Here’s a recipe for an authentic chicken and potato paprikash with dumplings as it’s usually done in Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia. Originally Hungarian, this amazing stew came to the Balkans a while ago where it’s now a dinner favorite. In three short words, it’s easy, delicious & healthy!
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What Is It
Our aauthentic chicken paprikash is a mouthwatering stew infused with paprika spice, vegetables and chicken. Even the name is derived from paprika: a red, deep, smokey and sometimes hot spice made from different peppers.
Today, most of this spice is produced in Hungary, so it’s not surprising that original chicken paprikash (or paprika chicken) originated there.
However, you can find this dish in many different countries. In fact, you may have already had some Polish, German, even Ukrainian paprikash.
The one we’re making today is of the Balkan variety. While similar in preparation to Hungarian dish, Balkan paprikash is usually made without sour cream and with less (and milder) paprika.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes for Authentic Chicken Paprikash
- Chicken broth: For a richer flavor, substitute with chicken stock.
- Dumplings: Don’t feel like making them? Use tagliatelle. Or no dumplings at all. (If you skip dumplings look at thickening notes below.)
- Paprika: For a spicier taste use hot paprika.
- Peppers: Instead of hot paprika you can also use hot peppers to spice the stew up more. For a sweeter taste roast the peppers ahead of time, and remove the skin before adding to the stew.
- Potatoes: Old fashioned recipes often skip potatoes. If you skip them too, make more noodles.
- Sour cream: This recipe is dairy-free, bit feel free to add a dollop of sour cream at serving.
Lightning-fast Instructions
- Simmer veggies (except potato) in hot oil.
- Add chicken, spices, some broth, and continue simmering.
- Make dumplings.
- Add potatoes, tomato sauce, remaining broth, and cook.
- Add dumplings.
- Cook stew a little longer.
Best Chicken for Paprikash
I won’t stop you from using skinless chicken parts (like chicken breast, etc.) to make this dish.
But, you wouldn’t make traditional chicken noodle with skinless chicken now, would you?
There is a reason why drumsticks or thighs with skin are the norm for this type of stew. Skin (combined with deep, rich paprika) helps create that “wow” factor.
(No one says you have to eat the skin though. If you don’t like it, just remove it before serving.)
How To Make Authentic Chicken Paprikash Dumplings
There are a few ways to make paprikash dumplings. Here are 3 of them:
ONE: Our recipe calls for simple egg and flour noodles. Egg and flour are mixed and noodles are dropped into the hot stew one by one. This results in thick, sturdy noodles that perfectly complement this dish.
They almost act like a thickening agent. You can play around with their size.
TWO: Other recipes call for farina dumplings. (You can find the directions to make them in our chicken soup with semolina noodles.) These type of noodles are fluffy and light. Also, extremely tasty.
THREE: Finally, there are versions that combine the two. They use farina and flour for medium soft dumplings.
For these dumplings mix 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons oil, 1 tablespoon water, 2 tablespoons farina flour, and 2 tablespoons flour, and a pinch of salt. Leave to rest for 10 minutes, and then drop in the hot stew with a teaspoon, one by one.
Expert Tips
This stew is on the light side. Here are four expert tips to thicken it.
- Add dumplings to the stew. (What we're doing in this recipe!)
- Flour the chicken before adding it in.
- Make a sour cream and flour roux.
- Make a traditional flour and butter roux.
Recipe FAQs
Serbian and Bosnian include sweet peppers and potatoes. Croatian paprikash doesn’t use potatoes, but is otherwise the same. All versions often have dumplings. However, like most Balkan things, these are generalizations based on what I’ve seen done in the region.
Paprikash tastes like a lighter stew with tender, falling of the bone chicken. Ingredients are saturated in chicken juices combined with deep paprika, while dumplings add a perfect final touch.
It's best not to. While paprikash broth is fantastic while fresh, ingredients lose their consistency when frozen.
More Stews To Try
Would You Do Me a Favor?
If you make today's Chicken Paprikash and like it, please consider leaving a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5-star) rating. This will help others find the recipe more easily!
You can also leave a comment, I read EVERY one! Finally, if IG is more your thing, consider tagging us @balkanlunchbox.
Prijatno and bon appetit!
Authentic Chicken and Potato Paprikash with Dumplings
Ingredients
Paprikash:
- 1 yellow onion medium, peeled and minced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 carrots medium, peeled and minced
- 1 red bell pepper medium, cored and minced
- 1 yellow bell pepper medium, cored and minced
- 4-6 chicken thighs or legs with skin
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 5 Russet or yellow potatoes medium, peeled, diced
- 3.5 ounces tomato sauce
- ½ bunch fresh parsley about 3-4 tablespoons, minced
- 6 cups chicken broth
Dumplings:
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 egg
Instructions
- In a deeper pot, heat oil over high. Add onion, garlic, and carrots. Stir and simmer 1-2 minutes. Add peppers. Lower temperature to medium and continue simmering for 8-10 minutes.
- Add chicken, seasonings and one cup of chicken broth to the pot. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, occasionally stirring.
- (If making dumplings) Whisk egg and flour together until integrated and set aside (you can leave it in the fridge if you like).
- Add potatoes, tomato sauce and parsley, and the remaining chicken broth. Raise the temperature and bring stew to a boil, then lower to medium and continue cooking for 20-30 minutes.
- Add dumplings by taking a little bit of the mixture with a teaspoon and lightly flicking it into the stew. (Dip the empty spoon into the stew after every fourth or fifth dumpling to keep it hot and prevent from sticking.)
- Cook for 3-5 additional minutes.
Marwah says
I made this last night and my family loved it! The only thing I left out was the homemade noodles, I was feeling lazy and tired so I made the stew exactly as written minus the noodle part and some homemade bread in my breadmaker and we had it for dinner. It was really delicious! Thank you again Aida!
Aida says
May I say you're my favorite reader ever?! Yes, noodles are totally optional. Glad your family liked the paprikash. What kind of a breadmaker do you have, and are you happy with it?
Marwah says
May I say that you are my favorite food blogger ever?! Everything I make from your blog turns out so well because you write it and photograph it in such a way that someone who has never tasted or even seen the meal can prepare it for someone who grew up eating that meal! Thank you so much for that! I have a Zojirushi Home Bakery Mini bread maker and it is the best bread machine I've ever had. It's a little pricey, but after owning half a dozen cheaper bread machines that only turn out edible bread 50% of the time, it was definitely worth the investment! This machine makes a 1 lb loaf of bread which is perfect for our family.
Aida says
Thank you Marwa! (Please correct me if I've been spelling it incorrectly!) I can see you are a seasoned foodie as the feedback you've provided me has been excellent. I try and include it with the recipe so the next person will have an easier time. I'll check out the Zojirushi bread machine. Been hesitant to get it because bread is easy to make, but it does take a long time. It would be great to have homemade bread every day though.
Ivana says
Decided to make paprikash for the first time,and followed the recipe completely. Ot was exactly the same as my grandma and mom used to make on chilly winter nights. Im croatian living in Canada for the last 11 years. This brought tears to my eyes. Thank you so much for this recipe
Aida says
Ivana,
sorry for the late reply. Your comment made our day. It's why the blog was started in the first place - to help bring those memories back into our homes.
Hope you have built a great life for yourself in Canada! We wish you much luck.
xx
Lejla Memic says
Zasto vise link za bosanski ne radi?
Aida says
Lejla,
Od 1.11. recepti na b/h/s su skinuti sa sajta. Vecinu recepata mozete naci na nasem YT kanalu: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlG7OZ-iA8udbaIlT0Uq37miM_LmFvCFX
Lp
Mary says
What kind of paprika do you use?
Thanks.
Aida says
Mary,
my family prefers a less hot taste so I use mild. If I could, I would use hot, Hungarian paprika.
It's really up to you.
A.
Tom says
wow. This is an outrageously good recipe. I took your suggestion to lightly flour the chicken and make the dumplings in order to thicken the broth. The only changes I made were relatively minor. I used a bit more paprika than the recipe and used both sweet and smoked paprika. I also used passata instead of canned tomato sauce because that's what I had in the pantry. I used a little more than the 1/2 cup the recipe asked for because the liquids reduced a lot during cooking.
As we say in our house, "Uff, I'd serve this to company".
Aida says
Tom,
We absolutely love your comments!
Glad you liked the paprikash - and yes, add as much paprika as you'd like. Also, we often switch it up with passata as well.
Good thing about Balkan recipes is that they're adjustable.
The dumplings will "drink" a lot of the liquid - it's good you added more.
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Happy cooking!