Chicken Paprikash with Dumplings

This is chicken paprikash served with bread dumplings, aka incredibly delicious Czech kuře na paprice. Let's take our time and enjoy this goodness together, I invite you to the table!

📋 What Is Czech Chicken Paprikash?

Czech Paprikash is based on the original recipe for Hungarian paprikash. It is basically an identical dish, and we call it "kuře na paprice" or "kuřecí paprikáš" here in the Czech Republic. 

The reason why the Czechs adopted Hungarian paprikash is obvious: the Czech lands were a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918, which is why Czech and Hungarian cuisine have many recipes in common, like the Hungarian Lángos or the Szegediner goulash.

Hungarians call this popular dish "csirkepaprikás", and in Austria it’s "Paprikahendl".

Czech "kuře na paprice" variation is comprised of chicken pieces cooked in a sauce with a perfect balance of sweet and sour taste. The main ingredients are ground sweet paprika and sour cream.

🥗 Dumplings

The ideal side dish which pairs excellently with paprikash is raised dumplings. This combo is heavenly good, and I can hardly imagine a better Czech paprikash side.

Here you’ll find the recipe for bread dumplings.

However, if you don't have bread dumplings done (I always have a nice stock of dumplings frozen in my freezer), cooked pasta, like pasta elbows for instance, is just fine. 

Our neighbors in Germany prefer paprikash served with spaetzle (špecle in Czech), their typical side dish. 

🧂 Roux in Paprikash

A short note on the paprikash sauce texture: I have not seen many paprikash recipes calling for the roux as a thickening agent. I was pretty surprised because, without the roux, the sauce is too liquid and runny. In my opinion, roux is a must when making chicken paprikash.

Preparing the roux is very simple; you only need butter and flour. As a rule, butter and flour should be in equal proportions.

Simply heat the butter in a pan, add the flour and fry for a minute or two. Then add it to the sauce while whisking and let it simmer for at least 15-20 minutes. The roux makes the sauce nicely smooth and slightly thickened that way.

🥘 Ingredients

Let’s take a look at shopping list. For chicken paprikash you’ll need:

• Chicken thighs or legs; with the bone and skin
• Sweet Hungarian paprika; ground
• Pork lard; or vegetable oil
• Chicken broth
• Sour cream; with a fat content of around 20 %
• Yellow onions
• Allspice berries
• Salt
• For roux: all-purpose flour and unsalted butter

Optional: ½ tsp granualted sugar for more contrast in taste.

Here is a separate recipe for bread dumplings, Czech houskové knedlíky.

🍽 Equipment

I used one of my beloved cast iron skillets with a lid (it is about 11-inches / 28 cm in diameter).

🔪 Instructions with Photos

STEP 1: Before you start cooking, peel the onion and chop it roughly. Salt chicken pieces from all sides.

STEP 2: In a wide pan with a thicker bottom, melt lard over higher heat. Place the chicken to the lard and fry each side for about 5 minutes. Remove the chicken and set it aside. 

STEP 3: Reduce heat to medium. Add chopped onions to the same pan and fry until translucent. Use a flat-edged spatula and scrape the burned-on rests of the chicken from the pan's bottom. These are very tasty and deserve to be a part of chicken paprikash. 

STEP 4: Add sweet Hungarian paprika (photo 1) and fry for 30 sec until stirring (photo 2). 

STEP 5: Pour with chicken broth, return the fried chicken pieces to the pan. Salt a bit, throw allspice berries into the liquid. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a minimum. Cover with a lid and allow paprikash to simmer for 40 minutes or until the chicken meat is soft and tender.

STEP 6: Remove the cooked chicken, set it aside, keep the meat warm. 

STEP 7: Make a roux: In a non-sticking pan, melt butter over medium heat until it starts to bubbling. Sprinkle in the all-purpose flour, fry for 1-2 minutes while stirring.

Add the roux into the paprikash in small batches, whisk properly to avoid lumps. 

STEP 8: Cover with a lid and let the sauce simmer for 15-20 minutes.

STEP 9: Remove from the stove, add sour cream, do not cook anymore. Stir well (photo 3+4).

STEP 10: Strain the paprikash over a sieve. Discard the remains that got stuck in the sieve (onions, allspice berries).

STEP 11: Season the paprikash with salt to your liking. Optionally, add ½ teaspoon sugar. 

STEP 12: Put chicken pieces back in a pan, let them warm up, and serve. 

👪 Serving

Arrange warmed slices of dumplings around the edge of a plate, place chicken pieces next to dumplings, and pour over chicken paprikash. 

Czech love their chicken paprikash served with bread dumplings. This is the most common way you get this dish in Czech restaurants. 

Here is my detailed recipe for bread dumplings.

💭 Cook's Tips

1. Count on 2 pieces of chicken per 1 person. I used 4 chicken thighs and 2 Leg & thigh quarters; the amount was just enough for my three boys.
2. Use sour cream and not heavy cream. Sour cream gives the right touch of flavor typical to this delicious dish. 
3. Do not use light sour cream; the minimum is with a fat content of around 20 %. The light version of sour cream could cause curdling the cream in the sauce.

🍲 More Czech sauces:

• Svíčková na smetaně – iconic Czech sauce made with root vegetables
• Rajská omáčka – famous Czech sweet tomato sauce
• Koprová omáčka – dill sauce with cream