Easy Chicken Goulash

A quick and easy midweek twist on a classic, this Easy Chicken Goulash is just as delicious as a traditional beef goulash but is ready in half the time!

A question I am often asked, is which of the 350+ recipes on Easy Peasy Foodie is my favourite. It’s a question I find impossible to answer – I have so many favourites!!

But there are definitely a small group of recipes that I just adore and make again and again. My Easy Hungarian Beef Goulash is one such recipe. It’s truly one of those ‘greater than the sum of its parts’ recipes.

A recipe where just a few simple ingredients are chucked in a pot, and the pot put in the oven. A few hours later something utterly magical has happened and those simple ingredients have transformed into utter deliciousness.

The only trouble with my beef goulash is that it takes 2h15 from start to finish. So definitely not one for busy weeknights (though now I’m itching to try it out in my new pressure cooker to see if I can make it much quicker!!)

So, how to make goulash in less time?

The answer is to make a chicken version. Now prior to making one myself, I’m not sure I’d ever seen a chicken goulash recipe, but I was pretty confident that it would work – I mean chicken with bacon, peppers, tomatoes, paprika and caraway sounded a pretty good idea in my head (and to my stomach!!!).

So, I gave it a whirl and it worked beautifully. I have substituted chicken thigh, in place of the stewing beef and slightly increased the caraway (as it seemed to need it) and more than halved the cooking time.

The result? All the delicious flavours of a traditional beef goulash in less than half the time!

What is goulash?

Goulash is a type of Hungarian soup or stew. It is usually made using beef (or sometimes pork or lamb) and seasoned with paprika and caraway. It’s traditionally served with noodles and is considered the national dish of Hungary.

Although it’s not traditionally made with chicken the delicious flavours of paprika and caraway work really well with chicken and means it can be ready in a much shorter time frame. A delicious Hungarian twist to chicken stew!

Other benefits of using chicken in goulash

Not only does using chicken instead of beef mean this goulash is quicker to cook, but it is also lower in calories than the beef version and cheaper too (based on current UK prices) – all together WIN WIN!

Better still, just like the beef version, this Easy Chicken Goulash is suitable for freezing. So why not make double and freeze half? That way you know you’ve got a very easy peasy homemade ready meal to eat on a super busy evening in the future.

What to serve with chicken goulash?

I like to serve this Easy Chicken Goulash with a mix of white and wild rice (you can buy it ready mixed in the supermarkets). But it’s also great with crusty bread, pasta, baked potatoes or mash. I like it with a generous dollop of sour cream on the top, but you can leave that out if you want to keep the calories down!

What to drink with chicken goulash?

I would drink a Southern French or Spanish Grenache based wine with this Easy Chicken Goulash – either red or rosé would work well. Something like a Côtes du Rhône or a Garnacha heavy Rioja would be good, although you can generally find better value if you go for a Southern French Grenache or Spanish Garnacha which doesn’t feature the big names.

If it simply must be white, then Sauvignon Blanc also works well with this type of tomatoey chicken stew as well as the paprika and peppers.

More delicious chicken recipes…

If you like this recipe you might like these other easy chicken versions of classics…

• Easy Chicken Rogan Josh
• Chicken Shish Kebabs
• Chicken Chilli Con Carne
• Easy Chicken Mole
• Easy Peasy Chicken Pie

Print Pin

5 from 5 votes

Easy Chicken Goulash

A quick an easy midweek twist on a classic, this Easy Chicken Goulash is just as delicious as a traditional beef goulash but is ready in half the time! (Serves 4-6 depending on appetite and accompaniments)

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Course Main Course

Cuisine Eastern European, Hungarian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 6 people

Calories 449kcal

Author Eb Gargano

Ingredients

Metric - US Customary

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 medium onions sliced
• 1 green (bell) pepper sliced
• 1 red (bell) pepper sliced
• 90 g smoked lardons or chopped streaky bacon (I use the little packs of Tesco Finest Lardons)
• 4 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 3 cloves garlic crushed or grated
• 800g g chicken thigh cut into bite size pieces
• 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
• Salt and pepper to taste

To serve...

• Rice or pasta/mash/baked potatoes/bread
• Sour cream optional
• 2 tablespoons parsley optional

Instructions

• Put the onion, peppers and olive oil in a large saucepan and fry gently, with the lid on for 5 minutes, until the onions and peppers are softened but not brown.
• Add the lardons (or chopped streaky bacon) and turn up the heat. Fry for 3 minutes until the lardons, peppers and onions have a little colour.
• Turn down the heat and add the paprika, caraway seeds and garlic. Fry for 1 minute.
• Add the chicken, tinned tomatoes, salt and pepper and bring to the boil.
• Turn down the heat, put the lid on and cook for 45 minutes. Add a little splash of water if it gets too dry. Alternatively you can cook this stew in the oven. Cook at 180C (160C fan/ gas mark 4 / 350F)  for the same length of time (or longer!)
• Serve with rice, sour cream and a sprinkling of parsley.

Notes

This Easy Chicken Goulash will be perfectly cooked and delicious after 45 minutes, but can be cooked for up to 1h30 if you need it to – a longer cook will result in a more concentrated and more developed flavour.

This goulash can also be cooked in a slow cooker: follow the recipe as above then transfer to your slow cooker and cook for 3 hours on high or 6 hours on low.

Suitable for freezing.

Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.

Nutrition Facts

Easy Chicken Goulash

Amount Per Serving

Calories 449 Calories from Fat 297

% Daily Value*

Fat 33g51%

Saturated Fat 8g50%

Cholesterol 140mg47%

Sodium 294mg13%

Potassium 672mg19%

Carbohydrates 12g4%

Fiber 3g13%

Sugar 5g6%

Protein 25g50%

Vitamin A 1710IU34%

Vitamin C 52.4mg64%

Calcium 54mg5%

Iron 2.5mg14%

* % Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet

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