Hairy Bikers Chicken Paprika

Hairy Bikers chicken paprika is a one-pot braise of jointed chicken in sweet and hot paprika with red peppers, tomatoes and soured cream. It serves 6 and takes about 1 hour 30 minutes including browning and simmering.

This comes from The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook, Si and Dave’s very first cookbook. The headnote says it’s “great for cooking in advance” and freezes for up to 2 months. That make-ahead quality comes from the flour-thickened sauce holding its texture through reheating.

The flavour trick is using two types of paprika. Si and Dave add a tablespoon each of sweet and hot, which gives warmth and depth without either dominating. Most recipes use one or the other, but the combination is what makes this taste like a proper Hungarian-style paprikás.

Hairy Bikers Chicken Paprika

Recipe by Pinch PerfectCourse: DinnerCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

1

hour 

15

minutes

Calories

545

kcal

Total time

1

hour 

45

minutes

A one-pot chicken braise from The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook, their debut book. Bone-in chicken browned in olive oil and butter, simmered for an hour in a paprika and tomato sauce with red peppers, then finished with 250ml of soured cream and flat-leaf parsley.

Ingredients

• 1 large chicken, jointed (or 2 large chicken legs and 2 breasts, halved)

• salt

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• knob of butter

• 1 onion, chopped

• 2–3 cloves garlic, chopped

• 1 tbsp hot paprika

• 1 tbsp flour

• 285ml chicken stock

• 3 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

• 2 red peppers, deseeded and cut into 1cm strips

• 4 large ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped

• 250ml soured cream

Directions

• Brown the chicken: Rub the chicken pieces with salt. Heat the oil and butter in a large heavy-bottomed pan and brown the chicken all over for a few minutes. Remove and set aside.
• Build the sauce: In the same pan, add the onion and garlic and sweat for about 5 minutes. Add the sweet and hot paprika, then the flour, and stir until combined. Take care not to burn the paprika or it turns bitter.
• Simmer: Add the stock and stir. Return the chicken to the pan, adding more stock if it seems dry. Add half the parsley and bring to the boil. Add the red pepper strips, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and simmer gently for about 1 hour.
• Finish: When the chicken is cooked, remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the soured cream and the remaining parsley. Check the seasoning and serve.

Notes

• Calories (estimated): Whole chicken jointed ~1kg edible (~2,150) + olive oil 30ml (~240) + butter 15g (~107) + onion (~60) + garlic (~8) + paprika (~14) + flour (~29) + stock 285ml (~14) + parsley (~3) + red peppers 300g (~94) + tomatoes 400g (~72) + soured cream 250ml (~465) = ~3,256 kcal ÷ 6 = ~543 kcal → 545 kcal per serving. No calories listed on the official site.

FAQs

Why use two types of paprika?

Sweet paprika gives colour and a mellow, fruity warmth. Hot paprika adds a genuine kick that you feel at the back of your throat. Si and Dave use a tablespoon of each, so neither one overwhelms.

Most supermarket paprika is sweet, which alone would be too mild here. Add cayenne if you can’t find hot paprika, and avoid smoked since it changes the whole character. The sweet-and-hot combination Si and Dave use gives colour, fruitiness and a genuine kick all at once.

Why stir the soured cream in off the heat?

Soured cream splits and curdles if it boils, leaving grainy white lumps in the sauce. Si and Dave remove the pan from the heat before stirring it in, which keeps the cream smooth and glossy.

The cream also cools the sauce slightly, so the first few bites have that warm-but-not-scalding temperature that lets you taste the paprika properly. If you’ve made the Hairy Bikers chicken jalfrezi, the yoghurt in that recipe behaves the same way under heat.

Can I use chicken pieces instead of a whole bird?

Si and Dave give you the option: a whole jointed chicken or 2 large legs and 2 breasts halved. Legs work best for the hour-long simmer because dark meat stays moist. Breast pieces can dry out, so add them 20 minutes after the legs if you’re mixing both.

Bone-in pieces give better flavour because the bones release collagen into the sauce, which makes the liquid silky. Boneless thighs cut the cooking time to about 30 minutes, though the sauce won’t be quite as rich without the bones.

Why simmer for a full hour?

The long, gentle simmer does two things. It cooks the chicken on the bone until the meat is falling-off tender. The tomato and stock also reduce into a thick sauce that clings to every piece.

A shorter cook would leave you with watery sauce and firmer chicken. The flour Si and Dave add with the paprika thickens the sauce from the start, but the hour of simmering gives it real body. Stir occasionally to stop anything catching on the base.

Can I make this ahead?

Yes, and it’s one of those rare dishes where making it ahead actually improves it. Si and Dave say in the headnote that it’s “great for cooking in advance.” Cool it completely after cooking, then refrigerate overnight and reheat gently on the hob until piping hot throughout.

The paprika flavour deepens as it sits, and the sauce thickens further overnight as the flour continues to absorb liquid. Add the soured cream fresh when you reheat rather than the night before, since it thins and separates if heated twice. A splash of stock loosens the sauce back to the right consistency.

How do I freeze chicken paprika?

Cool completely, then transfer to a freezer-proof container without the soured cream. Si and Dave say it keeps for up to 2 months in the freezer. Defrost overnight in the fridge, reheat on the hob until piping hot, then stir in fresh soured cream at the end.

The cream splits during freezing, which is why adding it fresh keeps the sauce smooth and glossy. Individual portions freeze well for weeknight dinners and defrost faster than a full batch. The Hairy Bikers chicken and spinach curry freezes in the same way if you want to build a stash.