On Facebook, I have a group called Appalachian cooks and I recently asked what people considered goulash after someone had posted a picture of “American Goulash”. The picture was macaroni noodles in a tomato sauce with corn added in.
This is a picture of the recipe I chose to make which is a Hungarian version of goulash. I was really surprised at how many people who were willing to share there goulash recipes with me. You’ll see it below.
I received many different variations of the recipes people considered to be goulash and I will share them all farther down on the page. Many do consider it a meal with elbow noodles and tomato sauce of some sort but others think of it as more of a stew dish to be served on egg noodles.
Several people called it a Hungarian dish that was a stew-like meal with root vegetables, cabbage, chunks of beef and tomatoes. I had never heard of this kind of goulash meal because growing up, goulash was always just spaghetti with elbow noodles to me. (I call this meal spaghetti-mac now, or sketti-mac.)
Johnny Marzetti was a name that came about when my oldest daughter’s boyfriend came into the family. That’s what his mom called what I had known as goulash, or my now sketti-mac. I think they are all good dishes, but I can no longer consider any other meal “goulash” after having made it the Hungarian way.
Here are the recipes for goulash that my group members passed along:
MaryAnn says, I cook chopped onion, celery in butter til soft then add in ground beef & cook til browned. Cook macaroni, drain. Add in beef, can of diced tomatoes. Sometimes I’ll put it in a baking dish and top with yellow American cheese and cook til cheese is melted
Kimberly has a simple recipe for goulash that consists of only Tomatoes, ground beef, and elbow macaroni.
Rachel Jo uses:
3 pounds ground beef
Diced Green pepper and onion
Minced garlic
Canned Italian tomatoes
Tomato juice
Elbow noodles
Salt, pepper and Italian seasoning
Brown beef in large pot, add peppers, onions and garlic until veggies are cooked
Add tomatoes and juice and cook until simmering, then add noodles. Cook about 12-15 minutes until the noodles are done.
Allyson’s recipe for goulash is:
Cooked ground beef 2lbs
3 cups diced can tomatoes
Cooked wide noodles
Pinto beans 3 cups cooked
1 chopped onion
2 stalks of celery
Enough v8 till its has a little soup.
Salt and pepper
Lori cooks her hamburger, garlic and onions with salt and pepper (s&p). Drain grease. Add about 3 cups or so of water and a can of tomato sauce. Add dried macaroni and simmer till done. Add s&p as needed.
Cynthia uses: Onion, ground beef, green pepper diced, macaroni, kidney beans, chili powder, diced tomatoes, V8 juice.
Sherry version of goulash consists of Chopped onion, ground beef, cook and drain elbow macaroni, add to ground beef mix, can of diced tomatoes or diced Rotell tomatoes with hot peppers. Mix well, throw on shredded cheese and enjoy
Dorothy uses Macaroni cooked and drained. Then Cooks hamburger, onion and green peppers. Drain. Add to macaroni with diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Add basil and oregano salt and pepper. When serving top with shredded cheese.
Luci says to cook macaroni. Saute diced onions and green peppers. Remove those to a bowl. Cook ground beef, drain, Return onions & peppers to pan with beef. Add juice from whole canned tomatoes. roughly chop tomatoes and add those. Add a few dashes of Worstershire sauce, and a sprinkle of chili powder. Drain and add macaroni. Add salt to taste.
Linda cooked her macaroni, thinly sliced Italian sausage 1 lb (depending on how many people are going to eat…I usually do 1 lb/for every 2 people), cooked onion, garlic (we like lots…lol), stewed tomatoes, sliced green peppers, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper, shredded Mexican blend cheese. Put in a greased baking dish and heat through. Top with more cheese and melt, then serve with garlic bread & mixed salad.
Cat Browned ground beef, chopped onions, peppers, celery, drained…cook Mac and cheese, mix into the beef, add tomatoes and a can of tomato sauce and a can of hot dog chili…
Ms. Jax says Cook and stir the ground beef in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, breaking the meat up as it cooks, until the meat is no longer pink and has started to brown, about 10 minutes. Skim off excess fat, and stir in the onions and garlic. Cook and stir the ….Complete Recipe
Here is the recipe for goulash I used to make the picture:
Kenneth always has good information about meals. His recipe is the one I chose to make that is pictured above.
He reports that Goulash originated in central Europe as a shepard’s meal. Over the ages, it has changed. Currently it is a stew of meat & vegetables that uses paprika for the main seasoning.
Sometimes served with egg noodles or bread, many add the noodles or pasta into it.
A dallop of sour cream is often added before serving.
If you want my personal recipe, let me know. One is spicy (hot paprika & hot sauce) & the other one isn’t (sweet Hungarian paprika).
Someone asks him for the recipe and Kenneth replies with: I’ll give you the “sweet” version. Paprikas are nothing more than a special heart shaped pepper with thick walls and a sweet flavor. They are dried, ground up, & sold in three “heats” – sweet, mild, and hot. There is also a smoked paprika that is great. The difference between the “heats” are determined by the amount of seed and membrane added to the mix. For this recipe, use either smoked or sweet.
Take 1 lb. of meat and cut it into cubes. Season with salt, pepper, paprika, onion & garlic powder (just pretend your salting or peppering with each spice). Place in a zip lock bag in the refrigerator at least an hour (overnight is best).
Cut various vegetables into bite size pieces. Celery, potatoes, turnips, parsnips, rutabagas, cabbage, carrots, or whatever you like. Turnips, parsnips, & rutabagas are not frequently considered soup vegetables, but they add a sweet flavor & I sometimes mix them in my mashed potatoes as well. If you haven’t tried them, place them in cheesecloth before adding them and try them separately when the dish is done.
One onion, diced
1 large can tomatoes
Oil for sautéing
Broth (chicken if cooking chicken, beef broth for beef and pork) – you’ll need enough to cover the ingredients.
For every 4 cups of broth, add 1Tbsp. paprika.
Take the meat, roll it in seasoned flour, and brown it on all sides in oil in the pot.
Remove from oil and set aside.
In the oil, sauté the onion until tender. If you use additional oil, you can add flour to form a runny paste and cook several minutes to darken.
Add all vegetables, meat, tomatoes, and paprika and cook until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
cook
Thicken if desired with cornstarch & cold water or a separate roux (flour cooked in a fat)
Serve on egg noodles. Put a spoonful of sour cream on top.(I have seen the sour cream added to the stew – to prevent “curdling” take a little of the soup broth & add it to the sour cream – repeat until the sour cream is warm & then add it all to the stew).
To make the hot, use a hot type paprika or add hot sauce (Chipotle is great for this!)
Carolyn browns off her beef & onions, add lots of garlic & little chili powder, salt & pepper, tomato juice, partially cooked lg. macaroni, simmer…..I add little sugar to mine, about a tablespoon.
Penny says: Lean ground beef, one large chopped sweet onion, plop of garlic, 1)2 cup or so green bell pepper, drain grease, add a quart of tomatoes, salt and pepper, a can of Campbell’s tomato soup, let simmer, cook a pound of elbow macaroni, just barely done, in salty water, drain, add to meat sauce, let it simmer for 15 minutes, and serve hot
Pat doesn’t have a recipe but has this to say about it: My mom was from Hungary so our goulash is different. Ours is more like a beef stew. Use a lot of paprika and beef cubes. I don’t have a recipe. Do every thing by memory from my mom.
Carol offers a Hungarian recipe… beef, garlic, onion, heavy dose of paprika, potato, carrot, bell peppers, tomato, beef broth, salt, pepper, caraway. Brown the beef (use stew meat), saute the vegetables in a little fat of some kind, add everything in and cook for a few hours.
Melvia says that what’s left in the garden at season’s end green and ripe tomatoes, onions, okra, different peppers, squash all rolled in cornmeal, cut off white corn, all fried together with salt and pepper. Smells great.
When I made Kenneth’s version of goulash, I used the crockpot. I did change the recipe up a bit to work with what I had on hand, like using a quart jar of stewed tomatoes instead of one large can of tomatoes. The smell of it cooking was fantastic!
No matter what you consider to be goulash, you should definitely give the Hungarian version a try and use lots of Spanish Paprika because it is fantastic. I did enjoy eating it over the traditional egg noodles but I think we would also like it over rice…maybe net time!
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