Instant Pot Chicken Paprikash
Love comfort food? Try this instant pot chicken paprikash! Easy-to-pull-apart chicken thighs cooked in plenty of creamy sauce are ready in less than 30 minutes.
Chicken paprikash is one of my favorite dinners. My mom and grandmother have been making this dish for years and we all love it!
This instant pot chicken paprikash is my pressure cooker version of their recipe with some minor changes. Guys, if you haven’t tried this easy dish, you gotta do it soon! It will become your family’s favorite meal!
Making instant pot chicken paprikash is easy and quick. You can enjoy this delicious dinner in about 30 minutes and that my friends, is pretty cool!
By the way, since I bought Instant Pot I’ve been using it like crazy! I made a few easy instant pot meals, so if you wanna check them out, here they are:
Step-by-step how to make chicken paprikash in instant pot
Turn on the instant pot and press the SAUTE function. Pour in olive oil and add diced onion. Sauté for about a minute before adding minced garlic. Now stir this frequently. You don’t want the garlic get burnt. When the onion has translucent color, add in the chicken pieces.
Sauté these on both sides. You don’t want to cook them much, all you are after is locking the juices inside the chicken.
When this is done, season them with salt, pepper and the most important ingredient – paprika. Without paprika chicken paprikash wouldn’t be paprikash! So be generous!
Now what I do is I give everything a good mix with a wooden spoon. I want my chicken pieces coated with the seasoning before I add the chicken stock in.
After all the ingredients are in the pot, you just lock the lid and set the MANUAL function to 5 minutes.
You can do 10 minute natural pressure release or wait completely until the pin drops down itself – you will not overcook the chicken.
The last stage of this Instant Pot chicken paprikash is simple. Press SAUTE again and pour in whipping cream and give it a stir. To make the sauce extra creamy I added cornstarch diluted in water. So bring the sauce to a boil and you can now turn off the pot. It should still be cooking for about 2 minutes which is exactly all you need here.
Now the last and most important ingredient is lemon juice. The juice gives the sauce nice flavor and cannot be omitted. Without it, you will have bland sauce, unless you increase the amount of seasoning. However, the lemon juice is as important as the paprika.
Ingredient substitutions
- Chicken stock – vegetable stock can be used as well as chicken broth.
- Olive oil – If you don’t have olive oil, use butter or vegetable/sunflower oil.
- Whipping cream – sour cream is another delicious option.
- Chicken thighs, bone-in – chicken thighs, boneless are fine to use, chicken drumsticks as well and so are chicken breasts. Cooking time could vary slightly. This would depend on the type and size of the pieces as well. If you are not sure, I suggest increasing the cooking time by 1 minute or letting the pressure drop naturally – which will prolong its cooking time slightly.
So guys, if you are looking for Easy Instant Pot Recipes, this pressure cooker chicken paprikash is definitely one of them!
Watch how to make chicken paprikash
Instant Pot Chicken Paprikash
Ingredients
- 1 onion , large
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 pounds skinless chicken thighs , bone-in (900 grams)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons sweet paprika
- 1 bay leaf
- 1½ cup chicken stock
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 5 tablespoons corn starch
- ½ lemon or more to taste
Instructions
- Dice the onion and mince garlic.
- Press “SAUTE” function on your Instant Pot. Pour 3 tablespoons of olive oil in the inner pot. Add the onion and garlic. Sauté this for a few minutes. Stir frequently to avoid burning the garlic. In about 3 minutes, add the chicken thighs. Cook them on both sides for a few minutes. All you need is to lock the juices inside.
- Add salt, pepper and sweet paprika. Stir everything around with a wooden spoon so the thighs are coated with the seasoning.
- Throw in bay leaf and pour in the chicken stock. Close and lock the lid, set the steam release to “SEALING” position. Press “MANUAL” and adjust the time to 5 minutes.
- After the cycle is finished, wait for 10 minutes before releasing the pressure manually.
- Press "SAUTE" and pour in heavy cream, sour cream and cornstarch diluted in little water.
- At last, squeeze in the juice of ½ lemon and taste. Add more seasoning or lemon juice, if needed.
- Serve with dumplings, or pasta of your choice.
Video
Notes
- Chicken thighs are the best to use here, but you can also use drumsticks or chicken breasts (bear in mind the cooking time might vary slightly).
- Cream can be substituted with sour cream (to achieve smooth and creamy sauce, take about a cup of the juice from chicken and mix with sour cream before you pour this mixture into the inner pot).
- If you don’t have chicken stock, use vegetable stock or chicken broth instead.
- If you prefer a thicker sauce, add more cornstarch (always dilute this in a little water first).
- This recipe was made in a 6 quart/6 liter instant pot.
- The cooking time does not include time needed for the pot coming to the pressure and also time needed to release the pressure. Count with extra 15 minutes.
This was my 1st meal I made with my new Intant Pot. Everyone loved it even though I had to omit the sourcream and used coffee 1/2&1/2 cream. Would have liked the sauce a bit thicker though. (Sour cream would’ve helped but can’t use it) I’ll make it again for sure. Thank you, Julia!
You are welcome, Cyndy!
This was the 5th recipe I have made from this blog, every single one was excellent! I don’t often find food bloggers that fit my exact cooking style (easy, affordable, no weird ingredients and finger lickin gooood family food!).
Got a big new fan here I am going to keep trying your recipes, they seem extremely reliable!
Hi Angelika! Thanks so much for your feedback. It always makes my day when I see readers coming back trying more recipes and more importantly enjoying them! Thanks again for finding time to comment.
Sooooo My grandmother is Slovak. I used your recipe (sort of) and mixed it with what she does.
Basically a can of evaporated milk in place of the cream and a lot more paprika.
Turned out great with the halusky I made :) thanks!
Thanks so much for finding time to comment, Mark! I will try using evaporated milk next time I make it, it sounds like a great substitution. My mom often makes this with halusky, me not so much but they are the best, aren’t they? :)
I made this tonight, and I was feeling like it needed some veggies, so I shredded up some frozen zucchini I had from the garden and threw it in there (don’t hate me… It was imperceptible) and we had it with bowtie pasta. My family loved it. I also used smoked Spanish paprika because that is what I had.
Since we ate all the chicken tonight and still had leftover sauce, my family requested that I make it again tomorrow. Haha.
Thanks for the recipe!
You are welcome, Marcie! Glad to hear it was a hit in your family. :) You can just re-heat the sauce with some rotisserie chicken as well.
I was entranced by this recipe but made a few changes. I had to use 2 chicken breasts diced and a pkg of chicken wings. I also added a tbs of Turmeric for its ‘warmth’. Delicious recipe and so easy to make. Oh, next time I would brown the chicken BEFORE sauteing the onions and garlic
I added Turmeric also! So good.
Delicious!
This was really good! However I wouldn’t thicken the sauce with corn starch, I would use regular flour instead. It was too custard like :) but otherwise the flavour was great! Almost like my grandma used to make.
After watching a friend make chicken paprikash, I have never tried making it myself because I thought it was too complicated.
But I loved hers, and really wanted to enjoy it again.
Now thanks to your recipe and my 8 quart Instant Pot I’m able to make it simply and easily in one pot.
Thank you for your recipe!
You are welcome, Linda. :) Thanks so much for your for your feedback!
I’ve just realized how remiss I have been in not reviewing this sooner. I’ve made this on numerous occasions, and by far it’s a firm favorite with everyone!
Personally I leave out the sour cream as for 2 tablespoons I don’t think it’s worth buying it, and also feel the lemon makes it a bit too tart for our taste.
It’s absolutely delicious and so easy to make.
Today I doubled the recipe so there will e plenty in the freezer ;)
My family loves this recipe. I have made it four times now, with no substitutions, and we have loved it every time.
That is so good to hear, Erin. Thanks so much for finding time to leave the feedback!
The whole family lives this recipe!!! Question, how can I make this a soup??? I don’t want to add broth, will just dilute it.
Hi Jessica. I am afraid I won’t be able to help as I have never tried it. Please do let us know if you decide to experiment!
When I make this I serve it with rice. The next day I warm it up, add more paprika and add dill. I also add more stock and left over rice. Yum
Yum! So easy and delicious, one of our favorites! Finally something my kid will eat too. I use chicken breast, and never have the bay leaf, but don’t think I’m missing much without it. We also go heavy on the paprika and lemon, and it is so flavorful! Thank you!
You are welcome :) Thanks so much for finding time to leave feedback and rating!
I tried this recipe for the family I nanny for. The mother is Hungarian so I figured I would give it a shot. They don’t like chicken thighs, so I used chicken breasts instead and added extra onion and they loved it! Now I’m making it for myself today.
Thanks so much for finding time to leave the feedback, Emily. I am so happy to hear you and your nanny’s family loved it. Perhaps try and make our Langos for them too! :)
I’m new to the world of instapot cooking. I found it intimidating and was scared of having an explosion. But this week I’ve made 2 dinners, and feel like I’m over the intimidation. Your chicken paprikash was easy but more importantly delicious. It is our favorite meal at a local Hungarian restaurant, what a joy to discover we can enjoy this at home. Thank you for such a good treasure! It will be part of our regulars!
Thanks so much for finding time to leave the feedback and rating, Luann James. We have a good collection of easy instant pot recipes on the blog so hopefully you will find something more to try! Happy Instant Pot Cooking!
I’ve made this and it’s delicious. I’m wondering if it can be frozen and reheated.
Hi Julie. Sorry for the late reply. I don’t recommend freezing dishes with any kind of cream in it as they tend to change their texture after thawing. But, you could follow the instructions up to step 5, then freeze it and finish it off after you thaw it (on a stovetop or in instant pot). Hope this helps!
I’ll make it again, but there’s WAY too much cornstarch. It turned the sauce into thick sludge. Maybe one or two tablespoons, not five.
Hi Kim. Thanks for your feedback. It is important to use measuring tablespoons (leveled) when measuring. However, sometimes our readers say it was not enough so it depends on the process of adding it in. You can add less by all means next time. I will make the instructions clearer so.
Loved the recipe! I bought everything to make this but got held up at work, so my boyfriend offered to start it. To put into context, I think my boyfriend has followed a recipe maybe 3 times in his life, and I have only ever seen him make grilled meat or microwaved vegetables. It was simple enough that even he was able to follow the instructions and have it turn out delicious. Ours was a lot lighter color, but I think that was more the paprika we had on hand to use. My boyfriend said he is adding it to his repertoire, and I can’t be more excited! :)
Thanks so much for your feedback, Liz! I am happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe :)
Accident my mixed up the amounts of sweet paprika and corn starch. Oops about 4tbs went in before I realized hopefully still good. In Aus so hard to find Hungarian paprika so hoping the regular one will do. Just stumbled upon your site but so many good looking recipes. Excited. Added mushrooms and had already roughly cut chicken breast so hoping it’s ok substitute.
Hi Jodie. Thanks for your comment. I hope the paprikas turned out good for you. Normal paprika works just fine so don’t worry about that!
I’ve made this many times in my instant pot and the whole family always love it. I’m looking for slow cooker or Dutch oven conversion so I can make when visiting parents who don’t have an instant pot.
Hi Mandy. For Dutch oven I would follow the recipe but instead of pressure cooking I would probably cook it (first bring to a boil and then simmer on low-medium, preferably covered) until the chicken is soft or fork-tender. Count with at least 40 minutes. Then finish off following the recipe. Hope this helps.
Just finished it in my ninja 9in1, used to do it on hob. Its grear User soured cream and added a bit of hot paprika too, it nice, just leant that when pressure cooking need to add more salt and spices than on hob and nailed it