Paprika Chicken
My recipe for Paprika Chicken is inspired by a famous Hungarian dish, and this is so delicious for an easy skillet meal. And I’ve updated the recipe to make it easier and even lower in carbs!
PIN Paprika Chicken to try it later!
Food blogs are a work in progress, and I do love taking a favorite recipe that’s back in the archives and showing it off with better photos so current readers will want to try it. Sometimes I decide to improve the recipe as well, and for this updated Paprika Chicken I made a few simple changes to make it easier to make and also lower in carbs. (You can see the original version here if you’d like.)
Of course this recipe is inspired by Chicken Paprikash, a traditional Hungarian dish that usually includes a roux made of flour and chicken fat or butter, and my recipe doesn’t use any flour of course. But if you like chicken, onions, red peppers, paprika, and sour cream, I bet you’ll like my carb-conscious version.
What ingredients do you need?
- canned chicken broth (affiliate link), reduced by simmering
- can of diced tomatoes
- onion
- red bell peppers
- boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- sweet paprika, preferably Szeged Sweet Paprika (affiliate link)
- hot paprika, preferably Szeged Hot Paprika (affiliate link)
- ground caraway seed (affiliate link), optional
- salt and fresh-ground black pepper
- Olive Oil (affiliate link)
- sour cream
Is this an authentic Hungarian Paprika Chicken Recipe?
I’m not claiming this is authentic Hungarian Paprika Chicken recipe, so if it’s not the way your Hungarian grandmother used to make it, go ahead and make her version if you can get the recipe from her!
Can you use roasted red peppers from a jar?
For years I did make this Paprika Chicken recipe with roasted red pepper from a jar. But when I decided to update the recipe to make more servings I tried it with fresh bell peppers, chopped in large pieces and cooked with the onions. Either version was delicious, so make it either way you prefer.
Use Hungarian Paprika for this Recipe!
I want to emphasize the importance of using real Hungarian paprika! You can find it sold in nearly every U.S. grocery store, usually in a tin rather than a glass jar. I’m a fan of Szeged Sweet Paprika (affiliate link) and Szeged Hot Paprika (affiliate link) but any Hungarian paprika will be better than the stuff some people sprinkle on deviled eggs! And real Hungarian Paprika is so flavorful that I bet you’ll want to use it regularly once you try it!
More Recipes with Hungarian Paprika:
Check out Slow Cooker Hungarian Pot Roast or Instant Pot Hungarian Pot Roast, Al’s Famous Hungarian Cucumber Salad, Goulash Soup, or Pork with Paprika, Mushrooms, and Sour Cream to see more favorite recipes where I’ve used Hungarian Paprika.
How to Make Paprika Chicken:
(Scroll down for complete printable recipe, including nutritional information.)
- Start by simmering chicken broth (or homemade chicken stock) in a small pan until it’s reduced to 3/4 cup.
- Drain tomatoes into a colander placed in the sink.
- Cut onion and two red bell peppers into pieces that are about one inch square.
- Trim chicken breasts to remove visible fat and undesirable parts, and cut the chicken into cubes about 1 square.
- When all ingredients are ready, toss chicken cubes with 1 tsp. sweet paprika, salt, and fresh-ground black pepper.
- Heat 1 T olive oil and cook chicken over medium-high heat until it’s well browned, about 5 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate.
- Add a little more oil and brown the onions. Then add the rest of the sweet paprika, hot paprika, and ground caraway seed (if using) and cook about 1 minute more.
- Add red peppers and cook until they’re starting to get soft when you pierce with a fork, about 3-4 minutes, then add the drained tomatoes and cook about 2 minutes more.
- Add the reduced stock and cook 2-3 minutes.
- Then add the browned chicken pieces and any juice that’s drained out on the plate, turn heat to LOW, and simmer about 2-3 minutes more or until the chicken is hot.
- Turn off the heat and let the dish sit for a couple of minutes (to be sure it’s not so hot that the sour cream will curdle).
- When it’s cooled a little, remove a few tablespoons of liquid from the pan and and gently stir that into sour cream.
- Then stir that mixture into the pan of chicken and vegetables. (Blogger fail, I forgot to take a photo of that step so I had to use the old picture, which is why it’s a different pan.)
- Season with a little more salt and fresh-ground pepper if desired and serve immediately.
- This type of dish is traditionally served over rice or noodles of course, but I really enjoyed it served plain as a stew.
Make it a Low-Carb Meal:
I’d love this with a simple side dish like Roasted Broccoli with Garlic, Stir-Fried Spinach with Garlic and Parmesan, or Lemony Green Beans for a tasty low-carb meal. You could also serve over cauliflower rice if you prefer.
More Tasty Dinners with Chicken:
- Chicken with Peanut Sauce
- Chicken Bake with Olive and Caper Sauce
- Baked Chicken Stuffed with Pesto and Cheese
- Chicken Cutlets with Mustard Sauce
- Baked Parmesan Crusted Chicken
Paprika Chicken
It may not be authentically Hungarian, but my version of Paprika Chicken is warm and comforting and oh so flavorful for an easy skillet meal.
Ingredients
- one 14.5 oz. can chicken broth (see notes)
- one 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
- 1 small onion
- 2 red bell peppers
- 3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 4 tsp. sweet paprika (see notes)
- 1 tsp. hot paprika, sometimes called sharp paprika (see notes)
- 1/2 tsp. ground Caraway seed (optional)
- salt and fresh-ground black pepper (to taste)
- 1 T + 2 tsp. olive oil
- 1 cup sour cream
Instructions
- Put the chicken stock or broth into a small pan and simmer over medium heat until it’s reduced to 3/4 cup.
- Drain the canned tomatoes into a colander placed into the sink (you can catch the juice and freeze for another use if you’d like.)
- Cut onions and red bell pepper into fairly large pieces, about an inch square.
- Trim the chicken breasts until all the visible fat is gone. (I save the scraps to make homemade chicken stock). Cut chicken into large cubes (about 1 inches square).
- Season the chicken cubes with 1 tsp. Szeged Sweet Paprika plus salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste.
- Heat 1 T. olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan and cook chicken over medium-high heat until the pieces are nicely browned on all sides and barely cooked through, about 5 minutes.
- Remove chicken to a plate.
- Add the other 2 tsp. of olive oil and the onions and cook unions about 4 minutes. Add the rest of the sweet paprika, the Szeged Hot Paprika, and the ground caraway seed (if using) and cook about 1 minute more.
- Add peppers and cook until they are starting to soften when pierced with a fork, then add the tomatoes and cook about 2 minutes more.
- Add the reduced chicken stock and cook 2-3 minutes, or until the stock is bubbling hot.
- Then add the browned chicken cubes and any juice that’s accumulated on the plate), turn heat to LOW, and simmer just until the chicken is heated through, about 2-3 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and let the mixture sit for a minute or two. (This is VERY IMPORTANT so it’s not so hot that the sour cream will curdle.)
- Remove a few tablespoons of the hot liquid, add to the sour cream, and stir to combine.
- Then add the sour cream mixture to the skillet and stir gently to combine. (The mixture should have completely stopped simmering before you add the sour cream.)
- Serve hot. I love this dish just served in a bowl like a stew, but you eat it over rice or cauliflower rice if you prefer.
- I wouldn’t recommend freezing for this recipe, but it will keep for a few days in the fridge and can be reheated in the microwave or in a pan on the stove (with low heat, don’t let it boil.)
Notes
Chicken broth should be simmered to reduce to 3/4 cup; you can also start with 1 1/2 cups homemade chicken stock instead of canned broth if you have some.
If possible I'd use a combination of Szeged Sweet Paprika (affiliate link) and Szeged Hot Paprika (affiliate link) for this recipe, but any Hungarian Paprika will be fine.
This recipe adapted from Paprika Chicken at Epicurious.com, with quite a few changes by Kalyn. That recipe doesn't seem to be on their website any more.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 228Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 75mgSodium: 538mgCarbohydrates: 10gFiber: 3gSugar: 6gProtein: 22g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Served as a stew, Paprika Chicken is a great dish for Low-Carb and Keto diets and for all phases of the original South Beach Diet.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Chicken Recipes to find more recipes like this one! Use the Diet Type Index photo index pages to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest or on Facebook to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this recipe:
Paprika Chicken was last updated in 2022 with better photos and an improved easier version of the recipe.
33 Comments on “Paprika Chicken”
Greetings from Hungary! I was glad to read that you are interested in Hungarian cuisine. However, that's not exactly the way we do our traditional chicken paprikash. Let me tell you the recipe I had learned from my grandmother: we cut the onion in very small pieces, heat some goose fat and cook the onion in it. Add 1 teaspoon sweet paprika, stir it quickly, and add 2 tablespoon hot chicken stock, stir it again: ground paprika dissolves best in hot fat, this is how it can convey its colour and flavour to maximum effect – much more than in vegetable oil! But you should avoid to burn it, otherwise paprika would become bitter (that's why we add some chicken stock right after the paprika). We usually use a whole young chicken, cut in 8 pieces. Add the chicken pieces, some salt, and cook them for 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of chicken stock, one tomato cut in small pieces and a clove of garlic also in very small pieces and let cook it on a low heat as long as the chicken will be ready. Finally, turn off the heat (as you wrote), add some sour cream, and stir it. We serve it with galushka (a Hungarian noodle). I prefer to cook this meal in my cauldron in the garden, this way the open fire gives an extra flavour to our chicken paprikash. There is a photo about my chicken paprikash: http://husosfazek.blog.hu/2011/01/22/az_en_paprikascsirkem
Missy, glad you enjoyed it. And boy does this ever need a new photo! I need to make it again.
This was great, wound up preparing according to directions. Didn't have sharp paprika, so substituted a small amount of cayenne as indicated.
MissyCooks, you could probably adapt it, but you'd need to reduce the amount of liquid and not add the sour cream until the very end. Since I haven't tried it, I can't say for sure how it would work.
I would like to try making this, but I was wondering if maybe this recipe could be modified for the slow cooker?
It's a regular 14.5 oz. can of tomatoes; will edit to clarify that. Thanks.
what size can of tomatoes do you use?
Katie, so glad you liked it. This is a recipe that's been on my "needs new photos" list for years, but it's a great recipe.
This was delicious!!! I didn't have any peppers on hand so I added some mushrooms instead – this was a big hit, thanks for such a great recipe!
– Katie C.
Anonymous, I said in the recipe not to use fat free sour cream. I haven't had any problem with low fat sour cream.
Fat free sour cream curdles easier from the heat than full fat. If you want to use reduce/fat free sour cream, try serving it on the side to be stirred in after the dish has cooled a bit.
Jan I avoid fat free sour cream because it usually has added sugar.
Searching through recipes I notice that a few of them say not to use fat free sour cream. Can you please tell me the reason for not using fat free sour cream? Unfortunately it's all I have in the house right now. Thanks so much.
Kalyn, this is delicious (even without the peppers and caraway seeds – I'm all out). My husband, who is German and makes wonderful German meals, even approved of this dish. He forgave me of course for using boneless skinless chicken instead of a whole cut up chicken. I even used Penzey's sweet hungarian and sharp paprika. It's wonderful and the flavors build as you eat the dish. This is a very satisfying phase one dish!
Paprikash! You’re such a master! There is a Czech beer garden close to my place and the best thing on their menu is the Chicken Paprikash– that is when the grill isn’t fired up with $3 burgers and kielbasa!
Where is this delicious-sounding Czech beer garden you speak of?
Matthew, since that comment was in 2006, I doubt Stacey will come back and let you know, but it sounds good!
Thank you for sharing! My first attempt at Paprikash several months ago was so disappointing. I’m looking forward to giving your a try.
I’ve been looking and looking for a good Chicken Paprikas recipe. This I will serve to my houseguests this weekend. Thanks for bringing it forward from your archives!
You know I’ve always been looking for a reliable recipe for this dish. Now I have one. Thanks, Kalyn!
Well, give your brother my thanks for getting you to start this blog! :):) The paprikash looks great.
Kalyn – anything paprikash is bound to be good, and your recipe sounds delicious! (just for the record, my favourites are chicken paprikash and mushroom paprikash)