Chicken paprikash recipe with potatoes

During winter there is nothing more warming than chicken paprikash or similar type of meat and vegetable stew. The name paprikash derives from the word paprika, which you are probably familiar with. Although this dish is of Hungarian origin it is equally made in Balkan countries. For that reason, there are varieties of paprikash, depending on the type of meat you use and carbs.

One is for sure, paprikash is based on paprika spice and it is slowly cooked with other spices and meat. My chicken paprikash recipe differs from the authentic Hungarian recipe. The main difference is that I cook potatoes together with the meat. On the other hand, Hungarian paprikash serves dumplings instead of potatoes and they are always cooked separately.

If you want to try something new this winter and if you like this type of food, I am sure you will like this heartwarming chicken paprikash with potatoes.

How to make chicken paprikash with potatoes

Jump to Recipe

Chicken paprikash is very easy to make but it requires some patience because of the slow way of cooking. The longer you cook paprikash at the lower to medium heat, the tastier it will be. Of course, if you want to reduce the cooking time you can cook it at medium heat or higher, but make sure you stir it all the time.

I usually prepare chicken paprikash 3 hours before lunch or dinner so there is plenty of time for slow cooking, plus you just need to stir it occasionally.

The choice of meat can also reduce or increase the preparation time, if you need to remove the bones from the chicken thighs.

Paprikash with chicken thighs or chicken breasts?

I prefer to use chicken thighs because they are tastier and juicer than cooked chicken breasts.  But if you like chicken breasts more, that will be even easier to make. It takes less time to stir fry breasts than thighs and not to mention that you won’t need to waste time on removing bones from the thighs. Anyway, the choice is yours.

Preparation

1. Chop onion and garlic nicely and fry them on some lard or oil until translucent.
2. Cut carrots into small pieces and add them to the same pot.
3. Cut the chicken into small or medium sized pieces and add them once the onions and carrots are soft enough. 
4. Add some salt and pepper to the chicken, and if you like, you can add some chicken seasoning mix. 
5. If you don’t plan to freeze the chicken paprikash, now is the time to add potatoes and water. Cut potatoes into small pieces.
6. Add enough water so you cover all the ingredients with it. Cook it at low to medium heat for up to 2 hours or at least 90 minutes. You will probably need to add more water during cooking, until the potatoes are cooked well. 
7. You can immediately add all the spices, including salt, pepper, hot and sweet paprika, basil or parsley. 
8. In a cup of cold water, add a full tablespoon of flour or cornstarch. Mix it well and then add it to the pot. Stir paprikash occasionally and if it is not red enough add more paprika. 
9. Paprikash is ready when the potatoes are cooked enough and the liquid is thick.

Additional tips–

If you plan to freeze paprikash, after the step 4, add water, flour and all the seasoning. Cook it for half an hour and once the sauce is thick enough you can store it in the freezer. Next time you defrost it, add potatoes, more water and spices if necessary and cook for at least 90 minutes.

Potatoes require a lot of salt, so make sure you taste the paprikash and add more salt if necessary. If the paprikash is not thick enough, add more water with flour, but don’t add too much flour at once because the paprikash can scorch easily.

It is never enough of sweet paprika, especially if your chicken paprikash is too light in colour.  If you don’t like spicy food, skip hot paprika and add more sweet paprika.

The amount of water is about 750 ml, but don’t need to measure it, just cover everything in water. Add more water during cooking, until potatoes are cooked.

Chicken paprikash ingredients

• 2 chicken thighs or one big piece of chicken breast (around 350gr of meat at least)
• 4 big potatoes (yellow ones)
• 1 or 2 carrots
• 1 big onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Sweet and hot paprika (about 2 tablespoons of sweet and 1 tablespoon of hot paprika)
• Chilli flakes (optional)
• 1 teaspoon of basil or parsley
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Lard or oil
• 1 full tablespoon of flour or cornstarch 
• Around 750 ml of water
• Chicken seasoning mix (optional)

Chicken paprikash slow cooker recipe

As this is a slow cooking dish, it is quite obvious you can prepare chicken paprikash in a slow cooker. If you have a slow cooker, the preparation steps are easier because you can put all ingredients at once and set up the cooking time. Make sure you put potatoes at the bottom of the slow cooker, than meat, onions, carrots, water and spices.

Follow the list of chicken paprikash ingredients above, and if your slow cooker is too small or too big for this amount of chicken and potatoes, you can reduce or increase it. The chicken potatoes ratio should be 1:1 or you can put a bit more potatoes than meat.

Chicken paprikash calories

245gr of chicken paprikash contains about 465 calories. However, that depends on the type of meat you use, chicken breasts or thighs and how much spices and oil/lard you use. 

How to thicken chicken paprikash

If your paprikash is not too thick, just mix some cold water with a full spoon of flour or cornstarch. Mix it well so it doesn’t have any lumps and pour it in paprikash, cook for an additional 5 minutes or so.

How is chicken paprikash served

If you wonder what is chicken paprikash served with, well there is a variety of choice. Any type of salad would go well with chicken paprikash, especially sour vegetables like sauerkraut, pickled cucumbers, fermented preserved peppers, fresh cabbage salad with vinegar, and so on. If you don’t like sour and pickled vegetables, tomato or beetroot salad would also go well.

How to reheat chicken paprikash

The easiest way to reheat paprikash is in the microwave. But if you don’t use a microwave, you can reheat paprikash on the stovetop as well. However, I always suggest adding a bit of water when reheating this type of food on the stovetop, so it doesn’t scorch. And of course, reheat paprikash on the stovetop at medium heat.

Is chicken paprikash keto?

This original recipe for chicken paprikash is not keto friendly because of white flour and potatoes. However, you can use some other type of flour and cauliflower rice instead of potatoes. 

Is chicken paprikash gluten free?

If you use gluten free flour and gluten free paprika, then the answer is yes. Potatoes are gluten free, as well as other veggies and meat. You only need to be careful about using paprika, and to find one without gluten.

Can chicken paprikash be frozen?

I wouldn’t recommend to freeze chicken paprikash with potatoes because potatoes won’t taste good as freshly prepared ones. However, you can freeze paprikash without potatoes. Simply follow the recipe above to stir fry onions, carrots and chicken with all the spices and some water. When you cook the sauce so it is thick enough, don’t add potatoes but freeze the chicken mix. Next time you want to cook paprikash defrost the chicken, add potatoes,water and season it additionally.