Rich and Hearty Hungarian Goulash
If you grew up eating goulash then it’s likely that you have a specific idea of what goulash is. For some it’s beef soup with carrots, parsnips and potatoes. For others it’s a thick stew without a vegetable to be found. If you were raised in certain parts of the US, goulash might even be ground beef with tomato sauce and macaroni noodles. This last version, which veers dangerously close to Hamburger Helper, is a far cry from traditional Hungarian goulash. Whether it’s served as a soup or stew, with vegetables or without, Hungarian goulash must involve one thing: chunks of beef simmered in a paprika-laced broth until the meat is so tender you’ll eat it with a spoon.
Simmering meat in a pot with a handful of other ingredients until it turns into a rich, thick, comforting meal isn’t a unique idea. The French have Boeuf Bourguignon. Texans have Texas Chili. What makes goulash different is paprika, and lots of it.
Paprika is made by grinding up various types of dried peppers. The type of pepper determines how sweet or spicy the paprika will be. If paprika has a bright red color it’s likely to be sweeter and milder. When the color starts leaning towards brown and orange hues, watch out. It’s going to be spicy. Hungarian Paprika, which is sold in sweet and spicy versions, tastes different than Spanish paprika (which is usually smoky) and regular generic paprika (which doesn’t have much flavor at all). If you can find Hungarian paprika, by all means use it for making goulash. It will give the dish a stronger flavor, one that is slightly sweet and pungent – a little bit like what the essence of a really flavorful red bell pepper tastes like. The mildest varieties of Hungarian paprika are often labeled as Különleges, Édesnemes, Csípmentes and Csemege. Things start getting spicy when you see Félédes, Rozsa or Eros on the label.
This goulash recipe also includes fresh bell peppers, tomato paste and vinegar for extra flavor, but a goulash purist will skip all three. If you take goulash very seriously, it’s all about the meat, onions and paprika. Like most hearty dishes that revolve around tender chunks of beef, goulash must be cooked slowly over the course of a few hours. If you really want to taste goulash at its finest, make a point of eating a bowl as leftovers the next day. The more time the ingredients spend together, the better they taste.
Servings: 6-8
Ingredients:
- 3 pounds boneless chuck cut into 1/2-inch cubes (pork or venison can also be used)
- 1/4 cup fat (lard, tallow, olive oil or butter)
- 2-3 white or yellow onions, chopped
- 3 tablespoons Hungarian Sweet Paprika
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 4 cups beef broth
Instructions:
In a heavy deep pot (like a Dutch oven) heat half of the fat over medium-high heat. Add the meat in three batches, removing each batch from the pot after it browns. The meat doesn’t need to be cooked all the way through, just browned on the outside.
Once the meat is out of the pot, add the rest of the fat followed by the onions and paprika. Stir the onions as they cook, for about five minutes.
Add garlic and caraway seeds. Add vinegar and tomato paste and cook 1 minute, whisking constantly. Add the meat back to the pot along with the salt and bell peppers.
Pour in the broth. The meat should be fully covered by liquid. If needed, add a cup or so of water. Bring to a gentle boil.
Simmer goulash, covered, stirring occasionally, for an hour and half, or slightly longer if meat isn’t tender enough. If you want very little broth, you can remove the lid halfway through the cooking time.
Serve alone in a bowl or over lightly sautéed, thinly sliced cabbage or cauliflower rice.
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Posted By: Worker Bee
Oh, Thank You! You have just made my weekend! I LOVE Hungarian food. Hungarian paprikas are staples in my kitchen.
Sounds great! I love smoked paprika so much I buy it in 2 lb jars. For Xmas, I was given a t-shirt that says “If you don’t like paprika, stay out of my kitchen.” But who doesn’t like paprika?
Oh, yes – but just see the look of surprise on some people’s faces when you present them with something more than generic bland paprika. I make a platter of deviled eggs with several paprikas – smoky, hot, and sweet – for gatherings.
Care to send some of those this way? That sounds yummy
I’ll have to hunt down some good Hungarian Paprika and try this recipe.
If I had only known it came it 2# jars. Know what I’ll be googling next. I buy a new jar as soon as the last one is opened. Yum!!!
Sweet story dude, can we hear another?
To make this even more fun, track down a bogrács (the men’s cooking kettle, used over an open fire in the field).
Also, when cooking the onions it’s typical to cook them in the fat till they are soft, then remove the pot from heat and allow it to cool a bit before adding the paprika. This keeps it from becoming excessively bitter and developing off flavors.
And if there isn’t a good spice market in your town, order from Penzey’s online. Quality paprika is well worth tracking down.
Amazon carries a few Hungarian (and other) paprikas as well. Limited possibilities – but better than nothing for sure.
Oh, and P.S. those are both good suggestions – the kettle/open fire (YUM!!!) and taking care with heating paprika. Heat can alter the flavor so that element does need to be taken into account.
My dad used to cook gulyás over an open fire all day long. We could barely wait to eat it!
Another Hungarian tradition would be to take jowl bacon, put it on a wooden skewer and gently turn it over the fire. We would drip the fat onto bread which was loaded with peppers, tomatoes, onions and garlic. Once the bacon was cooked, we’d slice it on the same veggie-loaded bread. Mmmm. It’s a great substitute for roasting marshmallows over a fire.
OMG….I grew up eating rye bread with red onions and drizzled bacon fat!! We did this at picnics. My parents were born in Hungary and I grew up in norther New Jersey, very ethnic, even the church service was totally in Hungarian. Many years ago, (I am 71 now). Just browsing for recipes and saw your note. Never heard anyone else ever talk about “bacon some’mores!!”
I am not sure how to spell it but what you describe is called shutney sullena.
My grandfather loved this. I think it is the hungarian version of smores.
Already had the stew meat thawing when you posted the recipe I needed! Thank you for supper.
Can’t wait to try this!
ooooh man Mark this looks so frickin’ good. can’t wait to try this one!
I say throw it in the oven when everything’s back in the pool…225 for a few hours and that met is butter.
Meat, I mean. Damn autocorrect…
I make goulash about 4x a months, enough to last for 3-4 days with left overs.
I eat it over a bed of white rice, or kelp noodles (if I want a low carb day).
Can also use pork, lamb, buffalo or elk meat.
I JUST made this for dinner two days ago! I am Czech so it’s one of our traditional dishes (and the husband loves it!). I also took the time to pick the meat out of the finished sauce and blend it with an immersion blender to get a nice, thick onion/red pepper sauce.
Delicious.
If you’re looking for a good hot paprika sauce/paste Eros Pista is very good. And spicy too. I usually add that to all my soups goulash or not. Being Hungarian I grew up with the stuff. My grandmother used to grow all the hot Hungarian peppers and dry them and the make her own csipos (hot) paprika.
This looks good! Jamie Oliver has a recipe for pork goulash that my wife and absolutely *LOVE*. Surprisingly, a very high percentage of his recipes are primal-friendly, especially when you just sub out his obsession with olive oil with more appropriate fats (bacon grease, coconut oil, etc.) when desired. I think he’s just a nudge away from being the first Primal celebrity chef.
If time is an issue, I use a pressure cooker to speed the process. Just follow the directions for stew, etc. Or the trusty crockpot.
Goulash used to be a favorite of mine! You hit it dead on Mark…
“If you were raised in certain parts of the US, goulash might even be ground beef with tomato sauce and macaroni noodles.”
That’s what I LOVED!
Now I need to find me some hungarian paprika…
I thought Mark was joking when he said the thing about mince and macaroni… That’s so weird!
There are lots of recipes (casserole or goulash/stew type dishes) here in the US that use some sort of ground meat – usually beef – and macaroni. They also commonly use some sort of tomato sauce/paste.
My mother-in-law made a casserole dish called “Italian Deli
There are lots of recipes (casserole or goulash/stew type dishes) here in the US that use some sort of ground meat – usually beef – and macaroni. They also commonly use some sort of tomato sauce/paste.
My mother-in-law made a casserole dish called “Italian Delight” – that is anything but Italian or delightful, IMO. Its a high carb, high fat concoction complete with canned corn and cheddar cheese.
These dishes are generally considered “comfort food” here in the US. Makes me think of a feed lot – just fattening us all up for what?
It’s what we grew up with also. With 8 children, it was mom’s way to stretch the meal. It would gross me out now to eat it, especially warmed up with the mushy noodles. Comfort food now, warmed up avocado mixed with freshly made pico de gallo. Goulash will definitely be on the menu this week.
This would work superbly in a slow cooker or very slow oven(200) for 6 or 7 hours also. Great to come home to after a day’s work. Just think of how the house will smell. Yum!
I have had good success with crockpot goulash. Roast the onions at 375 for 45 min, then brown the meat and cook on low for 6-8 hrs. My recipe is basically the same as above, but with 6 large yellow onions (that nearly liquify by the end) and only 1 cup of broth.
I buy a lot of spices from this store:
http://www.thespicehouse.com/spices/hungarian-sweet-paprika
I have a bunch of the sweet paprika and I think I’m going to try and make this version of goulash soon!
Ohhh my GOD!! I’m hungarian, and I just got shocked when I saw the titel!:D It’s just can’t be true:D a traditional hungarian dish on a website like this! I’m honored:)
This sounded so good that I’m making it for dinner!
I pulled stew meat out of the freezer just before seeing this recipe in my Google Reader. Off to get some Hungarian paprika. Thanks, Mark. You rock!
May make this. Though I’ll leave out the capsicum (bell peppers.) Also one of those tablespoons of paprika is going to be smoked. Yum.
The best, most insanely primal hungarian food in my opinion is a giant veal knuckle roasted with garlic, salt, paprika and caraway seeds, served with cabbage. Vealgasm.
Goulash is also a staple of mine, but I’d suggest dropping the carraway seeds, or grinding them before use. If you’ll leave them whole they’ll sprout within a day and your goulash will turn sour. Another good idea is dropping a few beef bones in there, especially if going the crock pot route.
Sexy! I love goulash! Nothing like a polystyrene bowl of the stuff from some central Europeans in a make-shift roadside cafe.
This is just good eating!
This sounds awesome! I’m a huge fan of leftovers, so I can’t wait to make this!
I know it is not traditional, but I love to use a beef tong for chile, goulash,even beef-stroganoff, because the texture is amazing.
DEFINITELY not my mama’s goulash (which was more the ground beef, tomatoes and elbow macaroni–and red beans!–type)–this looks luscious. I’ll have to find some of the mild Hungarian Paprika…we’ve got smoked, but my husband’s not crazy about it.
I love goulash! my mom makes this all the time in winter. It’s such a good meal because we can always free some for later use. And she always adds loads of different veggies to bulk up the meal
Do you think I could make this with beef heart?
Definitely, yes. I’m just not sure I would go more than 50% heart / 50% chuck, though.
(I’ll support just about any way to incorporate offal into a dish.)
Throw in fresh diced tomatoes and include the pepper, and you’re approaching a dish called Hungarian Papikas (pronounced PUP-ree-cash) and that works well with chicken, veal, or beef traditionally… Elk and buffalo are also fantastic but not traditional.
Be warned, if you’re sensitive to nightshades, few Hungarian dishes will be suitable for you. LOL
Yes – and thank the gods that I don’t have any nightshade sensitivities!
Sorry that’s “Paprikas” with an “r”
Some hungarian insight to this nice recipe:
- we actually call this dish ‘pörkölt’
- and gulyás is a soup made from leftover pörkölt + vegetables.
- it is worth to try to make this recipe using other types of meat (we make it with pork, chicken, liver, other organ meats, etc.)
- just don’t forget these: fat, lotsa onions and paprika..
- and a last tip: if you made this recipe with chicken (drumsticks for example), at the end you can add cream, sour cream or some other liquid high fat dairy to make it even more tastier (and heavier). We call this one ‘paprikás’
I second this…the recipe is for porkolt and doesent make it any less awesome…gulyas is something else though…it needs potatoes and a bogracs:-)
Hey guys!
“i” has right, originally the gulash in Hungary is a soup. In Slovakia, and Czech and even in Poland it’s a bit different kind o stuff (I love those dishes as well) In my family (I’m a hungarian who lived in London, recently in France) the receipt is about like that:
onions+fat (pork fat preferable), fry for a while, pull down from the heat, add paprika stir, add the cubed beef, back on the heat, fry a bit, add water carrots, turnip, celery root…tomato(sauce)if you want.Cook it on a slow heat… Spices: black pepper, bayleaves, cumin, garlic. In my opinion it is quite important to choose the good quality vegetables, cause they work like spices as well, i mean they give more awesome taste to the dish.
(of cours, it just an other variation)