When the temperature drops, a pot of Hungarian Goulash is always on our menu. It is made with tender beef, sweet onions, and a savory broth that fills the house with the best cozy aroma.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: Rich and hearty with sweet onions and tender chunks of beef in a delicious paprika broth.
- Technique: Cooking the soup low and slow tenderizes the meat.
- Budget Tip: Hungarian goulash is a great way to turn a less expensive cut of meat into a tender and delicious meal. Adding potatoes and carrots will stretch the meal further.
- Recipe Note: Hungarian Goulash is very different from an American goulash recipe, which is a pasta and ground beef dish!
Ingredient Notes For Goulash
- Paprika: Hungarian paprika is made from ground dried peppers that range from mild to hot, so its flavor varies by region. Paprika can be smoked, sweet, or hot, but this recipe usually uses the mild or sweet varieties.
- Vegetables: Families often customize this dish with potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, peppers, or tomatoes. Some Hungarian Goulash recipes use only onions or serve veggies on the side.
- Beef & Broth: Use chunks of either stew beef or chuck roast.
How to Make Hungarian Goulash
- Sauté onions in butter until soft, then sear the beef until browned.
- Add broth to deglaze, then mix in tomatoes, more broth, and spices.
- Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer (full recipe below) until the meat is tender.
Serving Suggestions
Serve the goulash on its own or over homemade egg noodles, elbow macaroni, or mashed potatoes. Top it with a dollop of sour cream and fresh parsley.
Add a side of crusty artisan bread and butter, 30-minute dinner rolls, or biscuits to soak up any leftover gravy.
Leftovers
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
To reheat, warm over low to medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Add a splash of beef broth if it is too thick. Or, reheat single servings in the microwave in short intervals, stirring occasionally, and adding liquid if needed.
Must-Try Soups and Stews
Did you make this Hungarian Goulash? Leave a rating and comment below!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons salted butter oil, or lard (preferred)
- 2 medium yellow onions diced
- 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
- 2 tablespoons paprika
- 1½ pounds stewing beef or chuck, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups beef broth or water, divided
- 1 cup canned diced tomatoes drained
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Optional
- 2 medium potatoes peeled and diced, optional
- 3 medium carrots diced, optional
- chopped fresh parsley and sour cream for serving, optional
Instructions
- In a Dutch oven or large pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in caraway seeds and paprika.
- In a bowl or zip-top bag, dredge the beef with flour and shake off any excess. Add the beef to the onion mixture and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Slowly add ¼ cup of beef broth while scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the remaining broth and diced tomatoes. Add potatoes and carrots if using. Season with salt and black pepper.
- Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a low simmer, cover, and cook for about 1½ -2 hours or until the beef is fork-tender.
- Garnish with parsley if desired and serve with a dollop of sour cream.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Beef, Main Course, Soup
Cuisine Hungary© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Hi! I am looking to make this soon and I need to purchase caraway seeds. Do you recommend ground or whole seeds? Thank you!
I’d use whole seeds Anna. Enjoy!
Hi!
Nice recipe. Can I add garlic and how much do you think? I’m of hungarian decent and there’s always garlic
also, what is the green toppings in the photos? parsley? I didn’t see that written and it looks good.
thanks!
I would suggest 2-3 cloves minced to be cooked with the onions. Let us know how it goes.
Going to make this at the weekend for my Hungarian dad, hope he likes it.
We are low carb and this was our cheat meal and we saved up big time for this! So worth it to treat yourself once in a while right? I did not alter the recipe at all, except I used almond flour to dredge the beef; worked perfectly. I could have substituted the potatoes/carrots for something else but come on…like I said, it was a treat/cheat meal. Did not serve it with egg noodles or bread, but instead had Dill pickles which were perfect; the cool, crunchy pickles contrasted so nice with the rich goulash. The smell through the house was divine. Thank you for this recipe!
I made a low carb version of this subbing in radishes for potatoes, and my potato lip hung boyfriend had no idea. He loved it. I also added in some celery and some carrots. It was a big hit. We both loved it.
Just made this today. My husband’s family is from eastern Europe and he has always talked about how good his mother’s Hungarian Goulash was. After trying this today (minus the caraway seeds), he said it was as good as, if not better, than his mother’s was. Yeah!
Hi, what’s the best substitute for carraway seeds? Fennel seeds?
I haven’t tried this with fennel, let us know how it goes if you try it.
Hungarian paprika is quite expensive in the store. Can I substitute Smoked Paprika? I have a large container of that that I got at a good price. Or, should I just use regular paprika? Or, is it worth the money to buy the Hungarian Paprika?
Thank you for responding.
I would recommend regular paprika. Smoked paprika has a very strong flavor and I think it would be overpowering in this recipe.
Hi Melanie,
This is from Bon Appetite: “ Hungarian paprika traditionally comes in eight different flavor profiles, ranging from mild and bright red to spicy, pungent, and pale orange. The most common is a bright red variety called édesnemes, which has a pungent pepper flavor and sweetness.” The latter description of pungent peppery and sweet is what I recognize as the flavor for goulash from my time living in German, which of course may not be how they make it in Hungary. I have frequently found large cans of this type of paprika in the food section of discount stores like Marshall’s or Ross for around $3 to $5. Assuming you can enter one of these stores safely, this is where I would purchase it.
Hi Holly,
How small should the onions be chopped?
Thanks!
I dice them about ½”.
Love your recipes!
Can I swap some of the beef broth with red wine? Would that affect the taste?
It will change the taste, but should still be delicious Shar!
I am Hungarian…..Ive made the Goulash according your recepie…it was great….just like they make it in Hungary…
So glad you loved it!
Growing up my mother made this, less like a soup and more like a topping to rice. I loved it but she never shared the recipe with me, yours is the closest I have to it, I just let mine cook down into a thicker sauce and served over rice and it was perfect. I added tomato paste to mine to help thicken the sauce but otherwise I followed your recipe and it reminded me of childhood. thank you for sharing this recipe :)
That is great Courtney! So happy this recipe reminded you of your mom :)
This was delicious
This was absolutely delicious- a big hit with my husband and two little ones! I’m in Australia so mine had an Aussie twist- I used kangaroo steak (it had a herb and garlic marinade). I also added green capsicum (chopped into very small pieces) and mushrooms, and stirred some sour cream through at the end (based on some other recipes I had looked at). I had thought it would be thicker so had made mash potato to sit it on, but since it was more soupy I stirred the mash through as well, and it added a lovely thickness and flavour. The other alteration I made were: a small amount of red wine to de-glaze (purely because I thought the saucepan needed a serious de-glaze!) and there was no sweet paprika at the shops, but I had some mild paprika in the cupboard that was quite old so I also added some hot paprika in case the former one lacked flavour due to its age! The recipe is certainly very versatile and forgiving. Thanks so much for sharing it.
I am eating some leftovers now for breakfast as I type and can’t wait to make this again!!
Those sound like delicious substitutions KT! Glad you enjoyed it.
This is delicious. I didn’t have caraway seeds, so I used garlic and parsley instead. Still it was delicious. You must try it.
Seems absolutely yummy, will try it next week!!
I’m curious about the amount of water/broth tho…
Only 2 cups? And it will yield 6 servings?? Thx!!! <3
Hi Yen, we did use 2 cups for this recipe. If it is too thick at the end you could add additional broth to thin it out. Enjoy!
trying it out!
What a wonderful recipe! Absolutely delicious every time. I live in Rio de Janeiro so I can’t always get the same cuts of beef and spices, so I do things a bit differently at the beginning – I cut my piece of beef into larger chunks, dredge them in seasoned flour and then brown in butter, lard or chicken fat, and remove. While the chopped onions are cooking in the fat, I cut the browned chunks of beef into bite-sized pieces. Once the onions are translucent, I throw in the beef and follow the recipe. Sometimes I have to increase the paprika, but here in Rio I can’t get the best! A pot of goulash gives us many happy meals!
Wow this was delicious! Thanks for the recipe . This will be a stable in my house now!
Followed the recipe exactly (sub Hungarian paprika for regular) It was wonderful!! Even my picky toddler enjoyed her serving. My mother always made this for me growing up and it’s so similar. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Holly. I tried your recipe tonight and it was delish! I had Hungarian paprikas from a past trip to Budapest and definitely wanted to use authentic paprika. It’s interesting that you have commented on different variations of goulash as that was our experience in Hungary. We went to at least four different restaurants and each goulash was different. Thank you for a great recipe. If you update anytime soon maybe specify sweet paprika on your recipe.
I’m so glad you loved it Carrell, I love bringing home special ingredients from my travels! Thank you for the tip!
Great recipe! Very authentic. Tastes just like my grandma’s ☺️. I didn’t have any meat so I made this with potatoes, carrots and mushrooms and added extra onion and paprika! Just used beef stock instead of water to get a meaty flavour. Served it with Nokedli. Was soooo yummy. Thanks for sharing ☺️