Sweater weather is officially here – let’s get cosy with Goulash! This Hungarian recipe is a slow cooked beef soup or stew that’s boldly flavoured with stacks of paprika which makes the sauce a deep, vibrant red colour. Think traditional beef stew – with extra character!
Goulash
If you think Hungary and think hearty food, then Goulash is probably exactly what comes to mind. Unsurprising given it is Hungary’s greatest food export!
Is it a stew? Is it a soup? It sort of lies between the two in terms of the amount of broth vs the stuff in it. Though one noticeable thing about traditional Goulash is that the broth is thinner than what you think of with stews, and it’s not thickened with flour or cream. Also, it’s not typically served over mash like stews, it’s served in bowls like soup.
As for flavour, I describe it as a beef stew with a sauce that reminds me of chorizo flavours thanks to a big hit of paprika and savouriness from a good amount of garlic, capsicum (bell peppers) and onion. It’s really, really good. Bolder than typical beef stew!
Note on authenticity: This is a recipe that is intended to respect traditional Hungarian Goulash. But as with all such recipes, every cook and every family has their own version. I am sure some Hungarians will disagree on something I’ve included! Please share your thoughts below but know that I did do my research!
Ingredients in Hungarian Goulash
Two things you’ll observe when you make this:
A LOT of paprika. Flavour and sauce colour!
A LOT of vegetables. 2 each onions, capsicum/bell peppers, carrots, tomato, potatoes. Flavour and heartiness!
Beef, spices and sauce
Beef – The classic beef cut to use is beef chuck which is a tough cut of meat that becomes meltingly tender when slow cooked. If you can, get a single piece so you can cut it into cubes of the size we want, else get a thick steak. Always look for beef that is nicely marbled with fat. All too often, the grocery stores ones are disturbingly lean. We want the fat marbled throughout, it makes the beef so tender and juicy!
Substitute – Beef osso bucco (boneless) and beef cheeks. The meat cubes will twist and buckle more once cooked but these are actually juicier than chuck. Gravy beef and brisket will also work but meat is a little leaner.
Paprika – Use Hungarian or Hungarian-style if you can, the paprika is smoother and sweeter than ordinary paprika. Don’t use hot paprika – we’re using lots of paprika here, it will be way too spicy! Smoked paprika will make the sauce a little too smokey, though you could mix-and-match a little if you want.
Caraway seeds – A traditional spice used in Goulash used in central European cooking. Not the end of the world if you don’t have it but you’ll love the little unique pops of flavour if you do!
Beef stock/broth – The liquid used to make the sauce. Traditionally water was used, but no one can deny that using stock makes the sauce a whole lot tastier! I personally would not make this with water. If you use homemade beef stock, you could sell bowls of this for a pretty penny.
Butter and oil – The fat for sautéing. I like to use both so you get the best of both worlds – butter for flavour, oil for effective searing (butter is ~15% water and susceptible to burning at high heats).
Bay leaf – For flavour. Fresh if you can, or dried (pictured).
We don’t need flour to thicken the sauce – see next paragraph.
The vegetables
Some recipes use flour to thicken the sauce. I don’t find that necessary if you use fresh tomatoes rather than canned tomatoes, as they break down to thicken the sauce. It also makes the stew sauce taste less tomatoey which lets the paprika and other flavours come through more.
Onion and garlic – flavour base.
Capsicum/bell peppers – One each red and yellow if you can, or 2 red. Don’t underestimate the flavour this brings to the sauce! You can substitute the potato and carrot but don’t skip capsicum!
Tomatoes – These break down to naturally thicken the sauce rather than using flour.
Carrot and potato – Vegetable adds ins that fills it out. Feel free to switch with other root vegetables such as celeriac, parsnip, or even non-root vegetables like green beans. Note: These get added at the end of the cook time so the potato doesn’t disintegrate.
Parsley – optional garnish
How to make Goulash
Usually, stews will call for beef cubes to be browned first, removed, then added back into the pot after sautéing the vegetables. Goulash goes all in. I doubted it at first but when I saw it go all stewy and the flavours mingling together before I even got to the slow cooking part, I understood.
And when I tasted the finished dish, it sealed the deal!
Cut beef into nice size chunks then sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Cook onion first for 6 minutes until the edges are light golden.
Cook beef – Next, add the beef all in one go and stir until the surfaces changes from red to brown. You won’t be browning on the beef because there’s too much in the pot and that’s just how it’s supposed to be. All the flavours meld and come together in the next steps!
Add garlic, capsicum and tomato. Stir for 3 minutes to coat the vegetables in all the flavour in the pot. The tomato will mostly breakdown – it will break down completing during the slow cooking phase and thicken the sauce.
Spices – Add paprika, caraway and bay leaf. Stir for 30 seconds to coat everything in the tasty flavours.
Simmer – Add beef stock, stir, bring to simmer.
Slow cook – Cover with a lid and transfer to the oven for 1 1/2 hours. At this stage the beef should be pretty tender but not quite “fall-apart”, there’s still another 30 minutes to go. Stir in carrot and potatoes then cook for another 30 minutes. By this time, the potatoes (if you cut them the exact size I specify!!) should be soft and the beef should be “fall-apart”.
Serve – Sprinkle with parsley if you’re feeling fancy then ladle into bowls!
That’s Friday’s cheese bread pictured above, being dunked into the Goulash. Though you could do ordinary crusty Artisan bread. Both are no-knead, no stand-mixer, 3 minute dough making situations. Not mandatory…..but any kind of bread elevates soup-stew eating experiences, right??! – Nagi x
PS One final point – as with any stewy / slow-cooked recipes, Goulash tastes even better the next day. Completely and utterly company-worthy.
Watch how to make it
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Goulash (Hungarian beef stew)
Ingredients
- 1 kg/2 lb beef chuck , cut in 3.5cm / 1.5″ cubes (Note 1)
- 1 3/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp/ 30g unsalted butter
- 2 brown onions , cut into 1cm / 1/2″ squares
- 5 garlic cloves , finely minced
- 2 capsicum/bell peppers (1 red + 1 yellow), cut into 2 cm / 0.8″ squares
- 2 tomatoes , cut into 8 wedges then in half
- 1/4 cup Hungarian-style paprika (sub ordinary paprika, Note 2)
- 1 tsp caraway seeds , optional (Note 3)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 litre / 4 cups beef stock/broth , low-sodium
- 2 carrots , peeled, cut in quarters lengthwise then into 1cm / 0.4″ pieces
- 2 potatoes , cut into 1.2cm / 1/2″ cubes
- 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley , optional garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan), though you can use your slow cooker or stove instead (oven easiest! Note 4).
- Season beef – Toss the beef with half the salt and pepper.
- Cook onion – Heat the oil and melt the butter in a large oven-proof dutch oven over high heat. Cook onion for 6 minutes until the edges are light golden.
- Cook beef – Add the beef and stir until the outside changes from red to brown, about 2 minutes. It won't go golden brown, it's not supposed to.
- Add vegetables – Add garlic, capsicum and tomato. Stir for 3 minutes – the tomato will mostly breakdown.
- Add paprika, caraway and bay leaf. Stir for 30 seconds.
- Slow cook – Add beef stock, stir, bring to simmer. Cover with a lid and transfer to the oven for 1 1/2 hours.
- Add potato – The beef should be pretty tender but not quite "fall-apart". Stir in carrot and potatoes. Return to oven, covered, for another 30 minutes. Beef should now be "fall-apart" – if not, return to the oven for 10 minutes at a time.
- Serve – Ladle goulash into bowls and sprinkle with parsley. Eat as is, with optional bread for dunking! (Pictured with cheese bread)
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Office bathroom. Now doubles as Dozer’s playroom. Staff who walked into this had a good laugh!!
Absolute yum 😋. Weather is cold and wet here in SW UK and this is definitely what we needed to cheer us all up. Filling, delicious and very tasty. The only thing I cheated on was the bread, my son bought a crusty loaf and his way home from work. Thank you Nagi, another family fave ❤️
I loved this dish! My family gave it wonderful reviews. My one year old doesn’t usually eat a ton, but he just GOBBLED this up! I am so happy. 🥹
I did sub out 14 oz crushed tomatoes for the fresh tomatoes, Venison stew meat instead of the recommended meat, green bell peppers instead of red and yellow, and frozen butternut squash chunks instead of potato. Oh I didn’t have any caraway seeds, so I did use a teaspoon of fennel seeds instead and the flavor was super yum. Thank you Nagi!!!
A straightforward, easy to make recipe. Turns out perfect every time!
A big hit with the whole family (both young and old) and a worthy addition to our regular rotation. Cheers Nagi!
It was good. I am going to make it again. I am going to leave the potatoes out and serve the goulash over spaetzle
I love this with spaetzle. How my local German club serves it
If you can’t find Hugarian type paprika use regular paprika and add 2 teaspoons of sugar. It worked for me!
Easy to make. We have enough for three meals.
I made this and it was very good. The recipe doesn’t say when to add the other half of the salt and pepper, and I added it at the end. I was wondering if it was meant to be added before putting into the oven?
Goulash, goulash soup, stew, whatever you want to call it, it was delicious. Couldn’t find caraway seeds but wondered if anyone could recommend a substitute? I read fennel seeds could be used but wasn’t game enough to try it in case it ruined the dish.
Nono no no for fennel seeds! Please!
It would take a totally different turn.
Just leave it out, and the cumin would change the taste as well.
Maybe a hint of smoke paprika after browning the meat.
And a few pieces of baby potato 🙂
I’m hungarian, but this recipe is spot on!!
Serve with mild fresh sliced chilli 🌶 and offer soured cream.
It’s on a different planet 😍
leave the caraway seeds out. No substitute necessary
Cumin seed (preferably grinded to a powder). It’s pretty much the same as caraway but less intense. So you may want to add in a little extra.
Perfect! Cooked for an additional 10 minutes and everything was tender & juicy.
I never comment on recipes, but this one was so good I had to let you know! My boyfriend is SO PICKY with goulash and I was nervous to make one for him that lived up to his high standards I made him this recipe and he said it was the best goulash he has ever had. Thank you for making me a star!! The jnky thing I added was 1 cup of dry white wine after adding the tomatoes, peppers, and garlic (because I had it in the fridge and no one was drinking it), and I added the carrots with the onions because I read the instructions wrong the first time (LOL). It turned out way better than I expected, and the man-unit was very pleased. Thank you again!!
Fantastic recipe! Thanks, Nagi! Best goulash we have ever tasted.
Excellent recipe – a welcome departure from our usual American beef stew. So hearty with lovely yet simple flavors. I added a few more large pinches of salt and cooked an additional 10 minutes, then served with buttered bread 🙂
Could I substitute ground beef (mince) instead of the chuck?
Have everything else to make for tonight.
how did it turn out with the mince?
I made it with mince. Turned out great except that I used the same quantity of mince, which was quite a lot- half that would have been fine. I also tripled the amount of caraway, because I prefer a more prominent caraway flavour.
if i want to substitute some wine for some of the stock how much should i use?
can I use canned diced tomatoes?
yes, I did!
I cooked this via stove top as I didn’t have a large enough Dutch oven, and it was delicious.
It took me ages to chop/prep all the veggies though so make sure you leave plenty of time to do that.
I love this recipe. It is so good.
Today i fought with myself as i am trying to reduce the red meat in our diet. I used the same ingredients except I substituted brown lentils for the meat, added all the vegetables after frying the onion and the paprika, added some extra water and a little Bonox. And cooked it for 45 minutes. It wasn’t Goulash (more’s the pity), but it was a very good lentil soup.
Another tasty winner, thanks Nagi! Can’t wait to try it again when I reheat! 😄
Hello Nagi, In the last four years I have baked and I have prepared many meals for my disabled sister who can longer cook. She can tell which spices I have used and why I should use more or less of each spice. She can tell me what I have done wrong or what I have done right. Her comments on my cooking is always “It’s OK or it’s alright”. I made the Hungarian Goulash last week in a crockpot on a gas range for six hours with the heat very low. It looked as if it needed more but I resisted the urge to add anything. I took a small bowl to my sister across the street being quite sure she would not like it. Of all the many meals I have brought her this is the first time she said ‘This is really good’. From this sister, that is high praise indeed. And I thank you.
Hi, I am Hungarian, sitting here in Hungary and I often cook yr recipes. U are almost the first site where I look for a recipe in case I need. So I was really courious when saw the title…as so many REAL Hungarian goulash recipes are on gapstroblogs in which there is nothing common with the original and this (sorry 😗) can discredit a site in my eyes.
But not this time. As U write, there are some differences, but generally pretty close and kept its substance.
The differences: as French, the Hungarian kitchen uses lard. Pork lard…. I know…. ☺️ I donot use myself, I use rapseed or sunflower oil instead. But pls, not butter as it has diff flavour (nice but not good here
Then use more more soup vegetable nit onlycarrot. Parsley root/parsnip, cellery root or cellery, swede/kohlrabbi. I would use less bell pepper myself. But the main thing: serve it with a special pasta: “csipetke” pinched pasta. Which is one egg+ flour (little salt) wisk together with hand, most be like clay and pich out small pieces of it, dust with flour. When ready put directly to the soup and cook just 1-2 minutes before turning off the stove. U can put chilli directly at serving to plate.
I made this tonight for my Hungarian husband and we absolutely loved this!! Definitely will make it again