Traditional Hungarian Chicken Paprikash: A Classic Hungarian Comfort Food

Few dishes capture the warmth and character of Hungarian home cooking quite like Chicken Paprikash. Known in Hungary as Paprikás Csirke, this traditional dish combines tender chicken, sweet Hungarian paprika, onions, and a rich, creamy sauce into a comforting meal that is both simple and deeply flavorful.

Served with homemade nokedli (Hungarian egg dumplings), Chicken Paprikash is a beloved classic that has been enjoyed across Hungarian households for generations. Its beauty lies in its simplicity: a handful of familiar ingredients transformed by good paprika and slow, gentle cooking.

What Is Hungarian Chicken Paprikash?

Chicken Paprikash is a traditional Hungarian chicken dish built around one of the most important ingredients in Hungarian cuisine: paprika.

Chicken pieces are gently cooked with onions and paprika before being finished with sour cream to create a smooth, flavorful sauce. Unlike heavily spiced dishes, authentic Hungarian paprikash is not necessarily hot. Sweet paprika is typically used, although a small amount of hot paprika can be added according to personal preference.

The finished dish has tender chicken surrounded by a silky, paprika-colored sauce with a delicate balance of sweetness, savory flavor, and creamy richness.

A Little History of Paprikás Csirke

Paprika became an important ingredient in Hungarian cooking over the centuries and eventually became closely associated with the country’s culinary identity.

Traditional paprikash belongs to a broader family of Hungarian dishes known as paprikás, which are characterized by the generous use of paprika and a creamy finish, often involving sour cream.

Chicken became particularly popular for this preparation because it cooks relatively quickly and works beautifully with the rich onion-and-paprika sauce.

Today, Chicken Paprikash remains one of the most recognizable Hungarian comfort foods and is commonly served with dumplings, potatoes, or another simple accompaniment that can soak up the sauce.

Ingredients

For the Chicken

• 2 ½–3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs or a mixture of chicken pieces
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or lard
• 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2–3 tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup chicken broth or water
• 1 medium tomato, finely chopped
• 1 small green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the Sour Cream Sauce

• 1 cup full-fat sour cream
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 2–4 tablespoons of the hot cooking liquid

For Serving

• Hungarian nokedli
• Fresh parsley, optional