A classic Hungarian Goulash with melt-in-your mouth, tender beef that’s been slowly cooked in an incredibly rich broth. Tasty, comforting and perfect for the whole family!
What Is Hungarian Goulash?
In 1866 Hungarian immigrants began to settle in my province. They brought with them this stick to your ribs goulash, a rich stew flavored with sweet paprika, plenty of fresh garlic, and caraway seed. Served over noodles, potato, or spaetzle (German egg noodle), this recipe will warm you from the inside out.
This Hungarian classic stews does not rely on a flour or roux for thickening. Many versions also include potatoes, carrots or turnips. But I wanted to keep this version simple because I want to showcase how with just a few simple ingredients you can achieve incredible flavor. So let’s get into this melt in your mouth recipe from the old country and as they say in Hungary, edd meg!
Ingredients In Hungarian Goulash
As always, scroll to my recipe card at the bottom of the page for complete measurements and details.
- Olive oil – We will use olive oil to brown our beef. Browning your beef is key to develop a rich complex flavor which is essential when making such a simple recipe.
- Stewing beef – Stewing beef is generally from chuck or round cuts, tougher cuts that become flavorful and tender when cooked in stews. A less tough cut of beef will fall apart in a recipe like this.
- Salt & pepper – My recipe calls for a teaspoon of each but you can tweak this seasoning if you desire.
- Onion – Choose an onion that will hold up to a long, slow cook time. I used white for this recipe.
- Garlic – I used fresh but if minced in a bottle is all you have, just remember that 1 1/2 teaspoon is equal to one fresh clove
- of garlic.
- Paprika – The paprika should really shine in this dish so I opted for sweet Hungarian paprika.
- Caraway seed – This spice has a distinct warm flavor and gives this dish some brightness. We want these ground so if you can only find them sold whole just grind them with a mortar and pestle.
- Oregano – Packed full of vitamins, this little herb packs more than just flavor. I used dried Oregano for this dish.
- Bay leaves – This is an aromatic used in the cooking process, make sure to fish it out before serving the dish as it’s not meant to be eaten!
- Brown sugar – We want to develop complex flavor and a thick rich sauce as we cook. This adds some crucial sweetness to the meat and the sauce.
- Tomato sauce – The base to our sauce, tomato sauce lends some acidity to the dish to help balance out all our big flavors.
- Balsamic vinegar – A nice dark vinegar like balsamic will help all our flavors really penetrate the meat as it cooks.
- Beef broth – No sodium added for this broth, we really want to make sure we control our sodium level for this dish.
- Parsley – Chopped fresh for garnish.
How To Make Hungarian Goulash
The big difference between a traditional stew and Hungarian stews is that Hungarian stews do not rely on a flour or roux for thickening, which is why most of the time it’s more like a soup and it’s usually served over noodles, potatoes or spatzle.
- Brown the meat – In a large skillet or dutch oven, heat the olive oil over high heat. When the oil is hot add the beef, season with salt and pepper and continue to sear till the meat begins to brown. We want the liquid that the beef releases as it cooks to evaporate off so be sure to keep the heat on high.
- Incorporate your flavors – Add the onions and garlic to the dish and cook till the onions begin to soften and go translucent, be sure that your garlic doesn’t burn in this time, it shouldn’t though because there should be enough moisture in the pot. If need be, add the garlic right when the onions are soft. Add the paprika, oregano, bay leaves, caraway seed, and brown sugar, be sure to stir all of these together before allowing to cook for 30 seconds.
- Create the sauce – Add the wet ingredients: the tomato sauce, balsamic vinegar, and beef broth before stirring completely. Bring this entire mixture to a boil before covering and turning down the heat to low, allow this to cook for 2 hours and don’t forget to stir occasionally.
- Serve – Garnish with parsley and serve over noodles or mashed potatoes.
Some Tips
- Hungarian Goulash is all about the paprika, so you’ll want a good quality Hungarian sweet paprika and you’ll want to use at least 3 to 4 tablespoons of it.
- Take the time to cook your meat properly, it really needs 2 to 3 hours so that the beef becomes tender and melts in your mouth.
- Don’t over pack it with vegetables, as a matter of fact I didn’t add any potatoes or carrots. Goulash is about the rich broth and the meat.
- If you really want to include some veggies; carrots, potatoes, or turnips are nice additions. Add them 40 minutes before the beef is done cooking.
How Else Can I Make Hungarian Goulash?
Pressure cooker
Use the saute mode of your pressure cooker to cook everything as instructed up until and including creating your sauce. From there you will turn it on “meat/stew” mode and allow to cook for 35 minutes. After this time allow the heat and pressure to release naturally before opening the lid.
Slow cooker
Follow all the same instructions up to and including creating your sauce, then transfer the ingredients to a slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours.
Leftovers
Allow to cool completely before storing for up to 5 days refrigerated in an airtight container. It can also be frozen for up to 3 months, just allow to thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat over a sauce pan, stirring constantly.
Craving More Stews? Try These:
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Hungarian Goulash
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 2 ½ lbs stewing beef lean, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- 1 tsp pepper or to taste
- 2 large onions roughly chopped
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 3 tbsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp caraway seeds ground
- 1 tsp oregano dried
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- ½ cup tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 4 cups beef broth no salt added
- 2 tbsp parsley chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- Heat a large deep skillet or Dutch oven over high heat then add the olive oil.
- When the oil is hot add the stewing beef. Season with salt and pepper and sear the beef until it starts to brown. The beef will release liquid so continue searing on high heat, and the liquid will evaporate. Alternatively you could drain all the liquid.
- Add the onions and garlic to the skillet and cook for about 5 minutes until the onions soften and become translucent. Turn the heat down to medium-high.
- Add the paprika, caraway seeds, oregano, bay leaves and brown sugar to the skillet. Stir everything together and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the tomato sauce, balsamic vinegar, beef broth and stir. Bring to a boil, then cover and cook on low for about 2 hours or until the beef is fork tender, stirring occasionally. The liquid will reduce down a lot as the beef cooks, so feel free to add more water as needed.
- Taste for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper if needed.
- Garnish with chopped parsley and serve over noodles or mashed potatoes.
Video
Recipe Notes
- If you only have caraway seeds that are not ground use a mortar and pestle to grind them a bit.
- Carrots or potatoes can be added to the stew as well. If adding them, add them 45 minutes before the beef is done cooking. Add more beef broth or water as needed.
- Cool completely, then refrigerate for up to 5 days
- Slow Cooker Hungarian Goulash: I would still follow all the steps up to and including step 5 then transfer everything to a slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours.
- Instant Pot Hungarian Goulash: This can easily be done in the IP, use your Saute mode to cook everything as instructed up to and including step 5 then cover up the IP and press the “meat/stew” button and set the timer to 35 minutes. After 35 min of high pressures, allow the IP to naturally cool and release pressure before opening the lid.
- Nutritional information does not include noodles or mashed potatoes. Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Absolutely gorgeous – the omission of vegetables is a great idea! We just had a salad on the side but may try green and red peppers next time.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I’ve been trying to find a good Goulash recipe since my last visit to Hungary a couple of years ago. Thanks to you Jo, I finally found it. I did modify it slightly by substituting one tablespoon of sweet paprika with one hot. I also added red bell pepper, red wine and used 2 tablespoons of tomato paste instead of sauce. I served it over cauliflower risotto to keep it low carb.
My pleasure, glad you enjoyed.
I currently live in Germany and was looking for a good goulash recipe. Due to restrictions, we are unable to enjoy the cuisine at our local restaurants. I love this recipe and have made this dish approximately eight times now! I make it using a crockpot, and I have made a few adjustments to alter the taste a little to better fit my family’s liking. I use half the broth, double the tomato sauce, and after eight hours in the crockpot, I cook the juices off over the stove, to thicken the consistency to that of a stew. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
This is a good recipe. I however ate plenty of goulash in Munich, Germany as a student and all you have to do is add 1/2 C of catsup, T brown sugar and definitely use carrots and potatoes. It is amazing what this little change makes. It is cost effective and the meat is always tender without taking time to simmer so long. Serve with artisan hard bread. No noodles or rice, it’s more like a soup. 32 ounces beef broth no salt.
This was delicious! Reminded me of my mother’s recipe that she’d gotten from a Hungarian friend from college. My mother’s recipes had all been lost in a fire so finding this was incredible!
We skipped the caraway only because I didn’t have any and didn’t want to make a special trip just to get them. I’ll add then next time, I know they add a depth of flavor that was missing in my first go.
This was delicious!! Pretty easy and straightforward, and tasted delicious.
I would highly recommend cooking uncovered for the last 30 minutes or so to reduce the sauce a little bit. I travelled to Budapest, Hungary last year and had some authentic Hungarian Goulash, and I remember it being a little bit thicker than this recipe came out for me. Just a suggestion that I found to be helpful, but either way it will taste great!
Just made this tonight, exactly as stated and it came out really good, the sauce was thick, the beef was tender and it was very comforting on this chilly night! We had 4 lbs of beef that I cubed and we have about 1 cup left. There are only 3 three of us, my daughter ate a tiny amount and dad dug in with both arms & legs! lol Needless to say it was a big hit.
My only caveat would be that it needed a little kick if spice, so I might add a jalapeno to the pot to cook down with the meat, just my preference. 🙂
Great recipe, thanks so much for sharing this!
I am cooking now and really looking forward to tasting it. Smells lovely, I used veal instead of beef as this meal is for children’s lunch box. Excited
I’m sure it will be great with veal!
Hi Jo, what an awesome recipe. To Spice it up next, I will add two chilies.
Hi there, I’d like to make this dish but am wondering about the tomato sauce – do you mean like a Heinz type tomato sauce, or like an Italian passata type tomato sauce? I’ve tried recipes that put the former in and they’ve tended to come out flavoured a bit manufactured, so I would guess the latter…but wanted to double check! Thanks!
You can use either!
Okay great thanks!
Amazing!! Thank you.
This turned out great. SO glad Jo mentioned that the sauce would not be thickened – been making a lot of stroganoff lately and probably would have done an unfair comparison! This recipe is going to be a go-to. I liked it with a little dollop of sour cream but it was so good either way. I used skirt steak and in the end served it over egg noodles. I could see creamy mashed potatoes, too! Thanks, JO, looking forward to trying more of your recipes!
I have been trying to replicate my mother’s goulash for 20 years and always fail. My kids have been asking for me to make this, since they can’t see their grandmother at this time. Well, it was a hit!! I made this in the IP, omitted the caraway and oregano and added worcestershire sauce. The sauce didn’t cook down, which was fine since we like a lot of gravy and I thickened it with a cornstarch slurry. According to my 14yo, I perfected Grandma’s Goulash.
Aww that is so great to hear! We’re glad this was such a close replication 🙂
I’ve made this with ground beef and love! Just wondering if I use beef cubes and make in the instant pot, can I add carrots and potatoes at the same time?
Yes you can, if you’re looking to more of a beef stew you can reference this recipe: https://cravinghomecooked.com/instant-pot-beef-stew/
I made this last night and it was out of this world! I did not have carraway seeds and served this as a stew so added carrots and potatoes. But seriously so good!!! And, also can I say that we are not big hunks of beef eaters but we bought part of a cow and have to figure out how to cook it. Not disappointed with this recipe!
I make your salisbury steak meatballs over mashed potatoes all the time – and actually use that recipe for meatloaf now – and we just love them. I have forwarded that recipe to so many people. When I saw you had a Hungarian Goulash recipe, I knew I had to try it!
Thank you for all of these great recipes!!
My pleasure, Linda. So glad you’re enjoying them!
I’ve made this with ground beef and love! Just wondering if I use beef cubes and make in the instant pot, can I add carrots and potatoes at the same time?