Hungarian Chicken Paprikash Recipe

Name: Hungarian Chicken Paprikash Recipe
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Hungarian
Ingredients: 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs; 2 tablespoons avocado oil; 6 fingerling potatoes, diced; 3 cups collard greens, chopped; 3 cups chicken bone broth; 1 tablespoon arrowroot starch; 1 tomato, diced; ½ shallot, sliced into rounds; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 2 tablespoons paprika; ¼ teaspoon cayenne; ½ teaspoon sea salt, plus additional for chicken; 1 teaspoon pepper

February 22, 2023 by Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DNM, CN

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This chicken paprikash recipe is my healthy take on a classic Hungarian favorite. If you haven’t had this delicious chicken dish before, then you are really in for a treat!

Most chicken paprikash recipes don’t include many vegetables and definitely not leafy greens, but what’s a main course without some antioxidant-rich greens? I’m taking this easy chicken paprikash recipe up a notch by including collard greens. I think you’ll agree that this dark leafy green is the perfect addition and comes out so flavorful and tender just like everything else in this tasty recipe.

What Is Chicken Paprikash?

Chicken paprikash, also called paprika chicken, is a popular dish in Hungary. A typical chicken paprikash contains meat that has been simmered in a rich and flavorful sauce.

Hungarian chicken paprikash always includes the spice that gives the dish its name — paprika. This bright red-colored spice comes from the chili pepper (Capsicum annuum) plant and is known for adding a distinct peppery flavor to dishes like this one. It’s also loaded with antioxidants.

Just like other authentic hungarian chicken paprikash recipes, this recipe includes a sauce that starts out with a roux flavored with paprika and other spices. For this recipe, rather than using flour to make the roux, you’ll be using gluten-free arrowroot starch.

It’s common to serve chicken paprikash with dumplings or dumpling-like egg noodles, but this recipe skips the dumplings. I recommend serving this recipe with gluten-free noodles. Of course, you can also eat this recipe without noodles, such as over rice.

Nutrition Facts

One serving of this Hungarian chicken paprikash is loaded with nutrients, in particular the vitamins A, K and B6 alongside the minerals selenium and phosphorus. It’s also a very well balanced macronutrient dish, with 32 grams of carbs, 33 grams of fat and 30 grams of fat. Meanwhile, on 3.5 grams of sugar per serving.

One serving contains approximately:

540 calories
32 grams carbohydrates
5.9 grams fiber
3.5 grams sugar
30 grams protein
33 grams fat
150 milligrams cholesterol
643 milligrams sodium (37 percent DV)
3,465 IUs vitamin A (149 percent DV)
130 micrograms vitamin K (145 percent DV)
1.1 milligrams vitamin B6 (83 percent DV)
30 micrograms selenium (55 percent DV)
346 milligrams phosphorus (49 percent DV)

How to Make Chicken Paprikash

Before you get started, make sure your oven is preheating to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. You can chop the vegetables while the oven is heating up so they’re ready to be thrown into the mix when it’s time.

In a large dutch oven over medium-high heat, add the avocado oil. While the oil is heating up a bit, salt the chicken. Add the chicken thighs to the pot and braise each side for about seven minutes each. Remove the chicken from the pot and set it aside as you move on to the next steps.

Lower the heat to medium and add arrowroot, shallots, garlic, cayenne, salt and pepper.

Add the paprika, the key ingredient to an authentic chicken paprikash. Sauté for one minute.

Add the chicken bone broth. You can make your own, or use store-bought or a protein powder made from bone broth and mix with water.

Allow the broth mixture to come to a simmer and thicken, whisking continuously, for around six minutes. See how beautiful the color is?

Cut the fingerling potatoes into nice bite-sized pieces and add them to the dutch oven. We used multi-colored fingerling potatoes. You can also go with Yukon Gold potatoes.

Continue to add the remaining ingredients, including the collard greens and tomato.

Add the chicken pieces last so they are laying on top.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender.

While the dish is cooking, prepare the noodles you plan to serve the paprikash over.

Check the chicken thighs for doneness, making sure they register an internal temperature of 170 degrees F. When both are ready, serve this over your favorite noodles.

That’s all there is to it. Enjoy this tender chicken and flavorful sauce! Some Hungarians like to also add some sour cream. Rather than dairy, you can use a vegan sour cream or even coconut yogurt.

If you have a slow cooker, you can also use this recipe to make a slow cooker chicken paprikash. Want to make a chicken paprikash soup? When you’re done making this recipe, simply shred the chicken and omit the noodles. Add a few more cups of chicken bone broth if needed.

Try these other delicious, distinctive dishes that feature chicken thighs:

Other Great Chicken Dishes from Different Cultures