

Chicken Paprikash or (Paprikás Csirke) is one of the best known Hungarian dishes. It is warm and comforting and deep in flavour with paprika and chicken. It is also incredibly easy to make, requiring less than 10 ingredients from start to finish.

What Is Hungarian Chicken Paprikash (Paprikás Csirke)

Chicken Paprikash or (Paprikás Csirke) is one of the best known Hungarian dishes. Paprikash is the Hungarian word for paprika, so it literally translates to paprika chicken and is named so because of the large amount of the spice used to make it.

What Does Paprikash Taste Like?

Paprikash is a hearty chicken stew, that although simple in it’s ingredients, is complex and rich. The primary ingredient and therefore flavour, is paprika which is earthy and fruity. It’s also deep with warm and cosy chicken-y flavour as a result of the simmered chicken that is allowed enough time to release all of it’s flavour into the sauce. The generous dollop of sour cream at the end, helps to lift the dish a little by cutting through some of the fattiness with a dash of acidity.

Ingredients To Make This Easy Chicken Paprikash Recipe:

Chicken Paprikash is a very simple dish and requires only a handful of ingredients to make it. Those being:

1 kg drumsticks, around 10-12

Oil or butter

1 large brown onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 tbsp tomato paste

3 tablespoons Hungarian paprika

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 large tomatoes, diced (or 400g tinned tomatoes)

500ml chicken stock

1/3 cup sour cream

How to Cook Chicken in Paprika

Preheat a large saucepan. Season the chicken generously with salt and a drizzle of olive oil. Lay the chicken pieces in the pan and brown all over, about 3 minutes per side.
Once browned, transfer the chicken to a plate.
In the same pan, add the onion and garlic and sauté until softened.
Add the tomato paste, fry for another minute then add the tomatoes, paprika and stock, then add the chicken back in.
Reduce the heat to low and simmer for around 30 minutes or until the chicken has softened and the sauce has thickened.
In the meantime, make the nokedli.
Mix the flour into a 1/3 cup of water (or stock if you have any remaining) until fully dispersed.
Remove the chicken pieces again and increase the heat slightly.
Stir the flour mix into the sauce, mixing constantly to prevent lumps forming. Simmer for a minute or 2 until thickened then stir in the sour cream.
Before serving, season to taste with salt then serve atop nokedli.

What Do You Serve Chicken Paprikash With

Chicken paprikash is traditionally served with nokedli (recipe below), which are little egg dumplings very similar to German spaetzle. They can be made from scratch while you wait for the chicken to cook, but if you don’t feel like making the them, here are some alternatives:

Pasta
Rice
Mashed potato
Steamed veggies
Roast potato
Bread
Anything else you’d serve another stewed type dish with

Ingredients to Make Hungarian Dumplings (Nokedli)

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1/2 cup flour

Pinch of salt

How to Make Nokedli

To make the nokedli, whisk together the eggs, milk and salt.
Add the flour and mix until just combined
Set aside while bringing a small pot of salted water to the boil.
Using 2 teaspoons, scrape small blobs of dough into the boiling water. If you have a spaetzle maker, use that instead.
The dumplings are cooked once they float to the surface.
Remove with a slotted spoon and repeat batches until the dough is used up.

Does Chicken Paprikash Have Tomatoes?

Some Chicken Paprikash purists will have an issue with the use of tomato, claiming that the most authentic recipe contains only, chicken, onions, water, paprika and sour cream. But personally, I much prefer it with tomato and most other recipes I’ve seen online seem to have tomato too.

I’ve also seen other recipes using diced capsicum (peppers), cream, varying amounts of paprika and some without garlic, so do whatever feels to you.

Can I Use Chicken Breasts Or Thighs Instead Of Drumsticks?

If you’re wanting to make a lighter version, you could certainly use chicken breast or even opt for low fat sour cream as well. You could follow the same method and simmer whole or halved breasts in the sauce, but if you do, reduce the simmering time to 20 minutes. Same goes if you use boneless chicken thighs.

If you’d prefer to use diced chicken (breast or thigh), reduce the simmering time to only 10-15 minutes to prevent the chicken from over cooking.

Can I Make Chicken Paprikash Without Sour Cream?

If you’re in a bind and don’t have any, you can definitely make a version of it without sour cream, but technically it wouldn’t be an authentic Chicken Paprikash anymore. If you don’t have any sour cream, you can use cream or milk instead, or just leave it out completely if you’re really tight on ingredients.

What Paprika Should I Use in Chicken Paprikash?

Because 50% of the name of the dish is paprika, it’s pretty important to use a good quality one… and lots of it. If you can find it, aim for a good quality Hungarian paprika which you can find online with a quick Google search.

If you can’t find any, or would rather use something you have at home, opt for a sweet paprika over hot or smoked.

Also, be mindful that paprika loses its aroma and vibrancy very quickly after being opened. So if you’re using paprika that you have in your pantry already, make sure it is relatively fresh and new.

Is Chicken Paprikash Spicy?

Although one of the main ingredients is paprika, which is made from dried and ground peppers, it isn’t spicy. It uses sweet paprika which has virtually no heat to it at all. If you want to add a little kick to it, by all means, add a sprinkle of hot paprika as well.

Is Chicken Paprikash Gluten Free?

Chicken paprikash is thickened with flour, so no it isn’t gluten free. That being said though, you can very easily leave it out and have a slightly runnier version, or thicken the sauce with a cornflour slurry instead.

Can You Make Chicken Paprikash Ahead Of Time?

Absolutely! It will probably also taste better made up to a day in advance as the flavours are able to develop and mingle further over time. If you make it in advance, store it covered in the fridge and reheat it on the stovetop until the chicken is heated through.

Can I Freeze Leftover Chicken Paprikash And Nokedli?

Yes you can freeze leftover paprikash but I wouldn’t recommend freezing the nokedli. Anything starchy like cooked pasta or rice doesn’t fare well to being frozen. So if you have a lot leftover, maybe try and use them in another dish the next night to prevent throwing them away. To freeze the paprikash, store it in airtight containers or zip lock bags for up to 3 months.

How long is Chicken paprikash Good For?

This dish will last just fine for up to 4 days in the fridge in an airtight container or covered with plastic wrap. To reheat, warm it through on the stove top over a low-med heat until the chicken is warm to the centre.

Can I Make Chicken Paprikash With Rotisserie Chicken?

It won’t be as rich and chicken-y if you don’t simmer the meat in the sauce. But if you have a rotisserie chook or any other leftover chicken you need to use, this is a good dish to do so. Just make sure to use a good quality chicken stock if you do, so that you still get enough flavour into the sauce. Because the meat is already cooked, add it in at the end so it doesn’t dry out.