Hungarian Style Chicken Paprikash

This evening I made Hungarian Style Chicken Paprikash. It was a quick and easy version that uses chunks of boneless chicken breast rather than the traditional whole cut up chicken (with skin and bones). Chicken Paprikash is essentially chicken simmered in broth with onions and lots of paprika, then mixed with sour cream. It is usually thickened with flour and cooked covered. This version does not use any flour, and instead is cooked in the oven, uncovered, until the sauce reduces and concentrates.

It's traditionally served over either wide egg noodles or spaetzel. Since I am not eating wheat or grains, I used my vegetable peeler to make wide ribbons of "zucchini pasta" that I briefly sauteed in a little olive oil and and then served the paprikash on top of the zucchini noodles. It was absolutely delicious. Hubby enjoyed his over egg noodles. One of my best friends growing up was Hungarian and she was always talking about having "chicken paprikash" or making it -- it's "comfort food" for Hungarians. Why it took me so long to try it (albeit a modified, short-cut version) I'll never know. I really wondered about adding that much paprika to anything...but it was really good. I even used the traditional "Hungarian paprika" made by Szeged for authenticity. Below are a few pictures for you to see as well as the recipe. Enjoy!

BOOM!

After sauce has been reduced in the oven -- waiting for sour cream to be stirred in

Sour cream has been stirred in and its ready to be served over noodles

Hungarian Style Chicken Paprikash

INGREDIENTS:

2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast or chicken thighs

1 cup chicken stock or broth

1 (14.5 oz) can diced fire roasted tomatoes with juice (or regular tomatoes)

1 medium onion, sliced or diced

1 large clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon more, as necessary

1/2 - 1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika (I used Szeged)

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup sour cream (sit out while casserole bakes so it isn't cold when stirred in)

Zucchini or squash noodles (or substitute wide egg noodles if not wheat/grain free)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut chicken into approximate 1-inch sized chunks; pat dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in dutch oven over medium-high heat until hot. Add chicken and cook until lightly browned on all sides. Remove chicken to bowl and set aside.

Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the dutch oven chicken was cooked in and heat over medium-high heat; add onions to pan. Cook until soft and translucent (about 5 minutes). Add tomato paste and stir constantly for 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook another minute or so. Add chicken broth to de-glaze pan, stirring frequently and scraping bottom with a wooden spoon to loosen any bits. Add tomatoes, paprika and cayenne; stir and bring just to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Return chicken back to dutch oven and stir in, along with any juices that accumulated in bowl. Bake uncovered for about 35-45 minutes or until chicken is tender and sauce has reduced by about 1/3. Remove from oven and let sit about 5-7 minutes, uncovered.  Stir sour cream thoroughly into the mixture.  Serve over noodles of your choice.