This is one of my favorite cold-weather recipes. It’s also what I consider to be peak comfort food. (Kari wrote recently about comfort food, and got me thinking about what I turn to when I need to nourish my body and my soul.) Paprikas is right up there. It’s creamy, spicy, hearty, and warming. Plus, it’s very, very easy.
(I recognize that for a lot of people, the instant that you say “dice an onion” a recipe ceases to be “easy.” But if you are not a big onion dicer, you can usually find pre-diced onion at the grocery store in the convenience foods section, so please don’t let the presence of a diced onion deter you from trying this.)
One of the things I love about this recipe is that it is very flexible. Have leftover chicken from dinner last night? Use that. Only have frozen chicken thighs? Use that. Want to see if bell peppers would be good? Toss some in with the onion. Have two pounds of chicken breast instead of one? Great. Have one potato instead of two? Super. Have an extra half-cup of chicken stock lying around? Add it right in. No sour cream, but you have Greek yogurt? Excellent, that works too. Don’t like spice? Don’t use hot paprika. Don’t have a potato but you have some frozen diced hash browns? Those would probably be great. Use less or more sour cream. Use less or more flour. Use a potato or don’t. This recipe is very adjustable and always delicious. It’s also amazing as leftovers, and I am not a person who particularly relishes leftoevers.
It is, however, not particularly photogenic.
Chicken Paprikas (adapted from Joy of Cooking)
Serves 6-8 people
Ingredients
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked or not*, diced, shredded, or not
1 Tbsp vegetable oil or butter or a combination of both
1 white onion, diced
2 large baking potatoes, peeled and diced (optional but highly recommended)
4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
2-4 Tbsp paprika (any combination of sweet or hot paprika you like)
1 tsp salt
Cayenne pepper, to taste (optional)
8-16 oz sour cream, light or full fat
2-4 Tbsp flour**
1 package egg noodles
Instructions
- Add oil/butter to the bottom of a large pot. Turn stove to medium and add diced onion once the butter has melted.
- Saute the onions gently until they are translucent.
- Add paprika and salt to the onions and stir until the onions are well coated.
- Add chicken stock and chicken and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook for 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. (You can skip this step if your chicken is already cooked.)
- Prepare egg noodles according to package instructions.
- If using chicken breasts, remove from broth and shred; return shredded meat to pot.
- Peel and dice potatoes, then add to the pot.
- Cook for 15 minutes more.
- During the last 10 minutes of cooking, add flour to sour cream and whisk until completely incorporated.
- Ladle 3-5 spoonfuls of broth into the sour cream/flour mixture and whisk to temper. Do this three times, then add sour cream and broth mixture back to pot, stirring to incorporate. Cook for five more minutes.
- Add salt and cayenne to taste.
- Spoon paprikas over egg noodles (maybe with a dollop of sour cream/Greek yogurt on top?) and enjoy.
* This works great with shredded rotisserie chicken, which you can buy in bulk from Costco.
** The flour is purely for thickening, so you could probably use cornstarch instead or just skip it entirely. This can be quite soupy without the flour, though. Honestly, it can be quite soupy even with the flour; you will probably have to play with your sour cream to flour ratio a bit to get it perfect. If you like a thick sauce, I would err on the side of more flour than less. You can also squish some of the potatoes so that they add to the thickness of the soup.
Hmm. I like that I can make this without the flour so it can be gluten free. Thanks for sharing.
Yes! It is so good. I am SURE you can make this in the slow cooker, too, if you tinkered with it.
You gotta love it when a recipe is easy, tastes like a million bucks, and you can substitute absolutely every ingredient for whatever you have on hand. I’m making a mental note that this sounds like something that my husband would love.
Oooh I hope your husband loves it and you do too! I do wish there were a way to vegetarian-ize it. Maybe add some mushrooms and peppers and have the chicken separate for the boys?
When I think of Chicken Paprika I think of an episode of Grace and Frankie when they’re trying to create the best version. Naturally they have difficulties, but as usual they find a solution to their problems. Also, don’t you love the Joy of Cooking?
I love the Joy of Cooking! Such a classic, iconic cookbook!
I have been thinking about Kari’s comfort food post and I am not sure I have one! I love food. But what is comforting to me? I truly don’t know!
I definitely do not have a single favorite comfort food. But there are some staples I return to again and again!
That dish looks and sounds delicious although I’m not sure I like paprika. I must have had it sometime, right? My mom didn’t cook with many spices and neither do I so I’m unfamiliar with many of them.
Ooooh interesting! I feel like paprika is a fairly innocuous spice (as long as you use the sweet version), but I can see how you would be wary if you don’t use many spices. And definitely ask someone you trust — I cannot be trusted, spice-wise. My palate has been irrevocably destroyed because of my love for super spicy food.
Well the mention of paprikas immediately made me think of the scene in when harry met sally when Harry says ‘waiter there is too much pepper in my paprikas’. Lol. I love that movie so much!
This is right up my alley but my husband has an aversion to creamy recipes that have sour cream. Le sigh.
Despite Nicole’s love for this movie, I have still NEVER SEEN IT. Yikes. Clearly I need to give it a go.
And yes, this is a very creamy recipe, even if you use yogurt. I’m sorry Lisa!!!!
Suzanne!! You HAVE to watch that movie! It is pure delight!! There are so many quotable scenes from it. Make this a goal for 2024 please!!
And hey, no worries! Maybe I will make this for myself some day. I do make main dishes to bring as leftovers for lunches. I would totally eat this on GF elbow macaroni. There isn’t a GF egg noodle – I don’t know why! Perhaps they were not the staple of others diets like they were for this midwesterner!
I desperately wish I could prepare pasta. This sounds so good and now I want it!
Engie, there has to be a gluten free pasta alternative that is worthwhile! Chickpea pasta? Lentil pasta? Hearts of palm? SOMETHING!!!! If not, you must come here for a weekend of all gluten all the time.
Serve it over rice, NGS. It’ll be delicious.
I’m so glad you shared this! I will make this soon! 🖤
I hope you love it Kari!!!!
I feel like I will! I love that I will think of you when I make it. 🖤
I am here for this. Also! FROZEN DICED ONION is my go-to kitchen hack right now. OR throwing it in my Kitchen Aid food chopper (it’s so small and perfect and handy)
I have never seen this option in my grocery store! But I will be keeping a KEEN EYE out for it now! I don’t mind chopping an onion, but I mind opening a package even less.
I’m sure every time someone posts a recipe and they see a comment from me, their heart sinks. “Oh great- she’s going to tell me all about how she doesn’t eat this because it’s not VEGAN.” Well… I will say this sounds delicious except for the chicken! I think I have a recipe somewhere for “Chickpeas paprikas” and I should look for it. I can definitely see how this is comfort food.
Jenny. JENNY. My heart never sinks when I see a comment from you!!! I do think chicken is a big part of this recipe, unfortunately. But it does remind me of hungarian mushroom stroganoff, so if you like mushrooms, there may be a way to veganize this! Or you can just enjoy the recipes you already enjoy LOL. That’s fine too!
I was just talking to the kids about a similar recipe I saw in the food section of the newspaper (I was going to make it with veggie chicken) but since the older one is not a fan of fake meat and the younger one is not a fan of sour cream-based sauces I ended up giving up on the idea. It looked good, though.
I’m Croatian, so I used to have this often. We served it with dumplings rather than noodles, and my mother made it with a whole chicken cut up. It wasn’t a spicy dish, either–no cayenne. Just Hungarian sweet paprika. You’re right–it’s comfort food at its finest.
I swear it’s the paprika. It’s a highly underused spice in the US (IMHO) and I use it in almost everything. This sounds absolutely delicious and I love that it’s so tweakable 😉
[…] Chicken Paprikas | life of a doctor’s wife (i’ve never had this before. i can’t wait to try.) […]