Who doesn’t love a dish with chicken in a sauce served over noodles? Chicken Paprikash is a popular Hungarian recipe that is flavoured with…you guessed it…paprika. And lots of it! This easy version of the traditional recipe was developed by Publix Markets in USA.
I actually tasted this for the first time in a Publix grocery store in Florida. A nice lady was serving samples and handing out recipes. It was delicious. I wasn’t even sure how to pronounce the name. PAP- ree-kash? Pa-PREEK-ash? I had some fun listening to audio versions of the correct pronunciation. It seems there are a lot of different opinions but I think, maybe the correct pronunciation is more like POP-re-kosh. But I could be wrong.
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When I made Chicken Paprikash the first time it wasn’t exactly as I remembered. I had taken the recipe home to Canada and didn’t get around to making it for a few weeks. Then it occurred to me she had mentioned she’d used hot Hungarian paprika for an extra spicy kick. So batch number 2 was much better with some extra heat. Make sure your paprika isn’t too old, many spices lose their flavour as they age. Since it’s the star of the show you want to use the best quality paprika.
Of course you can make this without any heat at all, the regular paprika will only add flavour and colour but no heat. I would recommend, though, that you still use a pasta sauce with a bit of spice just so it has a tiny bit of heat. A friend of mine wondered about using smoked paprika. We agreed that SOME might be OK but 3 tablespoons might be a little too much. But no matter what type of paprika you use, you’ll get this incredible colour.
The chicken pieces are cooked whole, then shredded in the sauce before serving. Not into tiny pieces, just torn slightly. You could chop up the pieces before cooking if you wanted, I’m sure the flavour would not change. The recipe calls for chicken thighs which are my favourite part of a chicken. Breast meat would be fine though because of all that delicious sauce. No worries about dry meat.
Just before serving, stir in some yogurt and save some for garnish. For best results use room temperature yogurt to help prevent curdling when added to the hot sauce.
I checked some other recipes for Chicken Paprikash and most use sour cream and tomatoes instead of marinara sauce and yogurt. Some include peppers and some don’t. Some use whole pieces of chicken. Most have onions instead of shallots. It really doesn’t matter. The common denominator though for all the recipes is buttered egg noodles.
Here’s the recipe:
Ingredients
- 12 oz package egg noodles
- 2 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs about 6
- 1 cup sliced shallots or onion
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1 bunch fresh parsley
- 1½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper divided
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 3 Tbsp paprika hot or mild or a combination
- 2 cups spicy pasta sauce
- 3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup plain whole milk yogurt divided
Instructions
- Slice shallots, chop garlic. Chop parsley, about 1 cup. Remove yogurt from fridge.
- Preheat large saute pan on medium-high for 2-3 minutes.
- Pour oil in heated pan. Season chicken with 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper. Cook chicken for 3-4 minutes on each side until browned. Add shallots, garlic and paprika. Cook 2-3 minutes until fragrant.
- Add pasta sauce and vinegar. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15-18 minutes until chicken is 185° and shreddable.
- Meanwhile, bring large pot of water to boil. Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain well. Add butter, ¾ cup chopped parsley and remaining ½ tsp of salt and pepper. Stir to coat.
- Remove chicken from heat and lightly shred pieces using fork and knife or 2 forks. Stir in ½ cup room temperature yogurt.
- Divide noodles evenly among plates and top with chicken mixture. Add remaining yogurt and more parsley to garnish.
Another one I’ll be trying. Looks delicious!
I hope you like it! We went all out spicy, it was quite hot.
Sounds and looks yummy! You mind if I change it up a bit and put it over cauliflower mash and use full fat sour cream! Keto it up a bit!
Yes, cauliflower mash would be awesome! I think I’ll try that myself.
Going to try this … salivating reading the recipe!!!! Thanks Marci
I know you’ll make it spicy! Thanks Spicy Jan!