Winter is here! It’s cold outside, and when you get home after a long day, you want something hot and hearty to stick to your bones. Sometimes, that gives you back your energy and helps you through the cold months. This is my recipe for Hungarian Goulash.
While Goulash is more of a soup in Hungary, I like mine a bit thicker. Please use the recipe as you see fit.
If you are just here for the recipe, you can press the button underneath to be automagically transported to the recipe:
The origins of Goulash date back to the 9th century, when Hungarian shepherds ate stews made from dried meats that were rehydrated while they were out shepherding—not unlike the origins of chili con carne.
Paprika wasn’t introduced into the Hungarian stew until the 16th century when peppers of the capsicum variety were brought to Europe from the Americas.
The recipe has developed over the years, and the meat of choice is beef, veal, pork, or lamb.
It is meant to be the well-exercised cuts that require a long cook time to become tender. These cuts also contain a lot of collagen, which makes the soup thicker naturally.
Some optional components are garlic, caraway seeds, and wine. Later additions to the dish include potatoes and red peppers, and carrots, parsley root, and spices like cayenne, bay leaf, and thyme are popular.
Today, the most defining characteristic of a Hungarian Goulash is the sweet Hungarian paprika.
The choice of meat for this Hungarian goulash recipe
The most common choice of meat for goulash today is beef.
The best choices from the cow are the flank meat and the chuck steak. The top round is also a popular choice.
The meat should be relatively low in fat, but lots of connective tissue is not bad because that will melt as the meat is braised low and slow.
The conclusion of this Hungarian goulash recipe
So, what would we expect from a Hungarian goulash:
The sweet, sweet taste of Paprika – check!
Beautifully tender meat – check!
A rich soup, full of umami and vegetable taste – check!
Tender vegetables – check!
For me, this Hungarian goulash recipe is the ultimate stick-to-your-bones food for cold nights!
Give it a go!
You can also try serving your goulash in a sourdough bread bowl—the recipe is here.
Share this recipe for Hungarian goulash on social media
This is my recipe for authentic Hungarian Goulash. If you like the recipe, please consider sharing it with like-minded food lovers on social media.
If you make it and post it on Instagram, please tag me as @foodgeek.dk so I can see it. That would make me very happy.
3tablespooncornstarchor more if you like a thick sauce
water, as needed
Instructions
Prepare all the vegetables: peel and dice the onions, peel and slice the carrots, dice the potatoes, and slice the mushrooms.
Heat a large pot to medium heat and then add some oil. I use extra virgin olive oil.
Add three large chopped onions.
Add three crushed garlic cloves.
Sweet Hungarian paprika.
Let it simmer until the onions have softened and everything is fragrant.
Then scoop out the onions.
Add some more oil and brown 1.5 kg, 3 pounds of flank meat. You could also use chuck.
Brown the meat in batches, or else it will take forever. Also, the browning will not be as good because the meat will be steamed instead of browed.
Once all the meat is browned, add it to the pot, including the onions.
Then add 1 liter, about 1 quart of beef stock.
Then add 2 vegetable stock cubes, 3 tablespoons of tomato paste, 6 carrots in slices, 400 grams/15 ounces of potatoes, and 250 grams/10 ounces of mushrooms.
Mix it up so that everything is combined.
Bring it to a boil and then turn it down to low. Add a lid and let it simmer away until dinner time.
Mine was bubbling away for at least 8 hours.
Season with salt and pepper when you are about ready to eat.
Mix three tablespoons of cornstarch with some water and add to the goulash. I like mine a bit thicker, so I added three additional tablespoons of cornstarch slurry.
