Chicken Paprikash with Dumplings

How to make Chicken Paprikash with Dumplings, one of the best traditional Hungarian or Romanian chicken dishes.

This chicken paprikash with dumplings or paprika chicken is one of the best traditional Hungarian meals. I mean, Hungarian cuisine is generally pretty awesome, but the chicken paprikash is even better than awesome.

This is also a typical Romanian recipe; I have been eating it all my life, and - at least in Transylvania - everybody cooks paprikash.

So, if you are in the mood for an authentic Eastern European treat, give this chicken paprikash with dumplings a try; you will love it!!!

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• Paprikash ingredients
• How to make chicken paprikash?
• How to make the dumplings?
• Expert Tips
• Recipe FAQ
• How to serve?
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• Chicken Paprikash with Dumplings

Paprikash ingredients

Chicken:

• Bone-in chicken thighs and legs. I prefer them to be skinned, but that’s a personal choice.
• If using quarters, divide the thighs and the drumsticks at the joint (See Expert Tips).
• If using a whole chicken, cut it into pieces: thighs, drumsticks, breasts. I never use the wings for this dish; I save them together with the backbone and any other scraps for making chicken stock (like the stock for Semolina Dumpling Soup).

Chicken broth: Homemade or your favorite brand, ensure it’s excellent quality; bad stock can ruin any dish.

Paprika powder:

• Buy the best sweet Hungarian paprika powder you can get your hands on, it is really worth it, and it will really make a difference. The cheap paprika powder tastes only of dust (the Amazon affiliate link opens in a new tab).

Other ingredients: Sunflower, vegetable or olive oil, onion, and cornstarch.

Dumpling ingredients

• Eggs, sour cream or Greek yogurt, all-purpose flour, and fine sea salt (or Kosher).

How to make chicken paprikash?

• The right pot: Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or another heavy-bottomed pot, large enough to hold all the chicken pieces in a single layer and to fit the dumplings at the end.
• Cook onion: Chop it finely and cook it in the large skillet with a small pinch of salt for a few minutes or until golden (1). Add the sweet paprika powder and stir well to coat the onions (2).

• Place the meat in the pot and add the stock, only 300 ml/ 10 fl. oz/ 1 ⅓ cups at the beginning (3).
• Simmer: Cover the pot, lower heat and simmer for about 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and tender.
• Check and stir carefully from time to time and add the remaining stock if you think it is necessary. I usually add it; I love the sauce (4).

In the meantime, make the Hungarian Nokedli.

• To thicken the sauce, stir the cornstarch with a bit of cold water to form a paste in a separate bowl. Make a little room in the middle of the pot and stir this paste into the cooking sauce while whisking all the time to avoid clumping.
• Stir the sauce carefully and cook for another 1 or 2 minutes until it thickens slightly.

How to make the dumplings?

For detailed instructions on making this dumpling recipe, check out The Best Nokedli Recipe (Hungarian Dumplings). You can also serve nokedli with Hungarian Beef Goulash or with the Pörkölt Recipe (Pork Stew).

• Whisk the eggs and sour cream (or yogurt/smetana) with a fork in a medium bowl.
• Add salt and flour gradually while beating with the fork to mix the flour into the eggs. Depending on the size of your eggs, you might need one extra tablespoon of flour. Or ½ - 1 tablespoon less if your eggs are small. The batter should be pretty thick and slowly fall off the fork.

• Cook dumplings: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add about ½ tablespoon salt to the boiling water. Turn the heat down. When the water only simmers, add the nokedli to the water using a teaspoon, which should only be half full with batter. Simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes (5).
• Drain well and add them to the chicken paprikash. Stir carefully to coat them with the sauce (6).

Expert Tips

If using chicken quarters, you will have to cut them at the joint. Here’s how to do it:

• Take the thigh in one hand. Hold onto the drumstick with the other hand. Bend the leg against the joint so that it dislocates.
• Use a good large knife and make sure to find the right spot where to cut. If you get the right spot, going through the joint will be very easy. If you encounter resistance, then you are not at the right place. Move the knife a few millimeters more to the right or the left, and try again.
• Remove the skin.

Sour cream: Traditionally, you would add one tablespoon of sour cream (the Eastern European smetana, to be precise) to the finished dish. I never do because my grandma never did. You can if you like; the slightly sour note cuts a little through the richness of the dish. However, I stick to my original; I like it so much that nothing could improve it for me.

The skin: I recommend removing the skin from the chicken because I wouldn’t say I like eating the skin when it’s cooked in much sauce – it becomes floppy and unappetizing. However, that’s a personal choice; you can leave it on if you like.

Recipe FAQ

How to serve?

I always serve chicken paprikash with dumplings and pickled vegetables on the side; I grew up eating it this way, childhood, comfort food at its best. I can’t even bear thinking about any other side dishes.

BUT! That doesn’t mean that other side dishes won’t be excellent. Enjoy the Hungarian paprikash with spätzle or other egg noodles, with other homemade dumplings, pasta, mashed potatoes, or noodles.

Make a side dish of roasted vegetables or a salad. Our favorite pickles to serve with the chicken paprikash and dumplings are Pickled Green Tomatoes or sour cucumbers.

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