Chicken Paprikash (Paprikás Csirke) with the Domestic Man!

Chicken Paprikash (Paprikás Csirke) 

I'm excited to post a collaboration with the blogger the Domestic Man! This is the sort of thing I was hoping we could do when starting the Mealpod website/blog, because honestly, my sister and I can only come up with so many ideas for Mealpods. When Russ Crandall from the Domestic Man blog offered  his recipe for Chicken Paprikash, I was really excited. Especially because the recipe was completely new to me. He describes it as:

Chicken Paprikash is a famous Hungarian dish, known for its mellow flavor, mild sweetness, and tender chicken. Some might consider it a stew, and I’m not arguing that fact – honestly, it really doesn’t matter. This stuff just tastes good. This dish is commonly served with egg noodles or spätzle-like dumplings. I thought that my roasted parsnips would be a good substitution, and it worked; their crispy outside and slight-spongy inside were perfectly paired with the chicken’s creamy sauce. 

Russ described how to make the recipe in such great detail in his blog post that I borrowed most of his wording for the instructions and inserted what I did differently. He also took photographs of the steps which were so helpful, so make sure to go check them out.

I took his suggestion of using boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of regular chicken thighs and drumsticks. I also made a julienne of parsnips and carrots instead of chunks so it would behave like a pasta would and soak up the sauce when packaged up like a Mealpod, but otherwise I follwed his instructions exactly.


Russ also suggests to get Pride of Szeged Sweet Hungarian Paprika and I highly recommend following his advice. The color of it is much richer than the cheap store brands that were in my cupboard and the taste is so mellow and sweet - it completely makes the dish. I can't wait to try it with other recipes. I found it right at my local Market Basket grocery store. The tin was turned backwards though on the shelf so it took me a while to find it! The backside is all red and the front side is not, lol.




 Chicken Paprikash

• 1.5 lbs boneless chicken thighs which was 8 thighs trimmed. 
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp Pride of Szeged Sweet Hungarian Paprika
• 1 tsp dried marjoram
• 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/4 cup sour cream 
• 5 parsnips
• 2 carrots

1. Slice the onion and pepper into large pieces. Set aside.
2. Gently rinse the chicken pieces with cold water, pat dry, and sprinkle with salt and pepper
3. Warm the butter in a large pan on medium/high heat for about five minutes. Add the chicken parts and brown for about six minutes per side. 
4. Once they are well-browned, set the pieces aside. 
5. Reduce the heat to medium, and add the onion slices. Sauté for five minutes, stirring often, until the onions are softened. Add the pepper slices and sauté for another three minutes. 
6. Add the marjoram, chicken broth, white wine, and half of the paprika, and stir everything together. Add the chicken pieces, moving the onions/pepper to make room for the chicken. Bring to a simmer, then cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for one hour (45 minutes if you’re using boneless, skinless chicken thighs).
7. While the chicken is simmering, julienne your carrots and parsnips. Using a julienne peeler, peel then julienne your parsnips and carrots.  You can also use a cheese shredder to get the same effect or buy pre-shredded carrots. Sautee or steam them just until al dente or slightly softened. 
8. Remove the chicken from the pan and cover with tin foil. Raise the pan’s heat to medium and bring to a simmer, then remove from heat. Stir in the remaining paprika and the sour cream until everything is well-mixed; be sure to temper the sour cream by adding some of the sauce to it before adding it all to the pan. Tempering will make sure the sour cream doesn’t curdle. 
9. Place a pile of parsnips and carrots  in a 12" x 12" piece of foil, top with one piece of chicken. Pour some sauce over both making sure to keep track of how much you have left for the other pieces. We ate some right away and then packaged up the rest.

Here they are in their Mealpods ready to be frozen. I ran out of the julienne, maybe because I was snacking on it as I went... but maybe because I could have made more. For a couple of them I paired them with gluten-free spiral noodles I happened to have in the pantry. I can't thank Russ enough for the recipe and great instructions. We'll have it up on the Mealpod site soon. The chicken did turn out delicious and so tender. 

If you are new to the Mealpod site and want to find out how we individually package the meals there are instructions at Mealpod.us or use the tabs on this blog at the top of the page. 

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