How would like a delicious Chicken Paprikash recipe that’s been made a tad healthier? Made with chicken breasts instead of the traditional thighs and legs, this recipe not only lower on calories, it is so much quicker. You are welcome!
For more healthier chicken recipes, check out my Chicken Chasseur aka Hunter’s Chicken.
My favourite person to cook for after Brad is my father-in-law. He is a kindred spirit when it comes to food. A skilled cook himself, Chris has a great appreciation for various flavours and a healthy appetite to enjoy them.
So when he brought up that he hadn’t had Chicken Paprikash for ages and really missed it during our last visit I immediately knew I wanted to make it.
I can’t say I knew exactly what he was talking about…just a vague idea but knowing that the dish has Eastern European roots assured me I’d love it.
So I made the traditional version while we were in Canada and it was a huge hit with everyone. Then Christmas was over and it was time to get back in shape, which often means that fried and then smothered in sour cream dishes become your worst enemy.
Not for this girl. I lightened it up, guys. I made chicken paprikash BETTER!
You might ask, how can you possibly achieve this, Julia?
How do you make a lighter version of chicken paprikash
Well, traditionally it’s made with chicken legs and thighs that need to be fried first in order to crisp up the skin, which means ….more fat.
I wanted to avoid frying so I went with skinless, boneless chicken breasts. And to make things even better I used half the amount of chicken and added chickpeas for fibre and protein and red peppers for some needed vitamins.
I scaled down on the oil and sour cream to reduce the calories.
Not only is this chicken paprikash healthy, it is also economical!
If you are a chickpea fan like myself I don’t need to convince you what a great texture they add to the dish. Also being simmered in Hungarian paprika sauce makes them off the scale flavourful…little smoky nuggets of goodness.
Serve this creamy chicken paprikash with rice, noodles or mashed potatoes. You just can’t go wrong!
More healthy chicken breast recipes:
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 Chicken breasts skinless and boneless, sliced in strips
- 1 red bell pepper
- salt and pepper
- 1 onion chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tbsp smoked paprika or sweet paprika
- 3 tbsp flour
- 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
- 1 can 14 oz diced tomatoes
- 1 can 14 oz chickpeas
- 1/2 cup sour cream or creme fraiche
- flat leaf parsley
Instructions
- Cut chicken breast in strips and season with salt and pepper.
- In a large pan sear chicken strips in olive oil until just sealed but not completely cooked, approximately for 5-7 minutes. Remove to a plate.
- Add sliced pepper and stir fry over medium-high heat until slightly charred but still crispy. Remove to a plate and set aside.
- Reduce the heat to low and add chopped onion. Cook for 10 minutes until soft, add garlic and continue cooking for 1 minute.
- Add paprika and flour, stir to combine until you have a red paste.
- Whisk chicken stock in until the paste is completely blended into it. You might want to add 1/2 cup first and whisk, then the rest of the stock to avoid lumps.
- Add diced tomatoes.
- Return chicken to the pan and add chickpeas. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down, cover with a lid and simmer for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes uncover your chicken paprikash, stir in sour cream, add red peppers and take off the heat immediately to avoid sour cream separating.
- Taste and add more salt if necessary.
- Serve sprinkled with chopped flat leaf parsley and steaming rice or noodles.
Matthew Backhouse says
November 25, 2019 at 8:44 pmInitial timing given is very misleading, 5 mins for chicken, 5 mins for peppers, 10 mins for onions, 20 mins at the end to simmer is already 40 mins without time for creating the paste, 45-50 mins cooking time would be more accurate
Julie says
January 1, 2018 at 10:43 pmIm curious it calls for sweet or smoked paprika. I have both. I feel as if smoked paprika is over powering. Do you suggest using one over the other? Has anyone gone with the sweet? Any feedback is helpful and welcome! Thanks
vikalinka says
January 2, 2018 at 11:13 amHi Julie, the ingredient list gives you an option to choose. I love smoked paprika and I tend to use it more. I find regular sweet paprika slightly lacking in flavour but it’s just a personal preference, however Spanish sweet smoked paprika is beautiful. If you can find it in specialty shops or online, you won’t be disappointed. You can use it in a variety of dishes, it’s a very fragrant spice.
Nicole says
December 20, 2017 at 3:18 amYumm-o! Just looking at this recipe makes my mouth water. Can’t wait to make this for my family. Your recipe for coq-a-vin was divine, by the way.
vikalinka says
December 20, 2017 at 10:08 amThank you so much, Nicole! This recipe is definitely one of our favourites! So good with buttery mashed potatoes or rice!
Sandra Starrs says
April 1, 2017 at 7:16 pmI just made this delicious dish and love it! I come from a Hungarian background so I am very familiar with Chicken Paprikash. The adding of the chickpeas is a great idea! I also substituted the sour cream with Fat free Greek Yogurt. Yummy! Now I am trying to decide if I want to make egg noodles or dumplings to go with it! I am sure either will be awesome! 🙂
Cobi says
March 28, 2017 at 6:14 pmMade this for dinner last night with carrots instead of peppers, and it was amazing!
We started eating and I though, what is missing, it doesn’t taste right… and I realized I’d forgotten the sour cream, and that really makes the dish.
Thank you!
vikalinka says
March 28, 2017 at 6:35 pmYes, sour cream definitely balances out the spices and acidity plus that yum factor! Happy to hear you enjoyed it, Cobi!
Charlotte says
February 4, 2017 at 9:38 pmLove this! Made it so many times now. Also tried it with Greek Yoghurt instead of soured cream which tastes great too.
vikalinka says
February 4, 2017 at 10:00 pmThat is awesome, Charlotte! I am going to try it with Greek yogurt!
Marnie says
October 10, 2016 at 12:49 amAMAZING. I’ve been meaning to make this for a while; so glad I finally made it tonight! So good. If you’re reading this and are still on the fence about making it, do yourself a favor and make it tonight!
vikalinka says
October 10, 2016 at 8:09 pmOh thank you for the endorsement, Marnie! I am thrilled you loved it!
Magdolna from Hungary says
May 30, 2016 at 12:17 pmIs chickpea in a paprikash? I have never seen enything like this.
vikalinka says
May 30, 2016 at 6:11 pmIt’s not a traditional version but rather my own take on it as I’d mentioned in the blog post.
Magdolna from Hungary says
May 31, 2016 at 7:22 amOh no. Chickpea is good idea. I was thinking too conservative. This recipe is traditional witout chickpea therefore I was surprised. I cook it very similar ( little bit more sour cream, less flour). It is good to see hungarian foods from other countries.
Jamie says
April 9, 2016 at 7:07 pmI just cooked this. Amazing! My Fiance turned his nose up when I told him what was planning on cooking and ordered take out. When I was finished plating it up he was scraping the pan. Will be cooking this again for the both of us soon, thank you for sharing!!
vikalinka says
April 9, 2016 at 9:22 pmOh Jamie, that is hilarious! Sweet victory!! Thank you for letting me know and have a lovely weekend!
Jamie says
March 23, 2016 at 2:28 amFound your recipe today while wondering what to do with some chicken breasts and an onion/green and red pepper mix I had. I looked in my pantry, fridge and spice cabinet and found I had all the ingredients! I had just gotten a beautiful smoked paprika (which I used even more liberally here) from my spice shop so I was really excited! It was incredibly easy to make, turned out amazing and so delicious this will now join my Go-To recipes. The chickpeas (I drained them) were not something my husband or kids were terribly excited about, even though I make a home-made hummus and they eat it up, but in this they had 0 complaints and scraped their bowls clean. Served over a thyme infused rice. Thanks for sharing it! Fabulous!
vikalinka says
March 23, 2016 at 6:56 amThat’s just wonderful, Jamie! I am such a huge smoked paprika fan myself, just used it in my latest post and loved it! Thrilled to receive such great feedback!
Nicole says
February 20, 2016 at 3:09 pmCan I make this in the Crockpot?
vikalinka says
February 20, 2016 at 3:14 pmI haven’t tried, Nicole, so I can’t be sure. The recipe was adapted for a quick 30 min. meal and that is why chicken breasts are used, which don’t benefit from cooking for long periods of time. I would use legs and thighs if I were to cook this recipe in a slow cooker and add sour cream at the end to avoid separation. Let me know how it goes if you do try!
Jess says
February 12, 2016 at 6:39 pmHi, I am making this tonight and I have made loads. Do you know if I can freeze it?
vikalinka says
February 12, 2016 at 6:50 pmHi Jess, it might separate when you reheat it from frozen because of sour cream in the sauce.
Jess says
February 12, 2016 at 7:12 pmOk thanks. It was lovely by the way ????
vikalinka says
February 12, 2016 at 8:57 pmHappy to hear it and you are welcome!
Cheney says
November 8, 2015 at 1:22 amThis looks amaaaazing! I came here by way of the link to your Coq Au Chardonnay posted in Reddit Food, but I’ve ended up bookmarking a few recipes, including this one. Can’t wait to make it!
vikalinka says
November 8, 2015 at 7:45 pmThan you for stopping by, Cheney! Happy to hear you loved my recipes. 🙂
Jeanne Morton says
October 1, 2015 at 8:50 amMy husband LOVES this. Served with egg noodles. Next time, bread too, to soak up the sauce. My husband nearly licked the plate. He definitely wants this again.
vikalinka says
October 1, 2015 at 12:01 pmSounds fabulous, Jeanne! The sauce is really the best part! 🙂
lex says
August 27, 2015 at 2:32 amkinda average…
average instructions, but for the most part…if your gonna imitate chicken tikka masala, you should have a little more than one spice included and paprika is not it…
next…
vikalinka says
August 27, 2015 at 9:04 amUmm…chicken paprikash is a Hungarian recipe and has nothing to do with chicken masala…really confused by this comment.
Tammy says
January 18, 2017 at 9:05 pmI think you should read the name of the recipe before giving a negative review…….big difference between this recipe and Tikka Masala……next😛
vikalinka says
January 18, 2017 at 10:50 pmHahaha…thanks, Tammy!
Karen says
August 17, 2015 at 11:49 amI only have the regular paprika, will this be ok to use?
vikalinka says
August 17, 2015 at 3:38 pmThe dish won’t have the smoky taste but it will still be delicious, Karen.
Kelly says
April 22, 2015 at 7:24 pmLooking forward to making this tonight!!! Do you drain the tomatoes or no?? I’m assuming you drain and rinse the chickpeas…
Thanks!!!
vikalinka says
April 22, 2015 at 7:47 pmHi Kelly, I drain chickpeas but I don’t drain tomatoes. You need some liquid for the sauce. 🙂
Julia says
February 24, 2015 at 11:46 pmHi, we had this for dinner tonight and it was delicious!! We had it with Hungarian/German Spaetzel noodles, worked really well. Thanks for a great recipe!
vikalinka says
February 25, 2015 at 8:14 amIt does sound delicious with German spaetzel! So glad you enjoyed it, Julia!
Kristina says
February 24, 2015 at 7:12 amYumm!!!looks so good!! And such common ingridients yet so different!! I will make it for sure this weekend!!
vikalinka says
February 24, 2015 at 8:08 amThank you, Kristina! You are right very simple ingredients but quite complex and unique flavour in the end. We loved it!
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
February 21, 2015 at 1:48 amMy mouth is watering, how I wish this was dinner tonight!
vikalinka says
February 21, 2015 at 1:54 pmI wish you could come for dinner, Laura!
Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers says
February 21, 2015 at 12:59 amThat is one stunning skillet and I love that lightened up is even better!!
vikalinka says
February 21, 2015 at 1:54 pmThank you, Jennifer! I love it when lightened up dishes turn out even tastier than the original!
Mikel says
December 20, 2016 at 2:27 amIt sure was beautiful! I made this tonight and it was delicious! Served it over jasmine rice. Yum!! Only thing I changed was I made it with chicken thighs because that’s what I had on hand. Loved it!
vikalinka says
December 20, 2016 at 11:20 amSounds wonderful, Mikel! I am so happy to hear you enjoyed it!