Chicken Paprikash with Dumplings

5 from 2 votes

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

Prep Time20

Cook Time40

Total Time1

Course: Poultry

Cuisine: Hungarian, Romanian

Servings: servings

Calories: 752kcal

Author: Adina

Remove the skin from the chicken thighs and legs (Note 6). Chop the onion finely.
4 chicken thighs + 4 chicken drumsticks
Cook onions: Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pot, large enough to hold all the chicken parts. Cook the chopped onion for 2-3 minutes or until golden. Add the sweet paprika powder and stir well to coat the onions.
1 tablespoon oil + 1 medium onion + 2 teaspoons Hungarian sweet paprika powder
Simmer: Place the chicken parts in the pot and add the chicken stock, only 1⅓ cup/ 300 ml at the beginning. Cover the pot and cook on low heat for about 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and tender.
1 ⅓ - 1 ½ cups chicken stock
Check and stir carefully from time to time. Add the remaining stock if you think it is necessary. I usually do add it; I love the sauce.
In the meantime, prepare the dumplings (See below).
Thicken paprikash: Stir the cornstarch with a bit of water to form a smooth paste. Make a little room in the middle of the pot and stir the paste into the sauce while whisking all the time to avoid clumping. Stir carefully and cook for 1-2 minutes until the sauce thickens slightly.
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Drain the nokedli well and add them to the chicken paprikash. Stir carefully to coat them with the sauce. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.
a small bunch of parsley

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add ½ tablespoon salt to the boiling water. Turn the heat down and let it come to a simmer.
In the meantime, make the nokedli.
Beat the eggs and the sour cream with a fork in a medium bowl.
4 eggs + 2 tablespoons sour cream
Add the salt and slowly start adding the flour while beating with the fork until the mixture is smooth.
½ teaspoon fine sea salt + 1½ cups all-purpose flour
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.
Simmer: Add the dumplings to the water using a teaspoon, which should only be half full of batter. Simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes. Drain well before adding them to the chicken paprikash.

Chicken: You can use chicken quarters, which you will have to cut in two parts at the joint (See Expert Tips). Or you can make the paprikash with a whole medium chicken divided into 8 parts (save the wings and the backbone for making chicken stock).
Oil: Traditionally, sunflower oil, but the choice of oil is not crucial. Use whatever you have.
Paprika: Use the best quality authentic Hungarian sweet paprika.
Stock: Homemade or a good quality brand.
Traditionally, you would use smetana, but sour cream or Greek yogurt is fine.
I recommend weighing the flour with a digital kitchen scale (the Amazon affiliate link opens in a new tab); it’s about balancing the dry and wet ingredients.
Chicken skin: Removing the skin is optional, but I prefer it.