Hungarian beef goulash
Hungarian beef goulash: chuck braised slowly with a lot of sweet paprika, onions, peppers and potatoes into a thick, brick-red stew. 36 g of protein a bowl, and better the next day.
- 420
- kcal
- 36g
- protein
- 19g
- fat
- 27g
- carbs
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 2 h 30 min
- Serves
- 6
Photograph by kirpiklipencere on Pexels
Ingredients
- 2 lb (900 g) beef chuck, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil or lard
- 2 large onions, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tbsp sweet Hungarian paprika
- 1 tsp caraway seeds, lightly crushed
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 4 cups beef broth or water
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 2 carrots, sliced
- 1 lb (450 g) Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
- Black pepper, and sour cream and parsley to serve
Method
-
1
Season and brown the beef
Pat the beef dry and toss with the salt. Brown it in the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat in two batches, about 5 minutes a batch, and set aside.
-
2
Cook the onions slowly
Lower the heat to medium, add the onions and cook 12 to 15 minutes, scraping up the browned bits, until soft and golden. Add the garlic for the last minute.
-
3
Add the paprika off the heat
Take the pot off the heat, stir in the paprika, caraway and tomato paste, and stir for 30 seconds. Paprika burns quickly over direct heat and turns bitter.
-
4
Braise
Return the beef and its juices, add the broth, and bring to a simmer. Cover with the lid slightly ajar and simmer very gently for 1 1/2 hours, until the beef is almost tender.
-
5
Add the vegetables
Add the bell pepper, carrots and potatoes and simmer 30 to 40 minutes more, until the potatoes and beef are both tender. Add a little water if it gets too thick.
-
6
Season and serve
Taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve in bowls with a spoonful of sour cream and some parsley.
Hungarian goulash and American goulash
Two very different dishes share the name. Hungarian goulash, gulyás, takes its name from the Hungarian word for a cattle herdsman. In Hungary it is a thick soup of beef, onions, paprika and potatoes; the thicker stew without potatoes is called pörkölt. This recipe sits between the two, with a stew-like texture and the potatoes cooked in.
American goulash, sometimes called American chop suey in New England, is a Midwestern weeknight dish of ground beef, elbow macaroni and tomato sauce. If that is what you were looking for, there is a quick version further down this page.
The paprika is the point
Three tablespoons may look like a lot, but goulash is a paprika dish, and that is what gives it its color and flavor. Use sweet Hungarian paprika, which is sold in most supermarkets, and make sure it is fresh. Paprika loses its color and flavor within a year of opening; if yours is brown rather than bright red, buy new. Smoked paprika is a different flavor and is not used in Hungarian goulash. For heat, replace a tablespoon of it with hot Hungarian paprika.
Take the pot off the heat before the paprika goes in. It contains sugars that burn within seconds in hot oil, and burned paprika makes the whole pot bitter.
The right cut of beef
Use chuck. It has enough fat and connective tissue to turn tender and juicy after two hours of slow simmering, and the collagen thickens the sauce. Leaner cuts, like round or sirloin, turn dry and stringy. Buy a whole chuck roast and cut it yourself if you can: packages labeled "stew meat" are often a mix of cuts that cook at different speeds.
Make it a day ahead
Like most stews, goulash tastes better the next day, once the flavors have had time to blend. Cool it, refrigerate it overnight, and lift off the layer of fat that sets on top before reheating. It keeps 4 days in the fridge. It freezes for 3 months, but the potatoes turn grainy; to freeze it, leave them out and add them when you reheat it.
Quick American goulash
Brown 1 lb of 90% lean ground beef with an onion and 2 cloves of garlic. Add a 28-oz can of crushed tomatoes, a 15-oz can of tomato sauce, 2 cups of water, 1 tbsp Italian seasoning, 1 tbsp paprika and 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil, stir in 2 cups of elbow macaroni, and simmer covered for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring often, until the pasta is tender. Top with shredded cheddar. It serves 6.
What it is worth nutritionally
A bowl has about 420 kcal, with 36 g of protein, 19 g of fat and 27 g of carbohydrate, including about 5 g of fiber. With the potatoes and vegetables already in the pot, it is a full meal without bread or noodles. Trimming the visible fat from the chuck and skimming the fat after it chills keep the fat reasonable for a beef stew. Beef is one of the best sources of easily absorbed iron, along with zinc and vitamin B12; see our guide to iron-rich foods. For a similar slow braise, try our braised beef. The goulash is gluten-free if the broth is.
