Creamy Paprika Chicken Skillet

Name: Creamy Paprika Chicken Skillet
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 45 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs; 2 teaspoons smoked paprika; 1 teaspoon garlic powder; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/2 teaspoon black pepper; 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1 tablespoon butter; 3 cloves garlic, minced; 1 cup chicken broth; 3/4 cup heavy cream; 2 tablespoons tomato paste; Fresh parsley, chopped, for serving; Cooked egg noodles or rice, for serving

Published by Fork Around & Find Out Kitchen — presented in the Lila editorial voice. Editorial standards

Jump to Recipe

Creamy Paprika Chicken Skillet looks like a rich, slow-cooked dinner, but most of the flavor comes from doing one thing properly at the beginning: browning the chicken thighs hard enough to leave real color in the pan. Smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper season the chicken, and those browned bits become the foundation for a sauce made with garlic, tomato paste, chicken broth, butter, and cream.

Smoked paprika matters here. Regular paprika brings color, but smoked paprika gives the sauce the warm, savory depth that makes it taste like more happened than actually did. Tomato paste gets cooked for a minute before the broth goes in, which takes away the raw taste and deepens the sauce. Once the cream is added, the chicken returns to the skillet and finishes gently until it reaches 165°F and the sauce coats the back of a spoon.

Spoon it over egg noodles or rice and let them catch the sauce. This is one of those dinners where the skillet gets scraped unusually clean, and suddenly everybody is very interested in “helping with dishes.”

Prep20 minutes

Cook25 minutes

Total45 minutes

Serves4 servings

DifficultyEasy

Ingredients

Servings

4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons tomato paste
Fresh parsley, chopped, for serving
Cooked egg noodles or rice, for serving

Instructions

1Season chicken thighs with paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
2Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sear chicken 4 to 5 minutes per side until golden. Remove to a plate.
3Reduce heat to medium. Add butter, then garlic and tomato paste. Stir 1 minute.
4Pour in chicken broth and scrape up browned bits. Simmer 2 minutes.
5Stir in heavy cream. Return chicken to the skillet and simmer 8 to 10 minutes until chicken is cooked through and the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon. Cook poultry until the thickest piece reaches 165°F on an instant-read thermometer.
6Serve over egg noodles or rice. Garnish with parsley.

Nutrition Information

Estimated per serving: 1 of 4 servings.

390Calories

25 gProtein

4 gCarbohydrates

31 gTotal Fat

15 gSaturated Fat

1 gFiber

2 gTotal Sugars

890 mgSodium

165 mgCholesterol

Estimated from the ingredients and quantities in this recipe using standard food-composition values. Brand choices, trimming, cooking loss, optional ingredients, and actual portion size can change the numbers. How we calculate nutrition estimates.

Pro Tips

Smoked paprika is essential — regular paprika is flat by comparison. The smokiness makes the whole dish.
Don't skip the tomato paste. It adds depth and color to the sauce.
Let the sauce reduce until it coats the back of a spoon. Too thin and it won't cling to the chicken.

Substitutions

smoked paprika → sweet paprika plus a dash of liquid smoke Not the same depth, but workable.

heavy cream → sour cream stirred in at the end (off heat) Sour cream gives a tangier, Hungarian-style flavor.

chicken thighs → chicken breasts pounded thin Breasts work but dry out faster. Don't overcook.

Storage Instructions

Refrigerate in sauce for up to 4 days. Reheat gently — don't boil or the cream can break.

Make Ahead

Season the chicken ahead. The cooking takes 25 minutes, so this is already a quick weeknight meal.

Freezing

You can freeze the chicken and paprika sauce, but the cream may separate slightly after thawing. Cool completely, freeze airtight, thaw in the refrigerator, and reheat gently while stirring rather than boiling.

Build the plate