Instant Pot Chicken Paprikash
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Chicken paprikash is one of those comforting weeknight dinners that never gets old. My mom and grandmother have made it for years, and it’s always a favorite at the table.
It’s a classic Hungarian-style chicken dinner cooked in a paprika-rich sauce and finished with cream or sour cream. This Instant Pot chicken paprikash is my version of their recipe, adapted for the pressure cooker to make it easier on busy nights.
What you get is tender chicken and a flavorful paprika sauce without hovering over the stove.
What to serve with chicken paprikash?
- Spaetzle: those little German egg noodles that soak up the sauce. My spinach spaetzle is a great option if you want something a bit more colorful.
- Carlsbad dumplings: another great option.
- Pasta: the simplest option I often serve this meal with. Use a small type like elbow pasta or small shell pasta.
- Rice or mashed potatoes: also a solid choice when you want something simple that catches every bit of sauce.
Ingredient substitutions
Chicken stock: Chicken broth works well. You can also use vegetable stock. If using bouillon, dissolve it in hot water and use the same amount of liquid the recipe calls for. If you want to make your own, here’s my Instant Pot chicken stock.
Olive oil: Use any neutral oil such as sunflower, vegetable or avocado oil.
Heavy cream: Sour cream is an amazing alternative, and I use it a lot. The more you add, the richer the sauce. Just make sure you stir it in off the heat to prevent curdling. Half-and-half is another option.
Bone-in chicken thighs: Boneless and skinless thighs work well, as do drumsticks. If you are swapping cuts or using larger pieces, add 3 more minutes to your pressure-cooking time. Boneless thighs don’t need any extra time as they are thin.
Chicken breast: It works, but it can dry out faster than thighs. If using breasts, keep the pieces similar in size and avoid overcooking. If you can, use a quick release once cooking is done.
Recipe FAQ
Cornstarch is the easiest, flavorless thickener. Mix it with a little cold water first, then stir it into the hot sauce at the end and simmer briefly until it thickens. Flour also works, but it needs a bit more care: whisk flour into sour cream (or cream) until smooth, then stir it into the sauce and simmer a few minutes to cook out the raw flour taste.
It’s regular paprika you can buy at any grocery store. Sometimes it is labeled sweet paprika and sometimes just paprika. It means it’s not hot or smoked. (If you have Hungarian sweet paprika, even better.)
Yes, you can. You can follow the instructions for the pressure cooker but instead of cooking under pressure, simmer covered until the chicken is tender, about 40 minutes.
Make ahead
It is possible to make this dinner a day ahead, then reheat either in the Instant Pot or on the stove. When reheating, the sauce might need a splash of cream or milk if it thickened too much.
My tips
- The sauce should be medium-thick to thick, like heavy cream or gravy. What you don’t want is a thin, milk-like consistency. The easiest thickener is cornstarch. Flour whisked into sour cream, then added to the sauce will also work, but it might need a bit more simmering.
- Lemon juice makes the sauce pop and keeps it from tasting flat.
- If you sauté in the Instant Pot first, scrape up any browned bits before pressure cooking. That little step helps prevent the burn notice and it keeps the sauce tasting rich, not bitter.
- When adding sour cream, let the sauce cool for a minute, then stir it in. If you want to be extra safe, stir a spoonful of hot sauce into the sour cream first, then add it back to the pot.
Instant Pot Chicken Paprikash Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 large onion finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 3 tablespoons olive oil see note 1
- 2 pounds skinless chicken thighs , bone-in (900 grams), see note 2
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons sweet paprika see note 3
- 1½ cups chicken stock (360 ml), see note 4
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup heavy cream (240 ml), see note 5
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 5 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with cold water, see note 6
- ½ lemon juice only
Instructions
- Dice 1 large onion and mince 2 garlic cloves.
- Press SAUTÉ on your Instant Pot. Pour 3 tablespoons olive oil into the inner pot. Sauté the onion for a few minutes, then add the garlic and stir for about 30 seconds so it doesn’t burn. Add 2 pounds skinless chicken thighs and cook for a few minutes on each side, just to sear them.
- Add the chicken thighs and sear for a few minutes per side, just until lightly browned.
- Add 1 teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper and 2 tablespoons sweet paprika. Stir so the thighs are coated.
- Pour in 1½ cups chicken stock and add 1 bay leaf. Scrape the bottom of the pot well to remove any stuck-on bits. Close and lock the lid, set the steam release to SEALING. Press PRESSURE COOK (or MANUAL, depending on your model) and set to 5 minutes.
- When the cycle finishes, wait 10 minutes, then carefully release the remaining pressure by turning the valve to VENTING. Remove the lid and discard the bay leaf.
- Press CANCEL. Stir in 1 cup heavy cream and 2 tablespoons sour cream.
- Press SAUTÉ again and add the cornstarch slurry (5 tablespoons cornstarch diluted in a little water) a bit at a time, stirring until the sauce thickens. Simmer briefly if needed.
- Stir in the juice of ½ lemon and taste. Add more seasoning or lemon juice if needed.
- Serve warm.
Video
Notes
- Oil: Olive oil can be substituted with sunflower, vegetable or avocado oil.
- Chicken: Bone-in thighs work best here. Boneless, skinless thighs also work with the same pressure time. You can also use chicken breasts (pressure cook 5 minutes). For extra-large thighs, increase pressure cook time to 7 minutes.
- Paprika: Use regular (sweet) paprika, not smoked.
- Stock: If you don’t have chicken stock, use vegetable stock or chicken broth instead.
- Cream: Heavy cream can be substituted with sour cream. To achieve a smooth and creamy sauce, take about a cup of the sauce from the chicken and mix it with sour cream before you pour this mixture into the pot.
- Cornstarch slurry: If you prefer a thicker sauce, add more cornstarch slurry (cornstarch whisked with a little cold water until smooth). You can start with 3 tablespoons and add more as needed, but from my experience, the sauce doesn’t need more than 5 tablespoons.
- Instant Pot size: This recipe was developed in a 6-quart Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1.
- Timing note: Cook time doesn’t include time to come to pressure or release pressure. Plan on about 15 minutes extra.
- Serving suggestions: small pasta shapes (like elbow pasta), spaetzle or Carlsbad dumplings.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and may vary based on ingredient brands, substitutions, and portion sizes.
This was excellent. I removed the chicken pieces prior to adding the sour cream, heavy cream and corn starch, used an emersion blender to ensure smooth sauce then added chicken back with cauliflower florets. Delicious sauce!
Glad to hear you enjoyed this dish! Thanks for the feedback :)
I’m still getting to know my instant pot and have had quite a few failures. Part of it is cooking at such a high elevation. Denver is 5,280. But this chicken paprikash came out perfectly. I served it over mini-penne. My 15-year-old son loved it and he’s picky. My hubby loved it. I recommend using the best quality paprika you can find. I used smoked dulce (sweet) paprika from Spain. This one is going in the rotation.
Hi Erin, thanks so much for finding time to leave the feedback! I hope you find here more instant pot recipes that you and your family will enjoy!
Fantastic, easy, full of flavor…
Thank you for your comment and rating Maria :) I hope you find some other recipes here that you like.
This is my favorite instapot recipe of all time- I make it at least 2x month! My dads parents are from Hungary and my grandma made this all the time for us! It passed the test with my dad and he loves it as does my husband, 17 year old, 10 year old and picky 7 year old. Great job!! Thank you!!
Your comment made my day, Anne! :) I am so happy that you love this recipe and make it often. Thanks so much for finding time to write the feedback.
Ok so I never knew that chicken paprikash was so yummy. It’s made with sour cream of all things! This is the easiest comfort food that my kids will actually eat.
Can you use potato starch instead of cornstarch? I’ve heard it works better if you plan to save cream based dishes in the refrigerator.
I am afraid I won’t be able to help you here as I have never tried it myself. If you do, please let me know!
This recipe is one of my absolute favorites! It’s a huge hit with my family. I serve it over rice since I’m gf, and it never disappoints! I’ve taken to adding a package of sliced baby portabella mushrooms to make it a complete meal. It’s one of the most delicious and comforting things you’ll make in your IP! Thank you for sharing! 🙂
I am so happy to hear this, Tiffany! Mushrooms are a great addition! My mom used to make this with wild mushrooms when they were in season. Thanks for finding time to comment and rate this recipe.
Just made this and OMG it is flat out the best dish I’ve every made in my instant pot, and I use it a good 3 to 4 nights a week!!!! I’m addicted!! This recipe should win Nobel prizes! If we only gave this dish to North Korea all our problems would simply be forgotten as that delicious, creamy, decadent sauce washes down their throat. . . Well done girl!! Well done indeed!! Thanks for sharing!!!!
:) You are welcome, Rick! Thanks for the comment.
Hello, I just made this recipe, well, partially. Chicken is cooked and waiting for husband to come home before I add the cream and sour cream. One tweak is that I floured the chicken, seasoning the flour with salt and pepper, and paprika and smoked paprika, hoping it wouldn’t need the corn starch. Sauce tastes great. If i need cornstarch, it will only be a small bit. Thanks for the inspiration!
Hi Julie! Thank you for finding time to comment :) You don’t need to add cornstarch at all if you are OK with the sauce thickness or if you don’t feel like using it. Some people don’t mind it thin. Your version sounds delicious and I hope you enjoyed it! :)
Hello, could you tell me if you cooked the chicken at high or low pressure for 5mins? Thanks!
Hi Ritika. The chicken is cooked at high pressure.
I just found your site and, boy, am I glad I did! Made this for my friend’s Eastern Bloc Party potluck (get it?!) tonight. Soooo easy! I used boneless, skinless thighs (2lbs). The only thing I changed was to add 1 more TBS of sour cream (which, by the way, you don’t specifically mention in the written directions…but I watched the extremely helpful video and it showed when to add it). Adding the lemon juice was key! Don’t skip this! I like things verrrrry mild, but some of you may want to spice it up a bit w/ more black pepper. Anyway, my roommate and I give it two thumbs up (haven’t taken it to the party yet) and she said “Let’s definitely make this again!” Thank you!
Hi Gwen. I am so happy to hear that you and your roommate loved this dish! :) And you are absolutely right about the lemon juice – it completes the dish and gives it the amazing flavor! I have already fixed the mistake in the recipe card – thanks for pointing that out and thanks so much for the feedback!
Thanks for this wonderful recipe. Was a big hit in my house last night! I used chicken breasts because it’s what I had on hand. So Good!! Served over cauliflower rice!
I am so happy to hear that, Sandra! Thank you for your feedback!
Not sure why but the sauce turned out way lighter than in the picture and did not thicken. I followed the recipe exactly so not sure where I went wrong!
Christine, this can only be down to the corn starch. As with many products, each corn starch can be of a different quality. I suggest adding more next time you make it. Also if not sure how much more to add, then do it in 2 stages. Add half of the cornstarch, mix and cook for about 2 minutes. If you feel like the consistency is not to your liking, add the rest and again cook for a minute or two. Hope this helps.
Liquids need to be brought to boiling temps when adding a cornstarch or flour slurry, then reduced and simmered for a couple of minutes, to thicken. It won’t thicken properly if it doesn’t reach boiling temp.
Well it does look good, but however as I’m a Full blooded Hungarian we do not use chicken stock but chopped up,tomatoes and green peppers. Heavy cream and sour cream is not added to the dish, sour cream is used as a garnish afterwards. Normally you chop up 2-3 onions sauté it, add garlic, then chicken thighs, I prefer the bone in ones as it makes a better sauce. Add Hungarian paprika, different taste then sweet paprika, salt and pepper. Chop up 4-5 large tomatoes and sauté it for a while and add chopped green peppers. Add water to cover all, manual for 8 minutes. NPR for 10 minutes, then open and add cornstarch or flour to thicken. The onions, bones and tomatoes make the sauce. Pour over noodles and garnish with sour cream. This is how I was taught by my grandmother and mother and all of us were born in Hungary.
Hi Julie! I am happy to hear you like this even though is different from the original Hungarian recipe. I would love to use Hungarian paprika and when I go to Hungary I always buy some. However, this paprika is not available in other countries so I can’t use it as I don’t have it on hand.:) I also don’t state that this is traditional Hungarian paprikash. I appreciate you found time to write how you were taught to make it.
Not sure what State you r in but Publix carries Hungarian Paprika both sweet and hot. It is sold in a red can and it is from Szeged. You can buy it off Amazon as well. The cans are around $4.99 each. The taste will be totally different.
I buy locally and use Szeged, too. I use the tomatoes and red or green bell peppers, also, but a large instant pot requires at least 1.5 cups of liquid, so the chicken broth in this recipe makes sense in that respect. I’ve garnished with sour cream, but I’m eager to try the cream in this recipe, because anything with cream in it appeals to me, and I think I’d love that as a variation on the traditional. I’m not Hungarian, though, so I’m open to a delicious riff on the original.
They original recipe was “okay”. I added the vegetables as you suggested to the leftovers, and added some additional Hungarian paprika, hot variety, as I had already used Hungarian Sweet Paprika (both are readily available in the states btw, at literally any grocery store). The results were much improved, thank you, so I jotted down the ingredients for future reference.
Why don’t you just write up your recipe and place it on another site instead of complaining about someone else’s recipe?
We are also Hungarian and would never put peppers in our Csirke Paprikas. We always added the sour cream to the dish prior to serving as well.
We would also NEVER serve with pasta of any kind, it has to be nokedli. If there was no time to make nokedli than at least tarhonya.
I’d say this is an excellent example of American Csirke Paprikas. It’s very close to what we grew up with :) Thank you.
Thanks for your comment, KrissyLynn. My grandmother would make little dumplings, like spaetzle (perhaps these would be similar to your nokedli) to go with it and it tastes so good, but I rarely make those with this dish as pasta are more convenient :). Happy cooking!
Ok, it’s official. I NEED a instant pot!! This looks soooo comforting and delicious!
Yes, you do! :) :) Thank you!
I love my Instant Pot. I loved it so much, I even bought one for my mom. My family would love this dish!
Instant pot is amazing, isn’t it! :)
This looks delicious. So full of flavor, and that sauce looks amazing. Maybe Santa will bring me an instant pot.
Thank you, Debi! :)
Yay! I was waiting for some Instant Pot Indian recipes to come my way:) Thanks for sharing your recipes!
I believe Chicken paprikash is a Hungarian dish :) but I highly recommend you give it a go!
Oh my goodness! These looks super good! Love comfort food any time of year, especially now. Gotta try this one out soon :)
Thank you, Dawn!
Can I double this recipe
Yes, you can. I’d say you would need to saute the chicken into 2 batches though. The cooking time should be the same if the pot is not overfilled. However, note that it may take longer for the pot to come to the pressure.
I LOVE making chicken in my Instant Pot! Will definitely have to try this recipe next! That sweet paprika, sour cream and heavy cream combo is making my mouth water!
You will love it, Sarah! :)