Garlic Chicken with Smokey Paprika

A pan of creamy paprika sauce and four chicken breasts. A spoon with sauce.

Garlic Chicken with Smokey Paprika

This is a fast and easy chicken dinner with a smokey, creamy paprika sauce. We used chicken breasts but if you want to swap it with chicken thighs or drumsticks, increase the cooking time when you simmer the chicken in the sauce (see the notes).

4.89 from 9 votes

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Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 30

Total Time: 50

Servings: servings

Calories: 552kcal

Author: Pat Nyswonger

Ingredients

2 tablespoons smoked paprika divided
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour divided
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
4 boneless (6 oz. each) skinless chicken breasts
4 tablespoons cooking oil
2 teaspoons butter
5 garlic cloves minced
½ cup dry white wine
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1-½ cups chicken broth
½ cup heavy cream
½ cup fine-grate Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
Parsley to garnish

Instructions

In a small dish, combine 1 tablespoon of the paprika, 1 tablespoon of the flour, salt and pepper. Sprinkle the mixture on both sides of the chicken breasts.
In a large skillet set over medium-high, heat the oil, add the chicken and cook for 5 minutes on each side. Transfer to a plate. Note: the chicken will not be fully-cooked but will finish cooking in the sauce.
Reduce the heat to medium. Add the butter and when it has melted stir in the garlic, cooking just until fragrant, about 15-30 seconds. Pour in the white wine, stirring to loosen bits stuck to the pan and cook for 30 seconds to burn off the alcohol. Add the lemon juice, chicken broth and cream. Bring the sauice to a gentle simmer.
In a small dish add the remaining 1 tablespoon of flour, Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning and the remaining 1 tablespoon of paprika. Toss to combine then whisk into the cream sauce cooking for 1 minute until smooth and creamy.
Reduce the heat to low and submerge the chicken breasts into the hot sauce. Simmer for 3-5 minutes, until the chicken breasts have an internal temperature of 165°F. If you have large, thick chicken breasts, you will need to increase the cooking time by a couple of minutes.
Transfer the skillet from the heat, garnish with chopped parsley and

Notes

To use chicken thighs or drumsticks, you will need to simmer the chicken longer (add about 10 minutes to the cook time). Chicken thighs and drumsticks have dark meat and take longer for the connective tissue to break down. Even though they are safe to eat when the internal temp reaches 165°F, they will be more tender if you cook them to 185°F.

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