Chicken is one of those foods that can be prepared any number of ways, and that is no exaggeration. If you do a Google search of chicken recipes, 907 million pop up immediately.

Most of us are most familiar with chicken that is fried, baked or roasted. But more and more people are opting for skillet entrees that take less time and are just as tasty.

Here is a delicious recipe that we tried recently. It’s not as quick as some pan recipes but doesn’t take a couple of hours in the oven, either.

And yes, I did find it on the internet.

Chicken in Paprika Sauce
8 cut-up slices of bacon
¼ cup of chopped onion
1½ cups of instant mashed potato flakes
1½ teaspoons of paprika
1½ teaspoons of salt
2 to 3 pounds of chicken pieces
¼ to ½ cup of chicken broth
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
2/3 cup of whole milk
1 tablespoon of paprika
1 to 1½ cups of sour cream
Hot cooked egg noodles
Cook the bacon in a medium skillet over medium heat until it just begins to brown. Add the onion and cook, stirring until the onion has become tender, then remove from heat. Remove the bacon and onion from skillet and set the mixture aside for later. Reserve the drippings.
In a large plastic food storage bag, combine the potato flakes, 1½ teaspoons of paprika and salt. Shake the bag to mix. Add the chicken, a few pieces at a time, to the bag, shaking the bag to coat the meat. Place chicken in skillet and brown in the reserved drippings over a medium high heat. Add ¼ cup of the stock to pan. Reduce the heat and cover, simmering until the chicken becomes tender (25 to 40 minutes). Add the additional ¼ cup of stock to the pan throughout this cooking time as needed.
To prepare the sauce, melt the butter in a 1-quart saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour and blend in 1 cup of milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce is thickened and bubbly. Stir in 1 tablespoon of milk, 1 tablespoon of paprika and the bacon and onion that was set aside earlier. Cook and stir this mixture until it’s hot. Pour the sauce over the cooked chicken in skillet, cover and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and skim any floating fat. With a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken to a serving platter, which you should keep warm. Stir in the sour cream into the mixture in the skillet. Cook again over a low heat until just heated. Do not bring to a boil. Pour the sauce over the warming chicken and serve with hot cooked egg noodles and vegetables.