Summary:
This is a straightforward one-pot recipe for Hungarian goulash, a spicy beef stew generously thickened with onions, tomato paste, and paprika. The beef is slowly simmered until incredibly tender, and comes with extra sauce that pairs nicely with noodles.
INGREDIENTS
- 3 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-2 inch chunks
- 3 yellow onions (about 2 pounds), chopped
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 6-ounce can tomato paste
- 10 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1/4 cup paprika (Note 1)
- 2 teaspoons
ground cayenne (Note 2) - 1 teaspoon table salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- optional egg noodles and parsley, for serving (Note 3)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Cook Onions: Heat olive oil in large pot (Note 4) over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, and salt to pot. Cook until onions soften, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Brown Beef: Coat beef chunks in mixture of paprika and cayenne, then add to pot with onions. Cook until beef browns, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Simmer Stew: Reduce heat to medium-low. Add vegetable broth and tomato paste to pot, and stir. Cover with lid and simmer until meat is very tender, about 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Serve.
NUTRITION
| Makes 6 Servings (Note 5) |
| Amount Per Serving: |
| Calories 670 (53% from fat) | |
| Total Fat 40g | 61% |
| Saturated Fat 14g | 72% |
| Cholesterol 179mg | 60% |
| Sodium 760mg | 32% |
| Net Carb 11g | |
| Total Carb 14.5g | 5% |
| Dietary Fiber 3.5g | 14% |
| Sugars 6.5g | |
| Protein 64g |
PHOTOS
This is the best Hungarian goulash recipe I’ve found! I’ve made it at least 5 times and it is always delicious 😋
I’m making hungarian goulash 4 the second time in the dutch oven, last experience was just wonderful, so flavorful, served with egg noodles, such an easy supper 2 prepare, what I like about this dish over a regular stew, it is very light, not heavy, no potatoes or other vegis, just onions and meat.
Was 2 cups of broth enough for this recipe?
Yes, Bob it is…as the meat renders, the juice from the beef adds to the liquid level.
I’ve already made this twice ! It’s one of my favorites and I didn’t change a thing !!! ❤️Thank you !
Hungarian paprika has a sweet paprika has well as a spicy paprika. Do you think that maybe the heat in dish came from spicy hungarian paprika?
I always use Hungarian Paparika, in red can. Don’t even need cayenne pepper, spicy enough. Also use rendered bacon grease, always kept in fridge for flavoring instead of olive oil which gives a special flavoring. Serve my goulash with semmeknodel or bread balls. Delicious! Must try.
Just wondering is 2 cups of fluid is enough for this recipe?
Hi Bob, yes it is enough for this recipe. Hope you get a chance to try it out!
We visited Hungary last year and loved it! Trying this recipe just because the goulash there was so awesome!
I want to make this but I will be using a Crock-Pot. I will saute onions and brown beef first though…my wuestion is how long do I set the Crock-Pot for. Preferably on low….
Why does this recipe have so many Net carbs? I am on a Keto diet.
Onions and tomato paste have a decent amount of net carbs, followed by the garlic. If you’d like to reduce carbs, omit or reduce them.
Sounds great how long would you cook it for in a slow cooker after browning meat and onions definitely carrots and mushrooms would be great!
I Grew up in a town that had a large Hungarian population so so this is very close to what I remember most folks made in my parts. I was wondering if you could make it in a pressure cooker to save myself some time at the stove? the only thing I would think you might want to do is to cut back on the liquid? I was considering throwing in some carrots too? What do you think?
I think it would work well in a pressure cooker: brown the beef and onions on the saute mode, then use the meat/stew mode to pressure cook for 35 minutes followed by a 10 minute natural release. I think carrots sound like a great addition, possibly mushrooms if you like them. Note that these vegetables will add liquid content as they cook. I would start anywhere from 1 to 1 1/2 cups broth. If it ends up being too watery, you can use the saute mode at the end to simmer off some of the liquid.
My beef stew chunks were very lean & smallish so I set the IP for 25 mins at stew/meat instead & 15 mins of natural pressure release.
I did make this, I too will omit the tomato paste next time. Or use just half of the can. The 2 teaspoons of cayanne was just right, spicy, but not too spicy. I enjoyed it! Thank you for receipe! Will make again!
You’re very welcome, great to hear that you enjoyed it and thanks for the feedback!
Hi Julia: I’m 80 yrs. old and do all of the cooking at our house. For a Christmas lunch, I printed out the Hungarian Goulash recipe and have already purchased all of the ingredients to prepare this meal for our bunch of folks. As an after-thought, I think my folks would like to have some potato’s included in the recipe. For the 3lbs. of beef, how many Irish potato’s would you add to make the goulash more like a stew? I’m wondering something else, hope you don’t mind: We accidentally left our dutch oven when we last moved and I will be using a six quart crock pot. Should I cook the potato’s separately and add them the last minute or put them in the pot maybe the last hour? Thank you for your input and for the help. I really need it. Merry Christmas
Hi William! For 3 pounds of beef, I would suggest adding 1 to 2 pounds of potatoes, which should help thicken the stew. You can cut the potatoes into 1 inch chunks and add them to the pot in the last hour (for fall-apart potatoes) or in the last 30 minutes (for tender potatoes).
You mentioned that you’ll be using a crock pot, which is a type of slow cooker appliance. This recipe is designed for a pot to be used on the stovetop, so if you use a slow cooker instead, the cooking times will vary and you won’t be able to brown the beef and saute the onions.
Merry Christmas, and let me know if you have any other questions!
Was 2 cups of broth enough for this recipe?
Great recipe, though I omit tomato paste as it’s not necessary and not traditional. Otherwise I followed the recipe aside from subbing beef broth for vegetable broth. Served over Reames egg noodles, but would be amazing over spaetzle. Delicious!
I love hungarian goulash. I’m looking for a great recipe. I hope this is it. P.S I like it spicy
One of my favorite dinners Hungarian goulash or used more onions yet they say 1 pound of onion per pound of meat I come from Austria and we also serve serve it with bread dumplings Not everyone likes those you have to get used to them and will have to make some soon
is it spicy? 2 tsps of cayenne…yeesh!
Yes, it is spicy. Might sound like a lot of cayenne but keep in mind this makes 6 servings. You can omit or use less.
Great recipe. Make sure you use Hungarian paprika if you want the right flavoring.
Am I reading that right? 1/4 CUP of paprika? Just making sure.
Yes, you read that right! 🙂
Hungarian beef goulash is one of my favorite dishes. It taste amazing. My mom would make them with steamed “bread” or dumplings. I make it with pasta or rice 🙂
Haha I’m happy to hear that you like hungarian goulash, too! I would love to try your mom’s steamed “bread” and dumplings with the goulash 🙂
Julia – I grew up eating my Mom’s Hungarian Goulash. Your photograph is very confusing, because I can’t tell if the photo shows Noodles, but the recipe does not indicate Noodles. So help me out here. My Mom always made it with Egg Noodles as we grew up in Pennsylvania.