One-Pot Chicken Paprika Is a Weeknight Winner

If you are looking to expand your family’s palate on weeknights, try this easy, one-pot take on Hungarian chicken paprikash. (Kristina Vanni/TNS)

With traditional paprikash, chicken is served in a thick, creamy paprika sauce over a bed of egg noodles. In this streamlined recipe, you rub a paprika-based spice mixture on bone-in chicken thighs, sear the chicken in a skillet, then toast rice and veggies in the chicken drippings. The chicken goes back into the skillet, then the whole thing goes into the oven for 30 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork, add a few chopped herbs, and dinner is served!

A Few Tips

Use chicken thighs. I prefer them to chicken breasts because they are more flavorful and budget-friendly. Go for the bone-in, skin-on thighs for the most succulent, tender results.

Use sweet or hot paprika. Since paprika is the predominant flavor in this dish, there is a hearty amount in the seasoning blend used on the chicken. Sweet Hungarian paprika or hot paprika will both work in this recipe, so use the kind you enjoy most.

Paprika Chicken

Serves 4

• 1/2 small yellow onion
• 1/2 medium red bell pepper
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon sweet or hot Hungarian paprika
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (4 to 5)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup long-grain white rice
• 1/4 bunch fresh parsley

Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Prepare the following, adding each to the same small bowl as it is completed: Dice the onion (about 1/2 cup) and red bell pepper (about 1/2 cup). Mince the garlic cloves.

Place the Hungarian paprika, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the kosher salt, and black pepper in a small bowl and stir to combine. Rub the spice mixture all over the bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs.

Heat the olive oil in a large high-sided oven-proof skillet or Dutch oven with a lid over medium heat until shimmering. Add the chicken skin-side down and sear undisturbed until the skin is browned and crisp, about 5 minutes. Flip the chicken and cook until the second side is browned, about 5 minutes more. Transfer the chicken to a plate.

Add the onion mixture to the skillet and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the chicken broth, long-grain rice, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Return the chicken thighs and any accumulated juices on the plate to the skillet, arranging the chicken skin-side up.

Cover and transfer the pan to the oven. Bake until the rice absorbs the liquid and is tender, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, pick the leaves from the bunch of fresh parsley until you have 1/4 cup and coarsely chop.

Remove the pot from the oven. Let the chicken and rice rest, covered, for 10 minutes for the rice to finish steaming. Fluff the rice with a fork and garnish with the parsley.

Recipe Note: Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to three days.