In the Kitchen: Chicken Paprikash & Spaetzel

Everyone has their preferred method of making Paprikash and this one is my favorite. It's all about the paprika and uses no tomato products. It's rich and hearty, but pretty easy to make with very minimal ingredients. You can also adjust the recipe to cook up as much or as little as you want making it perfect for a holiday or get together or just for a weeknight meal. You'll find a link to printable recipe card at the end of this post.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts (with skin and bones)

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

5 chicken bullion cubes

paprika (about 7 Tbsp)

flour (about 8 - 10 Tbsp)

8 oz sour cream

salt and pepper

Spaetzel (per batch):

1 cup flour

1 egg

1/3 cup water

Saute the diced onion and garlic in a deep skillet or electric fry pan with one tablespoon margarine and one tablespoon paprika.

Remove the skin from the chicken breasts and brown on each side.

Fill the pan with enough water to almost cover the chicken and add the bullion cubes. Simmer, covered, for about an hour. Flip the chicken as needed.

Remove the chicken (keep the liquid in the pan) and let cool. Debone and shred or chop.

To make the sauce, add flour slowly, continuously whisking over medium heat, until it begins to thicken. I end up using about 8 - 10 tablespoons. The flour may clump a bit at first but will break up and smooth out as you continue to whisk and the sauce heats up.

Once thickened, add the sour cream and stir until blended. Next add more paprika, salt and pepper to taste. I use about 5-6 tablespoons paprika. Add the shredded chicken back to the pan.

This is one of those recipes where nothing is too exact because quantities will depend on the size of your pan and your taste preferences, so sample often and trust your palette!

To make the spaetzel, you need one cup flour, one egg, and about 1/3 cup water per batch. I usually make 2 -3 batches at once per meal.

Stir ingredients until you have a semi moist doughy consistency. Using two spoons, drop small balls of the dough into boiling water.

When the spaetzel float to the top, they are done (usually about 5 min). Drain, then return to the pan and season with butter, salt and pepper to taste.

Serve and enjoy! You can also serve the paprikash over egg noodles, which is yummy as well.

The recipe makes quite a bit, it would easily serve 6 - 8 with leftovers to spare, but it stores well in the fridge or freezer. This serves the two of us twice, with leftovers, but I make the spaetzel fresh each time we have it. You can also make a smaller batch of paprikash by using less chicken and a smaller pan, just adjust all the ingredients as necessary.

> Click here for a printable recipe card

And find more easy and delicious recipes here.