Grandma’s Paprika Chicken is a healthy meal the whole family will enjoy. It’s satisfying, gluten-free comfort food when served over brown rice, sorghum or quinoa.
Grandma’s Paprika Chicken – gluten free
My grandma Lee was the world’s best cook. At least, that’s how I felt growing up. Her mother was born and raised in Hungary, and basically everything she cooked featured Hungarian paprika. The whole house always had an aroma resembling a combination of onions, oil and paprika. When we would go on vacation and leave our dog with grandma, her fur would smell like onions, oil and paprika for days. Mmmmmm. At least to me.
One of my favorite meals growing up was Grandma’s Paprika Chicken. I could eat it every day. We called it chicken fricassee or “Chicky Fricky” as my kids know it, though I think in reality that’s nothing like what she was actually cooking so we’ll stick with “Chicken Paprikash”. I’m pretty sure my younger cousin would not have grown at all had it not been for this signature dish.
This nostalgic food memory ties in perfectly with this month’s Recipe Redux theme of “First Cooking Recollections”
We were challenged to share a healthy recipe and the accompanying story about one of our first cooking memories. For me, this Paprika Chicken was a no brainer. Full disclosure- my grandma always kept a tub of chicken fat in her refrigerator courtesy of the Kosher butcher. I suspect that every delicious dish I enjoyed featured a decent amount of the stuff, let’s face it, that was long before olive oil was fashionable. It was fairly healthy to start, minus the chicken fat anyway. The original version also incorporated pieces of a whole chicken on the bone complete with skin. That meant a dish with a significant amount of saturated fat. My recipe makeover swaps olive oil for chicken fat and skinless boneless chicken breast for the skin-on variety. It may not taste exactly like grandma’s, but I still love it. Plus, the bone-in chicken takes longer to cook and I’m way too impatient 🙂 Of course, back then we only ate white rice, now I serve the chicken with brown rice, sorghum or quinoa. Miss you grandma- this one’s for you!
Grandma’s Paprika Chicken is #glutenfree comfort food for the whole family! #therecipredux http://wp.me/p4LsrV-CF Share on X
Paprika Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 medium onions – 2 cups chopped
- 2 pounds boneless chicken breast cut into large strips – about 3 ounces each
- 1 ½ teaspoons Kosher salt- divided
- 1 Tablespoon Hungarian paprika- divided
- 1 ½ cups low sodium chicken broth
- 2 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1/4 cup milk – 1% or unsweetened almond, cashew or coconut milk for dairy free option
- Grain such as brown rice sorghum or quinoa
Instructions
- Heat a large saucepan with a lid over medium to medium high heat and add olive oil.
- Add onions and sweat for a about 5 minutes.
- Add 1 teaspoon paprika and 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt and cook for about 3 more minutes.
- Add chicken, an additional teaspoon paprika, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and stir.
- Cook chicken for about 5 minutes and turn pieces over, cook for a few more minutes and then add chicken broth and another teaspoon paprika.
- Cover and lower heat to medium, cooking for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- When chicken is cooked through, remove the pieces to a plate or bowl and set aside.
- In a small bowl add 2 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch with 1/2 cup of the sauce from the pan and stir to combine.
- Add mixture back to the pot with additional 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Stir and turn up the heat to let sauce simmer to thicken for a few minutes.
- Add milk and stir, add back chicken and heat through.
- Add additional salt or paprika if desired to taste.
- Serve over brown rice, sorghum or quinoa.
Notes
Nutrition
Paprika Chicken Label
Such a lovely recipe! I am a big fan of anything with paprika in and have made a few delicious paprikash recipes but slightly different to this one. Anyway, I am always happy to have more chicken and paprika recipes up my sleeve!
Thanks, Corina!!
“Chicky Fricky”…how cute!
I love how certain smells can remind us of our grandma’s. Great post and this chicken looks amazing!
Thanks so much, Brynn! Grandmas bring back the best memories 🙂
Sounds delicious! We are actually having something very similar at our Rehearsal Dinner next month! Both our families have German heritage so we picked an Austrian/German restaurant near our venue. And I love that you can serve this with sorghum, my new favorite grain 🙂
Oh yum! Congratulations!
Love reading about the inspiration behind this recipe – it’s such a famous dish but I don’t think I’ve ever made it – I must!
Thanks, Deanna! I bet it would be good with 1 tsp smoked paprika to kick it up a notch 🙂
Yum! I think paprika is so underutilized, so this is perfect. So funny to think of past generations keeping tubs of animal fat around! Great story!
Thanks so much Kim!
Such a wonderful memory! I love that you liked the dog’s fur smell lol! I am sure this tastes fabulous with the whole grain love too!
I love how food can bring up such fond memories. This recipe looks amazing!
Thanks, Jessica!
Looks delish and simple to make. Amazing to reminisce about lovely memories!
Can’t beat a family recipe! This looks so warm and comforting — perfect for fall!
I have several jars of paprika in my pantry so this will be a great recipe to try!
I just love it when the taste or smell of a food takes you right back to your grandma’s kitchen. It’s the ultimate time machine 🙂