Inspiration: My mom made this dish all the time when I was growing up. It’s a great recipe for fall or winter nights, which is just what we were having when I prepared this for supper. This chicken smells so good as it’s cooking that I can remember hardly being able to wait for it to come out of the oven when my Mom made this when I was a kid. There are a lot of my Mom’s recipes that I love not only for how great they taste, but for the memories, and this is definitely my favorite chicken recipe for both reasons.

What we Loved: I love a lot of things about this recipe, the first probably being that it makes your house smell absolutely amazing while it’s cooking, like I said above. The smell alone takes me back to when I was a kid, and it’s hard to resist opening up the oven while this is cooking just to smell inside :) Secondly, this tastes incredible. The chicken stays very moist and has such a great flavor from the butter, onions, and seasoning. And my favorite aspect of this recipe is that the chicken makes an absolutely awesome gravy. My mom always made the best homemade gravies, and one of them comes from this recipe. It’s a buttery chicken gravy that is really just perfect.

Helpful Hints: When I was a kid, I only liked to eat white meat, so I always ate the chicken breasts when my Mom cooked this. Therefore, it’s what I picked up at the store to make this for myself, too. She tells me, though, that this recipe tastes really great using dark meat chicken. So whatever your preferences, either kind will work! You can make enough to feed a family with all different pieces, or scale it down to serve two, like I did, with whatever cut of meat that you’d like.

Paprika Chicken
Source: Mom

This is the recipe as I made it to serve two.

2 chicken breasts, on the bone and cleaned (or whatever cut you prefer)
Salt and pepper
2-3 slices of onion, separated into rings
1 tablespoon butter, cut into chunks
Paprika
1/3 cup water, plus additional for the gravy
2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1. Place the chicken breasts in a baking dish that’s just big enough for the chicken to fit, and season with salt and pepper.

2. Scatter the onion rings atop the chicken, and dot each chicken piece with butter. Sprinkle with a generous amount of paprika.

3. Pour 1/3 cup of water into the baking dish, just enough so that the chicken is sitting in the water.

4. Cover and bake for approximately 1 hour at 350 degrees, or until the chicken is tender and cooked through. You may need more or less time depending on how many chicken pieces you cook and how big the pieces are. Halfway through, check to make sure that there is still enough water, and if there’s not, add a little more.

5. Remove the cooked chicken from the pan, and place on a plate covered with foil to keep warm.

6. Scrape the cooked bits from the bottom of the pan into the cooking liquid. Pour the liquid into a small sauce pan, and heat over medium high heat.

7. Mix the flour in a mixing cup or bowl with just enough water to create a thick mixture that is pourable. Add a small amount of the flour mixture to the sauce pan, whisking as you pour. Heat until bubbling, and as it heats, the gravy will thicken. If the gravy isn’t thick enough, add a little more of the flour mixture. You want to add the flour mixture slowly to avoid a gravy that is too thick or too floury.

8. Serve the chicken with the gravy and any desired side dishes.