Paprika Chicken with a Creamy Sauce
Paprika Chicken with a Creamy Sauce has been floating around in my head for a while now, mostly because something about tender chicken cooked in a rich paprika sauce and served with garlic butter potatoes tickles exactly the right part of my brain. Today, working from home and looking for something comforting for lunch, I finally gave in and made it. Honestly, it was even better than I’d imagined.
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Paprika Chicken with a Creamy Sauce
My paprika chicken with a creamy sauce is rich, savoury and packed with flavour, with chicken marinated in sweet and smoked paprika before being baked until tender. The sauce combines French shallots, white wine, cream and the cooked marinade for plenty of depth without making the dish feel heavy. I love this one for an easy dinner when I want something comforting but still simple, especially with asparagus, potatoes or buttery pasta on the side.
Ingredients
Chicken & Marinade
- 500g chicken breast
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 4 tsp sweet paprika
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp garlic salt
- 2 tsp dried oregano
Sauce
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large French shallot, finely diced
- 4 tbsp reserved marinade
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 200ml cooking cream
- 2 tsp chicken stock paste
- Sea salt flakes, to taste
Instructions
Chicken
- In a large bowl, mix together the olive oil, sweet paprika, smoked paprika, garlic salt and oregano.
- Add the chicken breast and turn well to coat in the marinade. Set aside to marinate for 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 200°C (conventional) / 180°C (fan) / 400°F / Gas Mark 6.
- Transfer the chicken to a baking dish, reserving 4 tablespoons of the marinade for the sauce.
- Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the thickest part reaches 75°C.
- Remove from the oven and set aside to rest while you prepare the sauce.
Sauce
- Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the shallot and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until soft and translucent.
- Add the reserved marinade and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring regularly, until it is sizzling thoroughly and cooked through.
- Pour in the white wine and simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the wine has almost completely reduced and been absorbed into the shallots.
- Stir through the cooking cream and chicken stock paste until well combined.
- Bring the sauce to a gentle bubble and cook for about 30 seconds, then remove from the heat. Taste and season with sea salt flakes if needed.
- Slice the rested chicken, arrange on serving plates and spoon the creamy paprika sauce generously over the top. Serve immediately.
Notes
- The combination of sweet and smoked paprika gives this sauce plenty of paprika flavour without making it overwhelmingly smoky.
- Fifteen minutes is plenty of marinating time here, as the paprika, garlic salt and oregano coat the chicken directly in the olive oil.
- The reserved marinade has been in contact with raw chicken, so it must be thoroughly cooked before the remaining sauce ingredients are added. Cook it over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring regularly, until it is sizzling throughout.
- Don't skip the wine reduction. Letting the wine cook down almost completely concentrates its flavour and prevents the finished cream sauce tasting sharp or boozy.
- Cooking cream is particularly useful here because it handles heat well and gives the sauce a smooth, creamy consistency.
- Chicken stock paste adds savoury depth and also brings salt, so taste the finished sauce before adding any additional seasoning.
- Rest the chicken before slicing so the juices have a chance to settle rather than running out onto the plate.
- Chicken breast thickness can vary considerably, so use the cooking time as a guide and check that the thickest part has reached 75°C.
- This sauce is deliberately spooned over the sliced chicken rather than used to cook it, which keeps the chicken nicely roasted while still giving you plenty of creamy sauce with every bite.
- Serve with mashed potatoes, roasted baby potatoes, rice or plenty of crusty bread for mopping up the sauce.
- Store leftovers in a tightly sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat gently so the cream sauce doesn't split.
- This dish is best served fresh rather than frozen, as cream-based sauces can change texture after freezing and defrosting.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 224Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 2gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 87mgSodium: 123mgCarbohydrates: 5gFiber: 2gSugar: 2gProtein: 33g
Please note, this nutrition information is to be used as a guide only. Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.
Serve this with
- Serve with my Creamy Mashed Potatoes for a proper comfort-food dinner. The smooth mash soaks up the smoky paprika and sour cream sauce beautifully and works perfectly with the tender chicken.
- Pair with my Garlic Butter Baby Potatoes for something a little more textured. Their crisp edges, buttery centres and mellow garlic flavour are brilliant with the creamy paprika sauce.
- Add Buttery Grilled Green Beans on the side for freshness and a little char. They cut through the rich sour cream sauce nicely without competing with the paprika chicken.
The Comfort Food I Needed
After more than a week of feeling absolutely rubbish, I finally had enough energy yesterday to cook something properly comforting. I’d been thinking about this Creamy Paprika Chicken for ages, and by that point it was exactly what I wanted. Nothing too complicated, nothing that required hours standing over the stove, just beautifully seasoned chicken and a rich, creamy sauce with enough paprika to make everything feel warm and cosy.
The chicken breast is marinated first in olive oil, sweet paprika, smoked paprika, garlic salt and oregano, then baked in the oven until cooked through. I love using both sweet and smoked paprika here because you get plenty of warmth and flavour without the smoke taking over. While the chicken rests, the sauce comes together with finely diced French shallots, the leftover marinade, dry white wine and cream. The marinade gets properly cooked with the shallots first, then the wine reduces down before the cream goes in, carrying all that paprika flavour through the finished sauce.
Unfortunately, while the recipe itself turned out beautifully, my photographs on Saturday absolutely did not. The food tasted amazing, but the styling just wasn’t working and I knew as soon as I looked back through the photos that I wasn’t happy with them. Thankfully, I had plenty of sauce left over, so today I simply made the chicken again and gave the whole thing another go. Much better. Sometimes recipe development is getting the food right. Sometimes it’s getting the photograph right three days later because the first attempt annoyed you every time you looked at it. Either way, I finally have the photos this recipe deserved.
Maybe Sydney Isn’t the Answer
Being sick did give me a ridiculous amount of time to think, though, and apparently somewhere between the coughing and sleeping I had a bit of a revelation. I’ve been talking for months about eventually moving back to Sydney with my family, treating it almost as though it were the obvious next step. But once I actually stopped and looked at it properly, I realised something fairly important. Moving to Sydney isn’t necessarily going to improve my quality of life at all.
I’d probably be paying what I pay now for a worse flat. My salary wouldn’t suddenly leap upwards just because I’d crossed the border into New South Wales, and everyday life would be considerably more expensive. So what exactly am I trying to gain? Being closer to family matters enormously, obviously, but if the practical reality of Sydney leaves me with less space, less money and no real improvement to my day-to-day life, then perhaps I’ve been focusing so much on the idea of going “home” that I haven’t stopped to ask whether Sydney actually feels like home anymore.
Because if I could genuinely choose anywhere I’ve lived, I know the answer. Adelaide. I talk about Adelaide differently. I miss it constantly. From the first time I stepped off the plane, something about the city felt right to me, and that feeling never really went away. The food, the weather, the pace of life, the culture, even just wandering around the city, it all suited me. I mentioned my little revelation to my best friend in Adelaide, and unsurprisingly he was quite happy to hear it. Nothing is decided, and I’m not packing boxes tomorrow, but for the first time in a while I feel like I’m thinking about where I actually want to live rather than where I think I’m supposed to go.
A Quiet Weekend and Five Days Off
For now, however, I’m staying firmly in Brisbane and keeping things relatively relaxed. I’m finally coming out the other side of being sick, so I’m trying not to immediately fill every available day with cooking simply because I’ve got my energy back. I know myself well enough to know how quickly “I’ll just make one recipe” becomes three recipes, a kitchen full of dishes, and me wondering why I’m exhausted again.
I’ve got five days off, which naturally makes part of my brain want to turn the entire break into a miniature Cooking with Bry production schedule. But the last time I did that, I somehow managed to burn myself out with everything except cooking. So this time I’m attempting something revolutionary. Restraint. Maybe one or two recipes, some proper rest, and absolutely no convincing myself that annual leave is actually unpaid culinary boot camp.
Anything I do cook can also be cheerfully dumped on Mum and my little sister, which solves my perpetual problem of producing far more food than one person could reasonably eat. Everybody wins. I get to play in the kitchen, they get containers of whatever I’ve been meddling with, and my freezer gets a brief reprieve before I inevitably fill it again. For now, though, I’m simply pleased that this Creamy Paprika Chicken is finally done, photographed properly, and ready to share. After thinking about it for so long, and making the chicken twice to get the photos right, I can safely say it was worth the wait.
Frequently asked questions
Why is it essential to cook the reserved marinade before making the sauce?
The reserved marinade has been in direct contact with raw chicken, so it needs to be thoroughly cooked before the wine, cream and stock paste are added. Simmering it over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring regularly, ensures the mixture is sizzling throughout and any harmful bacteria from the raw chicken are destroyed. Don’t simply warm it through or stir it straight into the cream sauce.
Can I use chicken thighs instead of chicken breast?
Yes. Boneless, skinless chicken thighs work well and stay particularly juicy, although they may need a little longer in the oven depending on their size. Use the internal temperature rather than the clock as your guide and cook them until the thickest part reaches 75°C.
What can I use instead of cooking cream?
Thickened cream works well, although it’s a little more prone to reducing or splitting if boiled too aggressively. Keep the sauce at a gentle bubble rather than a hard boil. Crème fraîche can also work if you’d like a slightly tangier sauce, but it will change the overall flavour.
Ingredient breakdown
Chicken breast
Chicken breast works particularly well here because the paprika marinade coats the outside while the oven gives it a lightly roasted finish. Choose similarly sized breasts where possible so they cook at roughly the same rate, and slice them only after resting so they stay juicy.
Olive oil
Olive oil forms the base of the marinade, carrying the paprika, oregano and garlic salt evenly over the chicken. A smaller amount is used again for softening the shallot before the sauce is built.
Sweet paprika
Sweet paprika provides most of the paprika flavour and the deep red colour without adding significant heat. Using it as the main paprika keeps the marinade rich and savoury rather than overly smoky.
Smoked paprika
Smoked paprika adds depth and a gentle smoky character. It’s used in a smaller quantity than the sweet paprika so it rounds out the flavour without dominating the chicken or cream sauce.
Garlic salt
Garlic salt seasons the chicken while adding an easy layer of garlic flavour throughout the marinade. Because it already contains salt, and the stock paste adds more seasoning later, taste the sauce before adding any extra sea salt.
Dried oregano
Oregano gives the marinade a savoury herbal note that works particularly well with paprika. Dried oregano is useful here because its concentrated flavour stands up well to both roasting and the creamy sauce.
French shallot
French shallot forms the aromatic base of the sauce, adding sweetness and a mild onion flavour without making it heavy. Cooking it gently before adding the marinade gives it time to soften properly and blend into the finished sauce.
Reserved marinade
The reserved marinade carries the same paprika, oregano and garlic flavours from the chicken into the sauce, tying both parts of the dish together. Because it has been in contact with raw chicken, it must be thoroughly cooked before the wine and cream are added.
Dry white wine
White wine brings acidity and depth, helping balance the richness of the cream. A dry wine works best because the sauce doesn’t need additional sweetness. As it reduces, the flavour becomes more concentrated and integrates with the shallot and paprika.
Cooking cream
Cooking cream gives the sauce its smooth, rich texture while being especially forgiving over heat. It works well with the concentrated paprika mixture and produces a creamy sauce without needing flour or another thickener.
Chicken stock paste
Chicken stock paste adds concentrated savoury flavour and strengthens the sauce without adding much extra liquid. It also contributes salt, which is why the finished sauce should be tasted before any additional seasoning is added.
Sea salt flakes
Sea salt flakes are used only for final adjustment because several other ingredients already contribute seasoning. Add them after the sauce is finished rather than seasoning heavily at the beginning.
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