Chicken Paprikash With Spaetzle

  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hrs 5 mins
  • Servings: 4-8
  • About This Recipe

    “A famous Hungarian dish with the trimmings (dumplings!).”

    Ingredients

    Chicken

  • 1 -3lbchicken parts
  • 1mediumonion, diced
  • 1tablespoonsmoked paprika
  • 2tablespoons butter (your choice) or 2tablespoonsmargarine( your choice)
  • 1tablespoonoil
  • 4 -6cupswater
  • chicken bouillon cube( not necessary with large amt of chicken)(optional)
  • 1 (8 -16ounce) containers sour cream
  • Spaetzle

  • 2cupsall-purpose flour
  • 2 -6eggs
  • salt and pepper
  • Directions

  • OK let’s be Hungarian.
  • Firstly we don’t call the dumplings “spaetzle” but I can’t spell the word that Grandma always used so I’ve borrowed the German term.
  • Start by heating the oil in a large pot and browning your chicken parts.
  • Remove the chicken and add the butter or margarine to the pot.
  • Sauté the onion in the melted butter until transparent.
  • Add paprika, chicken, and water, bring to a boil then reduce to simmer for 45 minutes.
  • Chicken should be very tender and about to fall off bones.
  • Remove chicken to bowl.
  • Add enough fresh water to pot to bring back to original level.
  • Check flavor of broth.
  • If flavor is weak add enough bullion to produce a well flavored broth.
  • Bring broth to boil.
  • Combine flour, salt, and pepper with eggs (the more eggs the richer the batter but two is OK) to form a thick batter.
  • Now comes the tricky (and boring) part.
  • Drop batter in boiling broth in 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon amounts until all batter is in pot and cooked.
  • Spaetzle is cooked when it floats on surface.
  • You may need to remove some to get it all in the pot.
  • With all spaetzle cooked and in pot you now add your sour cream to broth. The amount is individual according to how creamy you wish the sauce to become (and how much water you started with).
  • At this point I usually add about three tablespoons of flour mixed with one cup of water to thicken the broth.Sorry I omitted this step in the original submission.
  • The sauce and spaetzle is the best part of this dish so be sure to make enough!They will be coming back for seconds on that part of the dish.
  • One of the most surprising things about this dish is it actually tastes better the second day.Sooo if you are making it for a special dinner prepare it the day before and simply reheat it one half hour before serving.
  • Reviews

  • “This is heaven!Very similar to the Chicken Paprikas that I make, except I usually add a dollop of sour cream directly on the chicken when serving, rather than mixing it in the broth.I really like it this way too, it gives the broth more substance.My broth was a little weak so I added a small can of College Brand Chicken Broth to perk it up before I added the sour cream.Thanks Mark, for a wonderful meal.Brings back memories of those wonderful meals at Grandmas.”

  • “Mark, I fixed this for my elderly mother, who was recovering from pneumonia. Nothing tastes better then chicken soup when you aren’t feeling well. Anyway, she loved it and so did the rest of us. I used a couple more eggs in the Spaetzle because I like the dough a little looser. Also, because of my mother’s poor health, I left out the sour cream. I’ll add it next time though for sure. Thanks a lot for your recipe!”

  • “I’ve traveled to Hungary and many other areas of Western Europe and Spaetzle dumplings were my favorite thing ever! My grandmother also made Paprikash quite often, but usually simply used egg noodles. Putting the two together was lovely for me!
    I, too, added chicken broth to give it a heartier taste, and also tweaked the recipe by adding more onion and some garlic powder, as I felt it gave it a bit of a hearty boost. Other than that, the recipe was very on point, and it brought me back to those wonderful times exploring Europe and eating the wonderful food. I did the 6 eggs in the Spaetzle, but found it a little thick still, so I added about 4 tbsp of chicken broth and it made for a batter that was just right in my book. I love recipes like this that you can customize, and make it perfect for any tastebuds! I also want to thank you for a recipe that wasn’t too difficult or way too time consuming either. It really is a fabulous dish and I will be making it again!”

  • “My Nana was hungarian and used to make this dish for us often. She always called the noodles “Nokelata” (she pronounced it nookalattha). Maybe your grandma used the word Nokedli (I’ve seen that used too but Nokelata is how my Nana said it). She also called this recipe as a whole “Chicken Fricassee” but not sure if they’re exactly the same thing. Either way, FANTASTIC original, traditional, Hungarian recipe. Thanks so much for reconnecting me with my ancestry!! :)”

  • “Wow. This is clearly a comfort dish. I almost didn’t make this. The dumplings were freakin top notch. I used 6 eggs. I’m in shock. I wasn’t sure how this was gonna turn out. I will make again. Maybe next time I will use chicken tenders to cut down on the fat?Thanks again. :)”

  • “This is what I called chicken and dumplings when I was growing up.Imaging the surprise when one of my Southern friends served me what THEY called chicken and dumplings!Many years later, I have learned to love both. This recipe is just how my mama taught me to make it–tho we do make our dumplings a bit bigger.This is all of my kids favorite recipe and one we make often.LOVE IT!”

  • “I’m Hungarian this recipe is right on.This is the way my whole family makes chicken paprikash.The Hungarians call our dumplings “nokedli”I also add more onion,It makes the gravy a little sweeter.”

  • “This was really good! The first step took quite a while though. Yummy foodee!”

  • “WOW!This is SO good!Made as directed, except I didn’t make the spaetzle.The gravy is to die for!It would go over rice, noodles, taters, poured in a glass and drank through a straw!LOL.I tried to make the spaetzle, but I didn’t have a deep enough pot, I used a big skillet to cook this in.And since I’ve never made it, I didn’t know how the dough should feel, mine was really sticky.I used frozen noodle/dumplings…super delish.This is probably one of my favorite zaar recipes.Thanks for sharing.If you haven’t tried this, you are really missing out.Oh, use good quality paprika, it makes a difference.”

  • “Mark, this is truly awesome.It is so much like my Mom’s recipe.She left it for me but unfortuneately, like most of her recipes, some of “tips and tricks” were in her head so it was never really like hers.This was amazing and brought back fond memories for me and my family.”

  • “This was fantastic!Though I’m not from a Hungarian family (we’re French/Cherokee), my mother has always loved making foods from various countries and ethnicities.When I was a kid, she used to make a Chicken Paprikash that she learned from an older Hungarian family friend, and this was just exactly how old Mrs. Csiki made it.Great recipe!”

  • “This was delish but like the others I wished I’d thickened my broth. For me it was good just the way it was but I might try to thicken it so my husband won’t feel like he’s eating soup. I can’t wait to make this again and again because for me it’s pure comfort food.”

  • “My son is dissappointed we can’t give this more stars!I’ve made this several times and it is a big hit at our house. My mother used to make noodles this way and she called them “rivlets” and put them in soup so I used her method and just took the ball of dough and pinched off pieces, flattening them with my thumb and finger before dropping it in the pot. Tried it with regular paprika the first time and it was good but then I purchased the smokey kind and ohh what a difference. Yum Yum!”

  • “This is exactly what my Grandma used to make & we just made for dinner a couple of nights ago! Grandma used to make “cracker crumb” noodles or rice to go with it. I noticed someone else had mentioned polachinta’s. Grandma used to make them for us for breakfast with jelly or syrup and now my kids love it when I make them. Wow!! :o)”

  • “I was always afraid to make this dish because i thought it was difficult and involved a lot of patience and hard work! This recipe changed my mind. i have made it twice now and havent screwed it up! thanks soooo much. the family loves it and i like making it!!”

  • “The spaetzel are wonderful.I never made ’em before, but used 6 eggs plus the sour cream suggested by a reviewer.My colander has small holes and I couldn’t see sitting there with a spoon for so MANY little noodles, so I put the batter in a quart-sized storage bag, cut one of the corners off, and squeezed the batter into the broth.It worked!And I did need to fish out the first half before the second half could reach the liquid.Maybe because I only had regular paprika instead of smoked, the flavor of the broth was VERY bland, but with a very nice flavor.I did add some extra paprika, but I’ll try 3T next time.I’ll also salt and pepper the chicken before browning.”

  • “I can’t believe I forgot to review this! (I guess we were too busy eating it!) The chicken was absolutely yummy, and the spaetzle was perfect. It’s inspired us to go out and get a spaetzle maker so we can do it more often! Thanks for posting this one, it’s an absolute keeper!”

  • “This was just wonderful.I’ve never heard of Chicken Paprikas and didn’t have a clue what Spaetzle were.Dave raved about this one.I used broth instead of the water and a Hungarian Paprika and chicken thighs.The only change I’ll make next time is to thicken the broth.Thanks Mark.Made for PAC Fall 2007”

  • “I love this dish.The only thing I do different is I use chicken broth instead of water.Also years ago I bought a spaetle maker. It looks like a metal cheese grater with a sliding cup.You just add the spaetzle dough into the cup and slide it back and forth over boiling water. Little dumplings fall into the boiling water. Presto — the spaetzle are done in no time.If you make spaetzle often this little gadget is worth investing in. I am so glad I bought it.My family loves chicken paprikas.It’s a real comfort food.”

  • “Great dish, Mark!My family all loved it.This is the best paprikas recipe I’ve tried–great sauce.You’re so right about it tasting even better the next day.Next time I’ll make this dish for company a day ahead and reheat as you suggested.Thanks for a great recipe.”

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