This slow cooker chicken paprikash is made with a creamy paprika sauce (without the heavy cream), chicken breast and plenty of red capsicum (or red bell pepper if you're from the Americas). I've designed this version specifically for meal prep, with a short slow-cooker time for the chicken breast and enough sauce and vegetables to still taste good after a couple of days in the fridge.
The amount of capsicum was intentional. Slow cooker meals can very quickly become a lot of meat and sauce with vegetables appearing almost as an afterthought, which isn't how I like to meal prep. And I'm definitely not claiming it's traditional. The changes I've made are there because I'm developing it as a meal prep recipe first with accessible ingredients, plenty of veg and leftovers that work well a few days later.
I also tested the sauce with diced tomatoes before settling on passata. The diced tomato version released too much liquid in the slow cooker and the finished sauce was thinner than I wanted. Passata gave me a smoother, more concentrated sauce without requiring another thickening step at the end.
And while chicken thighs are common in chicken paprikash, I wanted this version to work with chicken breast. Dicing it before cooking means you don't have to stand there shredding chicken afterwards, while the shorter cooking time helps prevent the breast from becoming dry.
TL:DR
- Servings: 8
- Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 3 hours (high) 6 (low)
- Meal prep: Great for meal prep because the saucy chicken reheats well and you've got chicken, pasta and plenty of veg in one meal. Slightly undercook pasta so it's not mushy!
- Fridge storage: 3-4 days with chicken and pasta on opposite ends of container for best texture.
- Freezer storage: Freeze the paprikash separately from the pasta for up to 3 months
- Reheating: Microwave until steaming hot throughout (approx. 3 minutes), adding a small splash of water if the sauce has thickened.
- Customise: Use chicken thighs instead of breast, adjust the paprika to your preference or serve the paprikash with rice, potatoes or noodles instead of pasta.
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Why you'll love this recipe
Plenty of vegetables. Three red capsicums give you considerably more vegetables than you'll find in many chicken paprikash recipes.
Minimal hands-on cooking. After a few minutes sautéing the onion and garlic, the slow cooker does most of the work.
Creamy without heavy cream. Greek yogurt gives the sauce its creamy finish without using the heavy cream (similar to my approach in my slow cooker beef stroganoff) you'll sometimes see in paprikash recipes.
Ingredients
Chicken breast. I chose chicken breast over thigh for this version and cook it already diced, rather than shredding it at the end as I do with my slow cooker satay chicken. That cuts out an extra step and the shorter slow-cooker time helps keep the breast tender.
Red capsicum / bell pepper. Red capsicum is sweeter and less grassy than green capsicum, and it helps reinforce the red-orange colour of the paprika and tomato sauce.
Sweet paprika. Paprika is the dominant flavour rather than a background seasoning here, so this isn't the recipe for the jar that's been expired and sitting at the back of your cupboard since 2004 (I think my parents might feel seen here). Sweet paprika gives you the characteristic mild, slightly sweet flavour without introducing the smokiness of smoked paprika.
Passata. I tested this recipe with diced tomatoes first and found the sauce too watery after slow cooking. Passata gives a smoother, more concentrated tomato base and removes the need to reduce large amounts of excess liquid later.
Greek yogurt. This is stirred through at the end to make the sauce creamy. I've used the same idea in my slow cooker butter chicken because I prefer the finished texture for meals I'm going to eat repeatedly rather than using heavy cream.
Pasta. Pasta catches the creamy paprika sauce and makes this an easy meal to portion. If you're specifically cooking it for meal prep, take it off the heat about two minutes before the packet suggests and use a sturdier shape (e.g. fettuccini, spirals or penne) because it will soften further when reheated.
Please check the recipe card for full list of ingredients and quantity. See below for substitutions and variations.
Substitutions and Variations
Chicken thigh. Chicken thighs are common in other chicken paprikash recipes and can absolutely be used here. You can even leave boneless thighs whole like I do with my slow cooker apricot chicken; once tender, they can be broken into chunks with a spoon, saving you the chopping at the beginning.
Diced tomatoes. I tested diced tomatoes before settling on passata and found they made the slow cooker chicken paprikash noticeably more watery. You can still substitute them, but I'd use a tin that's predominantly tomato rather than liquid and add some tomato paste to intensify and thicken the sauce.
Sour cream. Sour cream is a more traditional creamy finish and can be swapped for the Greek yogurt if that's what you already have. Stir it in at the end rather than slow cooking it for hours.
Serve with. Egg noodles are commonly served with chicken paprikash, but regular pasta is inexpensive, accessible and easy to portion for meal prep which is why it's my go-to option. Rice, mashed potato or another noodle can also be used if that's what you have available.
Paprika. Keep sweet paprika as the main flavour. If you want extra heat, add a smaller amount of hot paprika rather than replacing all of the sweet paprika with smoked paprika, which changes the overall flavour profile considerably.
How to make slow cooker chicken paprikash
Step 1. Heat a small amount of oil in a searing slow cooker insert or frying pan over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook for approximately 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent. Add the garlic for the final 30-60 seconds and stir until fragrant.
Step 2. Add the diced chicken breast (searing optional), red capsicum, paprika and passata and any salt and pepper (I do recommend at least some here). Stir everything together so the chicken and capsicum are coated in the paprika-tomato sauce.
Step 3. Cover and cook for approximately 3 hours on HIGH or 5-6 hours on LOW. Slow cookers vary, so start checking earlier rather than blindly following the clock; the chicken should be opaque, tender and reach at least 75°C / 167°F in the centre.
Step 4. Stir through the Greek yogurt until completely incorporated.
If meal prepping: You can remove it off the heat for this step and let it cool before portioning. Pasta can be cooked now.
If serving immediately, leave the slow cooker on after incorporating the yogurt but leave the lid off for approx. 15 minutes (this will help thicken the sauce which is done in storing for meal prep)
Step 5. Prepare pasta according to packet instructions if serving immediately or minus 2 minutes if meal prepping. Serve or portion as desired with salt and pepper to taste.
Lauren's Top Tips
Don't unnecessarily slow cook chicken breast all day. Chicken breast doesn't need the same long cooking time as tougher cuts of meat, so start checking it earlier to keep it tender.
Use fresh paprika. Paprika is carrying a lot of the flavour in this recipe, so an old, flavourless jar will give you an old, flavourless sauce.
Recommended Equipment
A searing slow cooker is useful if, like me, you don't want to create another frying pan just to sauté one onion. For meal prep, I recommend glass containers because the tomato and paprika sauce can stain some plastic containers, especially after repeated reheating.
Meal Prepping slow cooker chicken paprikash
This crockpot chicken paprikash was developed as a high-protein chicken meal prep rather than having a meal-prep label slapped onto it after the recipe was finished. You have chicken, pasta and a fairly substantial amount of capsicum in each portion, while the sauce helps protect the chicken from drying out when reheated.
It also makes around eight portions, so you don't need to eat all eight in the same week. Keep what you'll realistically eat over the next couple of days in the fridge and freeze the rest of the paprikash for another week.
Dividing the 500g of dry pasta between eight servings gives approximately 62.5g dry pasta per portion. Divide the chicken and sauce evenly between the portions as well.
Storing
Allow the slow cooker chicken paprikash to stop steaming, then transfer it into shallow meal prep containers and refrigerate promptly. Store below 5°C and use refrigerated paprikash within 3-4 days.
If you're serving it with pasta, I recommend keeping the pasta and paprikash on separate sides of the container rather than completely mixing them together. The sauce will continue soaking into the pasta as it sits, so separating them helps stop the pasta becoming overly soft.
For a large batch, divide it into shallow containers rather than waiting for the whole slow cooker insert to cool. Get the portions into the fridge or freezer within two hours, following NSW Food Authority guidance on leftovers.
Lauren's Meal Prep Tip
Don't pack every single portion for the fridge just because you made eight serves. Decide how many you're actually going to eat in the next couple of days and freeze the remaining sauce straight away.
Reheating
Zak actually ate this chicken paprikash as a cold meal prep a couple of times and really liked it. I preferred it warm.
For reheating, add a small drizzle of water if the paprika sauce has thickened substantially in the fridge. Microwave for approximately 1 minute first without stirring the cold pasta, then stir the pasta and sauce together once everything has started warming (because very cold pasta can break apart if you aggressively move it around straight from the fridge.
Continue microwaving in 30-60 second intervals until the chicken and sauce are steaming hot throughout.
Lauren's Meal Prep Tip
Freezing the sauce by itself gives you more options. Something you planned to eat with pasta three weeks ago can become a rice bowl, mashed potato dinner or whatever you actually feel like eating when you pull it out of the freezer.
Label each portion with the date and thaw it overnight in the fridge before reheating until steaming hot throughout.
Freezing
Because the creamy paprika sauce coats the chicken, this is a very freezer-friendly meal. Freeze the chicken paprikash separately from the pasta where possible. Because the sauce is quite wet, storing pasta submerged in it through freezing, thawing and reheating can make the pasta much softer than it was originally.
I freeze individual portions of the paprikash in my 1-cup Souper Cubes, which gives me an easy single portion to pull out when I need it.
If you want more meal prep information, check out my Meal Prep for Beginners post and my Meal Prep Basics E-Book.
FAQs
Slow cookers retain moisture, so ingredients such as canned diced tomatoes and vegetables can release enough liquid to thin the sauce considerably. I tested this recipe with diced tomatoes and switched to passata specifically because it produced a thicker sauce.
If your slow cooker chicken paprikash is too watery, remove the lid and cook it on HIGH for 15-30 minutes so some of the excess liquid can evaporate.
Greek yogurt can split if it is exposed to high heat for too long, which is why I stir it through after the slow cooking is finished. Turn the slow cooker off first, then mix the yogurt into the hot sauce until smooth.
If your yogurt is very cold, you can also stir a spoonful of the warm sauce into it first before adding it to the slow cooker. This gradually brings the yogurt closer to the temperature of the sauce and reduces the chance of it separating.
Paprika is the main flavour in chicken paprikash, so old or very mild paprika can leave the finished sauce tasting flat. Use reasonably fresh sweet paprika and make sure the seasoning is adjusted once the sauce has finished cooking.
Slow-cooked dishes can also need a final flavour check because several hours of cooking can soften the impact of seasoning. Taste the sauce after adding the Greek yogurt and adjust salt or paprika if needed.
Other slow cooker recipes you'll like
Or, you can have a browse through my slow cooker meal preps for more delicious eats.
Recipe
Slow Cooker Chicken Paprikash
Save Recipe
Equipment
- slow cooker, searing recommended, or normal + pan
Ingredients
- 1.2 kg (2 ⅔ lb) chicken breast, see note 1
- 1 brown onion
- 3 red capsicum
- 4 garlic cloves
- 3 tablespoon sweet paprika
- 680 g (2 ⅔ cups) passata, see note 2
- ¼ cup Greek yogurt, subs note 3
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Serve with
- 500 g (1 lb) pasta, adjust if not using all 8 serves
Instructions
Preparing
- Dice the 1.2 kg (2 ⅔ lb) chicken breast, finely dice the 1 brown onion, the 3 red capsicum, and mince the 4 garlic cloves.
Cooking
- Heat a small amount of oil in a searing slow cooker insert or frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent.
- Add the garlic and cook for a further 30-60 seconds, until fragrant.
- Add the diced chicken breast, red capsicum, 3 tbsp sweet paprika, 680 g (2 ⅔ cups) passata. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then stir until the chicken and capsicum are coated in the paprika-tomato sauce.
- Cover and cook for approximately 3 hours on HIGH or 5-6 hours on LOW. Slow cookers vary, so begin checking earlier; the chicken should be opaque, tender and reach at least 75°C / 167°F in the centre.
- Stir through the ¼ cup Greek yogurt until fully incorporated.
- If meal prepping, you can remove the slow cooker from the heat and allow it to cool.If serving immediately, leave the slow cooker on with the lid off for approximately 15 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken slightly.
- Meanwhile, prepare the 500 g (1 lb) pasta (or however much you plan on using) according to packet instructions. If meal prepping, cook the pasta for approximately 2 minutes less than the packet instructions so it does not become too soft when reheated.
- Serve or portion the chicken paprikash with the pasta and season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
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