A simple chicken and mushroom stew with a silky sour cream sauce, onions, and garlic. This Romanian dish is one I've made many times at home, especially when I want something warm and filling without much effort.
Ciulama de pui is often served with polenta or fresh bread, and it's one of those meals that feels even better the next day. The sauce is what makes it special - creamy, lightly thickened, and full of mushrooms and soft chicken.
It comes together in about 35-40 minutes, making it a great midweek dinner when you want something homemade but not complicated.
The texture is creamy, soft, and rich from the sour cream, with tender chicken and earthy mushrooms throughout. It's the kind of dish that works just as well for a family dinner as it does for a quiet weekend meal.
Traditionally, this recipe is tied to seasonal cooking, especially when mushrooms were gathered from the forest. Many families would cook it right after a foraging trip or preserve mushrooms for winter meals. It's simple food, but full of memory and tradition.
📷 Recipe Snapshot
📌 Recipe: Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Stew (Ciulama de Pui cu Ciuperci)
⏲️ Time: 40 minutes (10 min prep, 30 min cook)
👥 Serves: 4 servings
🌏 Cuisine: Romanian
📝 Quick Summary: A comforting Romanian chicken and mushroom stew made with tender chicken, mushrooms, onion, garlic, and a rich sour cream sauce. Perfect served with polenta, bread, or mashed potatoes.
🌟 Main Ingredients: Chicken breast or thighs, mushrooms, sour cream, onion, garlic, olive oil, flour, and fresh parsley.
💡 Pro Tip: Lower the heat before adding the sour cream and stir gently. This keeps the sauce smooth and creamy without splitting.
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If you are building a Romanian meal, this stew pairs perfectly alongside Traditional Romanian Polenta (Mămăligă), and a bowl of Romanian Meatball Soup (Ciorba de perisoare) to start. For another mushroom-forward Romanian dish, Grilled Eggplant Salad (Salata de Vinete) makes a great side.
Why this recipe works so well
- Soft chicken cooked straight in the pan, no extra steps
- Mushrooms bring depth and keep the dish light
- Sour cream gives a smooth, rich sauce
- Uses simple pantry ingredients
- Works with polenta, rice, or bread
- One-pan cooking keeps cleanup easy
🥘 Ingredients
*See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Mushrooms: I use organic closed cup mushrooms. The most important step is how you prep them - remove the stem, peel the skin off each cap, then rinse under cold water. It takes a few minutes but makes a real difference to the texture. The skin can turn slimy when cooked; without it, the mushrooms stay firm and clean in the sauce. If you can get wild mushrooms in season, use them. The depth of taste is different entirely - earthier, more complex. In Romania, picking mushrooms from the forest in autumn was a family outing. We would come home with full bags and my grandmother would start cleaning and sorting them immediately - some went into jars, some were dried for winter, some went straight into a pan with garlic and onion that same evening. If you have access to wild mushrooms, this is the recipe to use them in.
Chicken: Breast works well for a leaner result. Thighs stay juicier and have more taste - I often use thighs when I have them. Bone-in cuts like legs or wings work too; just add a few extra minutes cooking time and pull the meat off the bone before you add the sour cream. Traditionally, in times when chicken breast was not as common, this was made with whole chicken pieces, and the bones added richness to the sauce.
Sour cream: Use full-fat sour cream with at least 25% fat content. Lower fat versions split when they hit the heat. In Romania we use smântână, which is richer than American sour cream - if you can find Eastern European-style sour cream at a specialty grocery, use it. Otherwise full-fat American sour cream works fine. Crème fraîche is a good substitute.
Flour vs cornstarch: One tablespoon of all-purpose flour is the traditional thickener. Half a tablespoon of cornstarch does the same job with a slightly cleaner, glossier sauce. Both work - just make sure to stir it fully into the pan before adding the sour cream so you don't get lumps.
Mushrooms have always been a staple in Romanian home cooking. When we collected wild mushrooms with family, some would go into dishes like this ciulama, while others were turned into spreads such as this homemade mushroom pâté.
Substitutes & variations
- Chicken thighs can replace chicken breast for a juicier result
- No meat version: double the mushrooms
- Greek yogurt: lighter alternative to sour cream
- Cornstarch instead of flour: gluten-free option
- Add dill: for a more traditional Romanian touch
- Wild mushrooms can be used for a deeper, earthier taste
- Add extra garlic if you like stronger seasoning
Expert tips
- Don't rush the mushrooms - let them release their liquid fully
- Keep heat low when adding sour cream
- If sauce feels too thick, loosen with a splash of water or stock
- Add parsley at the end only for freshness
- For deeper taste, use chicken thighs instead of breast
Serving suggestions
- In Romania, ciulama de pui is most often served with warm mămăligă (Romanian polenta), which is perfect for soaking up the creamy sauce. If you've never made it before, my traditional Romanian polenta (mămăligă) recipe shows exactly how to prepare it.
- Romanian House Bread (Paine de casa) is the other traditional option. Thick-crusted, good for mopping up the sauce. Any crusty white bread works.
- mashed potatoes for a heavier meal
- It also works well with simple cucumber salad or pickled vegetables on the side.
If you enjoy comforting Romanian-style chicken dishes, you might also like my creamy chicken soup with lemon and egg, another family favorite that comes together in about 30 minutes.
❓ FAQs
Yes - it keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days in an airtight container. The sauce thickens as it sits. When reheating, add a small splash of water or extra sour cream and warm it slowly over low heat, stirring to bring the sauce back together. Don't boil it - the sour cream can separate at high heat.
Two common reasons: the sour cream was low-fat, or it was added to a pan that was too hot. Use full-fat sour cream (at least 25% fat) and lower the heat before you stir it in. Keep the heat at medium-low once the cream is in and don't let it boil.
Yes - soak them in warm water for 20-30 minutes first, then squeeze out the excess liquid and use them the same way. Use the soaking water in place of plain water when cooking the chicken for extra depth. Dried porcini work especially well here.
Ciulama is specifically a white, creamy sauce dish - the white color and sour cream base are what define it. It is thickened lightly with flour or cornstarch rather than being a broth-based or tomato stew. The taste is mild, garlicky, and creamy rather than rich or heavily spiced.
It is possible but the sour cream sauce does not freeze well - it tends to separate and turn grainy when thawed. If you want to freeze it, do so before adding the sour cream, then add it fresh when reheating. The chicken and mushroom base freezes fine.
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📖 Recipe
Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Stew (Romanian Ciulama de Pui)
Ingredients
- 1.2 lb chicken breast or chicken thighs diced
- 1 lb fresh mushrooms sliced
- 1 chciken stock cube
- 1 cup sour cream (at least 25% fat)
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves grated or minced
- 1 tablespoon flour or ½ tablespoon cornstarch
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
- 1 small bunch parsley chopped
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add chicken, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 5-10 minutes until lightly browned and mostly cooked through. Add a splash of water if needed.1.2 lb chicken breast or chicken thighs, 2 tablespoon olive oil, Salt, Black pepper
- Add chopped onion and sliced mushrooms, and crumble the chicken stock. Stir well, cover with a lid, and cook until the mushrooms soften and release their juices, then reduce down.1 lb fresh mushrooms, 1 onion, 1 chciken stock cube
- Add garlic and mix through. Let it cook for another minute so the aroma builds.4 garlic cloves
- Sprinkle in the flour (or cornstarch) and stir well so it dissolves into the sauce.1 tablespoon flour
- Lower the heat and add sour cream. Stir until everything becomes smooth and creamy. Let it cook for another 2 minutes.1 cup sour cream (at least 25% fat)
- Finish with fresh parsley and a pinch of nutmeg if using. Serve warm.1 small bunch parsley
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