Chicken paprikash

Name: Chicken paprikash
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 85 min
Yield: 4 plates
Cuisine: Hungarian
Ingredients: 1.2 kg Chicken, thighs and drumsticks, bone in, skin on; 2 large Onion, finely chopped; 40 g Lard; 2 tbsp Paprika, sweet Hungarian; 1 medium Tomato, chopped; 1 piece Bell pepper, green or wax pepper, chopped; 2 clove Garlic, chopped; 250 ml Chicken stock, or water; 250 g Sour cream, full fat; 2 tbsp Wheat flour; 2 tsp Salt; 0.5 tsp Black pepper; 300 g Wheat flour; 2 piece Egg; 150 ml Water

Paprikás csirke

Chicken on the bone braised in an onion and paprika sauce finished with sour cream, served with scraped nokedli dumplings.

Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: Paprikás csirke.

Start cooking

Prep: 25 min
Cook: 1 hr
Rest: None
Total: 1 hr 25 min
Difficulty: Medium
Spice: Mild
Cost: Weeknight budget$8–16 USD · indicative, not a store price

Know it before you cook it

About

Chicken thighs and drumsticks, skin on, are browned and set aside while onions cook slowly in lard. Off the heat, the paprika goes in; then tomato, green pepper, garlic and the chicken, with a little stock. It braises 40 minutes. The sauce is finished with sour cream whisked with a spoon of flour and tempered with hot liquid so it does not split. Nokedli, small dumplings scraped from a soft egg batter into boiling water, are the side, and a cucumber salad with vinegar and sour cream is the only vegetable anyone expects. It is not hot. The sour cream is the point.

What you'll need

15 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.

0 of 15 ready

4 servings

Ingredients
Sauce
Nokedli

Ingredients

Servings

Ingredients

Chicken, thighs and drumsticks, bone in, skin on1.2 kg
Onion, finely chopped2 large
Lard40 g
Paprika, sweet Hungarian30 ml
Tomato, chopped1 medium
Bell pepper, green or wax pepper, chopped1
Garlic, chopped2 clove
Chicken stock, or water250 ml
Sour cream, full fat250 g
Salt9.9 ml
Black pepper2½ ml

Sauce

Wheat flour30 ml

Nokedli

Wheat flour300 g
Egg2
Water150 ml

Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.

Steps

Step 1
Season the chicken and brown it skin side down in the lard in a heavy pot, 5 minutes a side. Set aside. Lower the heat and cook the onion in the fat for 12 minutes until soft and pale gold.
25 min
Step 2
Off the heat, stir in the paprika. Add tomato, pepper, garlic and the chicken with its juices, pour in the stock, cover and simmer gently 35 to 40 minutes until the chicken is tender.
40 min
Watch: Paprika into hot fat on the heat goes bitter in seconds. Always off the heat.
Step 3
Make the nokedli batter: beat flour, eggs, water and a teaspoon of salt into a soft, sticky batter and let it rest 10 minutes. Bring a wide pot of salted water to the boil.
12 min
Step 4
Spread batter on a small wet board and scrape thin pieces into the boiling water with a knife, or push it through a nokedli grater. When they float, after about a minute, lift out with a spider. Toss with a little lard.
10 min
Step 5
Lift the chicken out. Whisk the sour cream with the flour and a ladle of hot sauce, then stir it into the pot. Simmer 3 minutes without boiling hard until glossy and thickened. Return the chicken, season, and serve over the nokedli.
6 min
Tip: Tempering the sour cream with hot liquid before it goes in is the whole secret to a smooth sauce.

Nutrition

Per serving · estimate

Calories: 1023 kcal
Protein: 108.8 g
Carbs: 78 g
Fat: 27.6 g
Saturated fat: 11.8 g
Fibre: 6 g
Sugar: 9 g
Sodium: 1574 mg

Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.

Allergens

Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.

Milk
Wheat
Eggs

Nut-free

Adapt this recipe

The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.

Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 12 November.

Substitutions

Sour cream → Crème fraîche
Richer, less sour, and it never splits. Add a squeeze of lemon.
Nokedli → Wide egg noodles
The diaspora shortcut. Acceptable.

Tips

Chicken on the bone. Breast meat goes stringy and gives the sauce nothing.
Cucumber salad: thin slices salted 20 minutes, squeezed, dressed with vinegar, a little sugar, sour cream and paprika on top.

History & culture

Sunday lunch, cooked for guests, often the day before because it improves. Village weddings serve it by the cauldron. A Hungarian cook judges another on the colour of the sauce, which should be orange-red and glossy, and on whether the chicken was on the bone. Without the sour cream it is csirkepörkölt and still a fine dish.

Paprikás took shape in the 19th century once paprika was in every kitchen; the sour cream finish came with Austrian dairy habits and the farms of Transdanubia. A peasant dish refined by Budapest's restaurants. Transylvanian versions use more pepper and less cream.

Traditional

Provenance: Editorial adaptation.

Questions about this recipe

Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.

How long does Chicken paprikash take?

1 hr 25 min all in — 25 min prep, 1 hr cook. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.

How many does it serve?

The recipe is written for 4 plates. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.

How hard is it?

Medium.

How spicy is it?

Mild.

What allergens should I watch?

This recipe is labelled for Milk, Wheat, Eggs. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.

Does it fit a diet?

The published recipe is labelled Nut-free.

7 more questions

What does it cost to cook?

Weeknight budget — about $8–16 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.

What equipment do I need?

Dutch oven, Stockpot, Mixing bowl, Spider or strainer, Tongs.

How much salt do I put in?

The recipe lists Salt at 2 tsp.

What can I use instead?

Sour cream → Crème fraîche. Richer, less sour, and it never splits. Add a squeeze of lemon. Nokedli → Wide egg noodles. The diaspora shortcut. Acceptable.

What should I watch for?

Paprika into hot fat on the heat goes bitter in seconds. Always off the heat.

Any tips from this recipe?

Chicken on the bone. Breast meat goes stringy and gives the sauce nothing. Cucumber salad: thin slices salted 20 minutes, squeezed, dressed with vinegar, a little sugar, sour cream and paprika on top.

Can I use an air fryer?

This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.