This post is for all of you who are still enduring the longest and coldest winter ever! My heart goes out to you. Buuuut Hungarian Chicken Paprikas will make it all better.
Promise.
Rich and creamy and surprisingly easy to prepare –this is chicken at its best.
This is the quintessential Hungarian dish. When I think of using sour cream to finish a dish, I think of Hungarian Chicken Paprikas (Csirkepaprikas) and Russian Beef Stroganoff.
Two of my favorite foods of all time!
I LOVE Hungarian food. And it doesn’t hurt that my Husband is half Hungarian, and he loves it. When we worked in Cleveland, Ohio, we would go out to truly authentic Hungarian restaurants as a treat. He would share his favorite culinary memories from childhood, and I would relish his ethnic past and wish that I could taste just one bite of his Grandmother’s cooking.
Okay, maybe one bite of each dish and a cookie or three. Fair enough?
But down here in Atlanta, if you want Chicken Paprikas with Hungarian dumplings, you are just going to have to make it yourself.
I was nervous about making Spaetzle from scratch. There is a strong Hungarian influence in Cleveland, and you can buy homemade, fresh spaetzle at the regular grocery store, but not down here in the South. No, no. You have to brave them yourself.
But, truthfully, it wasn’t that hard!!! You stir them up in one bowl and drop the dough into boiling water with a spoon. How hard is that? It’s not. It’s completely manageable. But, if you don’t want to fuss with the spaetzle, and your grocer doesn’t carry it, you can’t go wrong with egg noodles, because, let’s be honest, it’s all about the sauce!
With a dish that has so few ingredients, one must use THE BEST of each. That means a rich chicken broth (preferably homemade), authentic, imported Hungarian paprika, and a good quality sour cream. They will make all the difference.
So go pick up some Hungarian sweet paprika and make this tomorrow! You’ll forget all about that snow outside. Well, at least for a while.
Side Note: Many people (including some very famous people and magazines) incorrectly call this dish Chicken Paprikash, which is how it is pronounced. I am not known for my spelling, so I just wanted to throw that out there.
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Hungarian Chicken Paprikas with Homemade Spaetzle
- Prep Time: 45
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: Serves 6 – 8 1x
Description
This traditional Hungarian Chicken Paprikas is comfort cooking at its best! A rich, creamy sauce flavored with sweet Hungarian paprika surrounds tender chicken for a delicious meal!
Ingredients
For the Chicken Paprikas:
- ¼ cup butter + 1 tablespoon
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs (If you’re starting from a whole chicken, this video will help you debone and divide it!)
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth An excellent chicken stock here)
- 3 tablespoons Hungarian sweet paprika
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, as needed for coating chicken
- 1 cup sour cream
For the Hungarian Spaetzle:
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- ¾ cups water
- 1 tablespooon butter, melted
Instructions
Prepare the Chicken Paprikas:
- Chop chicken into 1” pieces and dry and dust lightly with flour.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat until it is hot. Melt ¼ cup butter. Add chicken, paprika, salt and pepper, and sauté until the chicken is lightly browned. Remove chicken from pan and tent loosely with foil.
- Add remaining 1 tablespoon butter to pan and sauté onions until they are translucent. Return chicken to the pan.
- Add chicken broth and gently simmer over low heat until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from the pan and tent loosely with foil.
- Stir 2 tablespoons of flour into the pan and boil until the sauce has thickened to your taste. Add sour cream and return chicken to the pan and coat with the sauce.
- Serve with spaetlze or egg noodles.
Prepare the Spaetzle:
- I suggest you make the spaetlze while your chicken is simmering in the broth. I made mine too early and they sat around for way too long.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Whisk together flour and salt in a medium bowl. Make a well in the middle and add the eggs, water and butter.
- Stir until the batter is smooth and thick.
- Drop batter (each dollop about a teaspoon) into boiling water with a spoon; dipping the spoon into the water each time. This will keep your spoon clean and make the whole process less painful. [You can make these larger or smaller to your taste]
- Cook only half the dough at a time to avoid over crowding. Stir the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon, so that the dumplings will rise to the top. After the dumplings rise to the top, let them boil about 2 minutes more.
- Remove to a large colander and drain while you repeat the process with the second half of the batter.
- Add about a teaspoon of butter to the spaetzle and toss to coat. (This isn’t traditional but I found that it kept them from sticking together)
Notes
Authentic Hungarian chicken paprikas recipes call for bone-in chicken pieces, but I find my method simplifies the process and that way there are no bones in the final dish. Bone in chicken would need to cook longer in the broth and would, thus, be more flavorful because the sauce would have more time to develop.
75 Comments
Miss Kim @ behgopa
March 26, 2014 at 3:57 pmOh is it still winter somewhere? lol Seems like winter just whizzed by here. It’s totally springtime-y here in socali.
I haven’t tried many Hungarian dishes yet. But Spaetzle is one of the dishes that I’ve had and loved. The dish looks like total winter comfort food….but looks good for even springtime weather (like the ones us socalifornians are having). Oh and I used to love drinking the Hungarian wine too, Tokaji lol. So yum!
Lindsey
March 26, 2014 at 6:43 pmMeanie! It’s still winter EVERYWHERE…except SoCal. You should try it! Hungarian food is delish – any time of year! I’ve never had Hungarian wine – must try.
Teresa Rispoli
June 3, 2019 at 11:34 amThis is the closest to my mother’s Hungarian receipt.
By the way she was from Ohio and made her own home made pasta. For those wheat sensitive, replace flour for corn starch, and slow cooking really brings out the flavor. I add a bayleaf too. Yummy!
Kristi @ Inspiration Kitchen
March 26, 2014 at 9:13 pmOh my gosh – this looks amazing! This is comfort food at it’s best. I am loving those ingredients!
Lindsey
March 26, 2014 at 10:22 pmThanks, Kristi!! I agree whole-heartedly!
Liz
March 27, 2014 at 6:31 pmI love to make homemade spaetzle…and I’ll have to try your chicken paprikas as a topper! Such a lovely, comforting meal!
Lindsey
March 27, 2014 at 8:37 pmOh you must!!! If you already make the spaetzle, you’re half way there!
Efrain- Rooks to Cooks
March 30, 2014 at 4:52 pmI’ve never heard of this dish before, but not only does the recipe make me think this will be delicious the pictures you took are incredible! My girlfriend and I are always looking for new recipes to try and this looks right up our alley- Thanks for the post~
I don’t suppose you have other Hungarian dishes to share???
Lindsey
March 30, 2014 at 7:08 pmHi Efrain! I’m so glad you found my blog and I hope you and your girlfriend do try this chicken paprikas! It delicious! The only other Hungarian food I have on the blog are cookies which are amazing too (Apricot Kolaches & Walnut Rolls). You would probably also like Russian Beef Stroganhoff and this recipe is amazing!!
Elisa Francois
September 21, 2014 at 10:34 pmYour recipe is almost exactly the way we make this. My mother and I still do. My grandmother (and great grandmother, a cook who owned a small hotel in the Catskills) both came from Hungary.
Yes, we keep the chicken pieces on the bone, the broth build even more flavor. But your recipe is the first ever I seen that almost duplicates the spaetzle (which we call nokedli) that we make! The best with this chicken dish!!
One of the best comfort foods ever!!! The flavor of the sauce/broth is so good, you can take a spoon and eat it!
Thank you for sharing! I can say it’s excellent!
Lindsey
September 22, 2014 at 8:32 amThank you Elisa! That was my first time making spaetzle, and next time I will make them smaller but my husband loved the whole dish! I made it with boneless because I’m lazy but you’re right, it should be made with bone-in pieces. Next time I’ll try that and see how it changes the flavor. I have been working on Hungarian Green Bean Soup because my husband’s grandmother used to make it and I have ruined 2 batches so far. It keeps curdling! If you have any pointers, I would love to hear them!
Elisa Francois
September 22, 2014 at 6:14 pmI would say maybe try tempering some soup with the sour cream separately and then add that to your soup mixture. Does the recipe call for vinegar and if so maybe add the vinegar to the sour cream first.
While I have your attention have you ever heard of cabbage noodles? Another awesome dish!
Lindsey
September 22, 2014 at 10:18 pmThank you, Elisa! Both recipes that I tried called for vinegar, and I knew it was going to curdle before I added it, but I figured there must be a way! I’ll try adding the vinegar to the sour cream first like you suggest – maybe that’s the ticket!
I haven’t heard of cabbage noodles, but now I’m going to search for a recipe in all 3 of my trusty heritage Hungarian cookbooks! Thanks for the suggestions!
Elisa Francois
September 22, 2014 at 10:33 pmHaluska
Angela
April 20, 2017 at 8:07 pmI’ve got my great grandmother’s recipe which was passed down to my mom who taught me. I absolutely love this traditional Hungarian dish. I totally agree that the sauce is so delicious and can just eat it up by the spoonful!
Lindsey
May 9, 2017 at 11:39 amSo lucky Angela! I love hearing about family recipes and traditions! There is nothing more delightful than a favorite passed down for generations. I have several that I hold dear (not Hungarian, of course!)
Suzanne Szanto
October 29, 2017 at 3:56 pmHi Elisa, Hoping you still look at this blog. Being you are Hungarian (so am I) I’d like your version of the chicken paparikas. My mom passed about 3 years ago. She had left some written recipes but not clearly written. On the internet there are many different versions of making it. I am trying to look for one similiar to the way my mom made hers. If you can send me your versions I’d really appreciate it. Thank you in advance.
Lindsey
December 26, 2017 at 11:35 pmHi Suzanne. Oh I hope she still has that same email! If so then it should go through. If you haven’t heard I can email her on your behalf if you would like.
Jenne Kopalek
December 8, 2014 at 5:01 pmYour dish looks amazing. I would like to do this like a goulash I make on my blog. My mother in law is Czech. Going to ask her if this would be good for our wedding dinner and if she cooks it any differently. We do something similar with beef but that takes forever to break down and cook to be tender.
Lindsey
December 9, 2014 at 10:36 pmThis would be so delicious at a wedding! But it might be a bit tedious!
Homemade Spaetzle | Pintertesting
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Jp vahaly
January 16, 2016 at 4:42 pmMy nana is straight of the boat. My family is Hungarian and I’ve had plenty of Chx paprikash. It’s been a while and I’m Gona make it tonight. Thx for the reminder of this belly filling meal. Also love helushka, hudika polichenta, solina ect……(not sure the spelling is correct). Thx again.
Bonnie Windl
May 23, 2016 at 4:34 pmThank you! This recipe pleased my Hungarian Husband … Just like Moms! Will be made again.
I also made the Hungarian Spaetzle.
Recommend! You will be happy with results.
Lindsey
May 24, 2016 at 11:01 amThat makes me so happy, Bonnie!!!! I am so glad you both loved it!
Robert
July 11, 2016 at 10:08 pmI am in no way a cook…But my Dad having a German decent has for years wanted to have some Hungarian Chicken Paprakish…So I searched found this recipe it took me twice to get it right but he was impressed and I found a meal that well i think would be the envy of any table…Thank you…For those looking for a Hungarian dish I think this hits the spot…
Lindsey
July 12, 2016 at 12:17 amThank you so much Robert! I am so glad it was a hit with your Dad! This is still my favorite paprikas recipe to date! Have a great week!
Samantha Ventura
July 12, 2016 at 11:40 pmMade this tonight for dinner and my husband said it is literally his favorite dish right now!!
Lindsey
July 15, 2016 at 4:11 pmAwww thanks Samantha!!! You’re comment made my day! I am so happy he loved it! It really is divine – I was definitely caught more than once eating it cold from the fridge!!! If he liked this one, he might also like my healthier beef stroganoff as a change:-)
Paul a katona
September 10, 2016 at 12:05 pmThis one of hundreds of recipes.i will try it your way.i like with bone in but I’m lazy too, lol, I make paprika so several ways. My kids and their love that spätzle with butter salt pepper papprlas.thank for showing me different way, God bless
Mary
October 17, 2016 at 6:40 pmMy family has loved this dish for years. I found a trick from an old hungarian recipe to add 2 Tablespoons of farina(cream of wheat) to your recipe for the spaetzle…makes a nice chewy noodle. I’ve also found that putting dollops of the batter at a time onto a flat cheese grater (the large holes) or a large holed colander and use a spatula to push/smush the spaetzle through into the boiling water. My husband calls it ChickenCheckYourPackage…lol
Lindsey
October 18, 2016 at 12:29 pmThose are excellent tips! Your husband is hilarious! lol! I will have to try that next time I make spaetzle – especially the cheese grater part. At work we use a perforated hotel pan but most home-cooks don’t have those!
Alice
November 20, 2016 at 4:40 pmI use hot Hungarian paprika, and instead of browning the onions and chicken in butter, I use bacon fat. This is my all time favorite food!
Lindsey
November 21, 2016 at 9:34 amOh Alice! You definitely can’t go wrong with bacon fat!!!! That sounds sensational!
Terry
December 8, 2016 at 2:45 amThat is great you did this for your husband with benefits if a great dish. All hungarian girls learn how to make it even if they are second third maybe on generation American.
As far as the grater to form the spatzle I learned the fast and easy way. Just get a cutting board not used for meat to be safe and pour a but on and even it out to preferrd size and use a straight knife to scrape off into the water. It’s fast less work and clean up.
My great grandma from hungary as she got older had trouble chewing the onions so it would be made using a whole onion or cut in large pieces that could be filtered out. Something to keep in mind for elders. It was kinda funny but it worked out okay you just didn’t brown the onion.
In her 80s she could still sew and was sought after for Hingarian iutfits as well as hand made gowns in her tone,
Many had to leave hungary with nothing but they brought their skills with them, and their cooking. 🙂
I admired the care you put into it.
Terry
December 8, 2016 at 2:51 amPs excuse any typos had a long day and on my phone like texting.
Steve
January 8, 2017 at 11:01 amTo all to give the spezals a real twist add a pinch of nutmeg to them before mixing in the eggs. It’s a real nice added taste
Lindsey
January 18, 2017 at 1:16 pmThat sounds fantastic Steve! I will absolutely try that next time! Do you use fresh grated or bottled?
Claudia kubek
January 17, 2017 at 4:17 pmI’ve just made this dish for my husband. He’s Hungarian and Czech. Has anyone ever used a ricer for the spetzel?
Lindsey
January 18, 2017 at 12:53 pmHi Claudia! I have used a ricer at work or a perforated pan. In my opinion the ricer makes them too small but it is certainly easier.
Stacy
February 5, 2017 at 1:28 pmHave you ever used the package of spaetzl by maggie
Lindsey
February 8, 2017 at 6:36 pmI haven’t. Honestly I haven’t seen packages spaetzl since I lived in Cleveland but there was a strong Hungarian and Eastern European presence there. I used to buy it in the grocery store and LOVED it. So convenient. Ps- Stacy, I love your email address. Such a positive daily reminder. 🙂
Elisa Francois
February 8, 2017 at 6:49 pmto Stacy, I have tried the Maggie brand. At a dinner visiting family. Honestly was a little tough for my liking. If I was to choose if not making homemade, I would go with egg noodles instead.
Valerie K.
May 17, 2017 at 11:08 amAs a child, my Hungarian grandmother made this everytime I came for a visit. I`ve got to make your recipe to bring back all those childhood memories!
Lindsey
May 18, 2017 at 1:23 pmOh I hope you do, Valerie! Please comment back when you do!
Leks
July 3, 2017 at 3:45 pmI printed and made this for my family, without pinning it, and it’s been a periodic staple, since my mother’s version is one of my favorite meals. However, I lost the recipe, and by chance, I found this again, and while reading your description, realized it was the recipe I had before!
I’m making it tonight, and making the executive decision, but for future reference, if you are using bone in chicken, are you taking the skin off, or do you leave it on?
Lindsey
July 6, 2017 at 8:20 amI’m so glad you found it again! There are several recipes over the years that I have lost track of and it still bugs me! I do take the skin off but that is just because I am not a huge fan 🙂 It will stay more tender if you leave it on. Happy cooking!
Zsuzsanna G.
September 4, 2017 at 1:18 pmYes.. In the end you must remove the skin and the bones too!
Anna
July 5, 2017 at 10:54 pmI am in Akron area and willing to drive to Cleveland for a good meal. Where do recommend authentic Hungarian dinner? And besides west side market is there a favorite grocer?
Zsuzsanna G.
September 4, 2017 at 1:14 pmWelcome everyone! I am hungarian and I was happy, when I saw here the hungarian Csirke Paprikás! I would like to send fine hungarian meals, but I can not translate English well. The original Csirke Paprikás does not need pepper! However, needs to put “tejföl and tejszín” (milk)cream and sour cream?) in which mix the flour! In addition, must include tomatoes and yellow paprika too! Not to put the flour on the chicken! At the very end we add butter to be fine silky. On top of the spaetzl, comes the dill and the curd!
Lindsey
September 20, 2017 at 6:50 pmThanks for the tips!
Nancy A Palmer
December 17, 2017 at 2:03 pmAbsolutely no tomatoes in the paprikas the red color comes from only HUNGARIAN PAPRIKA
Lindsey
December 26, 2017 at 1:22 pmHi Nancy, Do you use spicy or sweet Hungarian paprika? I love the sweet but I’m wondering if a mixture of both might be nice?
Zsuzsanna G
August 11, 2019 at 9:00 amNancy, the hungarian red pepper gives the color but the sauce needs tomatoes and yellow peppers too!
Rachel
November 26, 2017 at 5:42 amThis recipe was delicious! Thank you very much for sharing. It is a keeper 10/10. xo
Lindsey
December 26, 2017 at 11:02 pmOh thank you, Rachel! I am so glad you enjoyed it!
Sarah
December 26, 2017 at 10:45 amThis is the closest to the “real deal” I have been able to find! Of course great grandma used lard (holy fattening batman!) but everything else looks right! Thank you so much for sharing!! My favorite is always the dumplings (spaetzle). Our family tradition is to serve it over mashed potatoes. Very hearty, very filling, very happy Hungarians!
Lindsey
December 26, 2017 at 12:13 pmThank you Sarah! Three cheers for lard! lol
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Timea
February 26, 2018 at 10:28 pmHello, I just wanted to recommend if you go to IKEA they sell the galuska maker from time to time. It looks like a pan handle and with wholes all over . you have to seat it on top of the pot with the boiling water and spread the dough on it. It drips in the water in nice sizes. You can help the dripping with a wooden spoon slightly mixing the dough. I have one, makes the process much faster than do it with the spoon one by one. Hope you guys find it
Lindsey
March 20, 2018 at 2:18 pmGreat idea!!! Thanks for the tip!
AnneWithAnE
June 2, 2018 at 1:14 pmAmazon also has some spaetzle doohickeys.
Mary
March 4, 2018 at 5:06 pmOur recipe, which was handed down to our family from Hungarian immigrants, calls for the chicken to still have the bones and skin. The fat from the skin gives it a lot more flavor! I made it once with boneless, skinless breasts and it wasn’t anywhere near as tasty.
Lindsey
March 20, 2018 at 2:10 pmHi Mary! You are absolutely correct! I just tried to cut a little fat out 🙂
Christopher
April 23, 2018 at 4:40 pmThis does not taste like Hungarian Paprikas at all. I don’t deny it ended up being a good plate though, just it doesn’t seem authentic, but I guess that happens when you get to try the real one.
Lindsey
April 24, 2018 at 2:25 pmThat’s not what my Hungarian ex-husband said, Christopher! lol.
Ernie
August 30, 2018 at 1:47 amI am Hungarian and my wife uses her own spin on my mother’s recipe. She does use chicken with the bone in and with skin. After it cooks she removes chicken, lets cool, removes skin and bones, shreds chicken by hand and back in the pot. She also uses both sweet and hot Hungarian paprika. Just adjust to taste, start off with 50/50 mix. She also adds one diced anaheim chili, skin and all, adds a little kick to it. We usually enjoy this on the homemade spaetzle but we sometimes use the small elbow pasta. Get a spaetzle maker, so much quicker. My grandfather used to make this every 2 weeks using and leaving the cut-up chicken parts on the plate. He has been gone for 30 years now but am reminded of him whenever we eat Paprikash, Goulash and Poppyseed Rolls along with Walnut Rolls. Anyways, Chicken Paprikash is my favorite meal and I always request for my birthday. My wife does the cooking and I do the baking. Oh and love your website, sooooo many great recipes.
Ed
February 18, 2019 at 12:11 pmThis was Awesome, Tasty, and Oh So Easy to Make!
Thank you for the recipe!
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Kadie
August 27, 2019 at 7:13 pmMade this last night and it was absolutely delightful! We have a local Hungarian restaurant that serves this dish, as well as a Chicken Paprikas pizza, which is actually what ignited my hunt for a recipe to try myself. I read a ton of recipes and comments before deciding on this one and so glad I did. Only thing I did differently was temper the Sour Cream with the sauce before adding it in and IDK how much that mattered. This will definitely be A recipe on repeat for us. Thanks for sharing!! (Oh, and as I have a toddler and time is a precious commodity, I had to just go for egg noodles to serve on for now – still delightful!)
Lindsey
September 2, 2019 at 9:38 amHi Kadie! That makes me so happy to hear! Egg noodle are fabulous with the dish (and in general). I was fortunate for a time to live in a place where I could buy pre-made spaeztle in the refrigerator section of the grocery store so it was just as simple haha!
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Rachel
April 2, 2020 at 5:27 pmChicken Paprikash has been one of my favorite comfort foods since I was a child. When I made this recipe it brought literal tears to my eyes. It is absolutely perfect, and just like mom used to make.
Lindsey
April 5, 2020 at 12:10 pmThat makes me so happy, Rachel!! Thank you for stopping by!
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