Goulash

Goulash is the pot I start on a cold afternoon when I want the house to smell like dinner for hours before we sit down to eat. It turns two pounds of inexpensive beef chuck into fork-tender meat in a deep, paprika-red broth, and it feeds six with egg noodles to spare.

This is the slow, Hungarian-style version, not the thirty-minute macaroni one, so most of the work is waiting. You brown the beef, build a broth around paprika and tomato, and let it simmer low until the chuck gives way, then finish with sour cream for a tangy, silky edge. Cheap cut, a little patience, and you get a rich beef dinner without paying for a rich cut.

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Affiliate, if you purchase through those links, I earn a commission. Thank you!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Two pounds of beef chuck is the whole point: chuck is one of the cheaper cuts, and the long simmer is exactly what turns it fork-tender, so you get a deeply beefy dinner without buying a pricey roast.
• One Dutch oven does everything, from browning the beef to the final sour cream sauce, so there’s a single pot to wash at the end.
• It serves six over egg noodles, and it doubles cleanly when you’re cooking goulash for a crowd.
• Paprika and smoked paprika do most of the flavoring, so you’re leaning on spices you probably already keep rather than making a special trip.
• Leftovers reheat well, and the goulash freezes for up to three months without the noodles, so one slow afternoon covers several later dinners.
• The potatoes, broth, and noodles do a lot of the filling, so two pounds of chuck stretches comfortably across the whole pot without needing more meat.

Ingredients You’ll Need

You’ll need all the ingredients shown in the photograph below.

Beef chuck. Use 2 pounds, cut into cubes. Chuck is the best beef for goulash because it’s an inexpensive, well-marbled cut that only gets better the longer it cooks, breaking down into tender, spoonable pieces over a couple of hours. A leaner, pricier cut would just turn dry and stringy here, so this is one case where the cheaper cut is the right choice.

Paprika and smoked paprika. These are the backbone of the dish, 1 tablespoon of regular paprika and 1 teaspoon of smoked. The regular paprika gives the broth its color and sweetness, and the smoked adds that low, woodsy note. Cook them in the oil and garlic for only about a minute, because paprika turns bitter if it scorches.

Tomato paste and diced tomatoes. The 2 tablespoons of tomato paste get a brief cook of their own to concentrate the flavor, and the can of diced tomatoes builds the body of the broth. Stewed tomatoes or plain tomato sauce work if that’s what you have, giving you a slightly smoother base.

Beef broth. Four cups carry all that paprika and beef flavor. Chicken or vegetable broth will stand in fine if it’s what’s in the pantry.

Red bell pepper. One chopped pepper adds a little sweetness that plays off the paprika. Green bell pepper works too and reads a touch more savory.

Potatoes. Two cups, cubed, go in near the end so they cook through and soak up the broth without falling apart. Cut them into even pieces so they finish at the same time.

Sour cream and flour. One cup of sour cream whisked with 2 tablespoons of flour is what thickens the broth and gives goulash that signature tang. The flour steadies the sour cream so it doesn’t split when it hits the hot pot.

Egg noodles or Spaetzle. Goulash is served over something to catch the broth. Wide egg noodles or Spaetzle are traditional, and elbow macaroni works if that’s the house favorite.

How to Make Goulash

Scroll down for the full recipe card containing a full printable recipe and measurements in both US customary and metric units.

Once everything’s chopped, this is mostly a hands-off pot that rewards you for leaving it alone. Here’s how it comes together, stage by stage.

Brown the Beef

Pat the beef cubes dry with paper towels and season them well with salt and pepper. Drying the surface is what lets the meat brown instead of steam. Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat and brown the beef in batches, 3 to 4 minutes per side, then set it aside. Don’t crowd the pot, because a packed pan traps steam and you lose the browning that flavors the whole dish

Soften the Onion

Add the chopped onion to the same pot and cook it for 5 to 7 minutes, until it’s soft and lightly golden, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom as you go. Those bits are pure flavor, so don’t leave them stuck to the pot.

Bloom the Paprika and Garlic

Stir in the minced garlic, both paprikas, and the oregano, and cook for about a minute, just until everything smells fragrant and the paprika deepens in color. This quick bloom in the fat is what wakes the spices up. Keep it moving and keep it short, since paprika goes bitter if it burns.

Stir in the Tomato Paste

Add the tomato paste and cook it for another minute before any liquid goes in. That brief cook concentrates it and keeps the broth from tasting flat and raw

Simmer the Beef Low and Slow

Pour in the beef broth, stir, and bring it to a boil, then return the browned beef along with the diced tomatoes and chopped bell pepper. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and let it simmer gently for 2 to 3 hours, stirring now and then, until the beef is fork-tender. This is the step that does all the real work, and it’s the one you can’t rush. Cut it short and the chuck stays chewy.

Add the Potatoes

Stir in the cubed potatoes and cook for another 30 to 45 minutes, until tender and soaked with the paprika broth.

Temper the Sour Cream

Whisk the sour cream and flour together in a small bowl until smooth. Ladle in a little of the hot broth first, whisking as you go, then stir the whole mixture back into the pot. That tempering step warms the sour cream gradually so it stays silky instead of curdling. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, until the sauce thickens slightly.

Season and Serve

Taste and adjust with salt and pepper. Ladle the goulash over cooked egg noodles or Spaetzle, scatter fresh parsley over the top, and serve it hot.

Recipe Notes and Expert Tips

• I brown the beef in real batches and never crowd the pot. If the cubes are touching, they steam and stay gray, and you lose the fond that makes the broth taste like it cooked all day.
• Give the paprika its minute in the fat and no more. Blooming it in the oil deepens the color and flavor, but paprika holds a lot of sugar and turns bitter the second it scorches, so keep the heat moderate and keep stirring.
• Let the simmer run the full 2 to 3 hours. Chuck needs that time to go tender, and there’s no shortcut that gets you there, so start early rather than cutting it short.
• Always temper the sour cream first. I whisk it with the flour, warm it with a ladle of hot broth, then stir it back. Dumping cold sour cream straight into boiling broth is the fastest way to a broken, grainy sauce.
• Cut the potatoes to a uniform size. Even cubes finish together, while a mix of big and small chunks leaves you with some mushy and some still firm.

Recipe Variations

• For an untested, American-style take, swap the cubed chuck for browned ground beef and stir shredded cheddar in at the end. That’s a different dish with a different method, so treat it as its own recipe rather than a quick substitution here.
• A splash of Worcestershire sauce is a supported addition that adds savory, back-of-the-palate depth. It changes nothing about the timing or method, so stir it in with the tomatoes if you like.
• Kidney beans, carrots, or celery are supported add-ins that bulk the pot out and stretch the meat further. Stir them in with the broth and keep the total liquid roughly the same so it still simmers rather than boils dry.
• Swapping the potatoes for more noodles or leaving them out entirely hasn’t been tested here, and it will change how thick and starchy the broth turns out, so treat it as an experiment rather than a straight substitution.

How to Store Leftovers

Get the goulash into the fridge within two hours of cooking rather than leaving the pot out to cool on the stove. Stored in an airtight container, it keeps for up to 4 days at or below 40°F. Reheat it gently on the stovetop over low heat, adding a splash of broth or water if the sauce has thickened while it sat. The flavors settle and deepen by the next day, which makes it a good one to cook ahead on purpose.

Cooking ahead is a little different from saving leftovers. To freeze, leave the noodles out and pack the goulash into individual freezer-safe containers for up to 3 months, then thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating. Cook the noodles fresh when you serve, since they turn soft if they freeze in the sauce.

What to Serve With Goulash

Goulash stands on its own over egg noodles or Spaetzle, but a couple of simple sides round it into a full meal. A thick slice of crusty bread is there to mop up the last of that paprika broth, and it costs almost nothing to add. A cucumber salad with a little vinegar and dill cuts the richness and is the classic pairing. If you want something green, a simple salad with a sharp vinaigrette works, and braised red cabbage or steamed green beans are traditional alongside without competing with the beef.

FAQs

More Slow-Simmered Beef Dinners to Try at Home

If this one earns a spot in your rotation, here are a few more that treat a cheap cut to a long, slow cook.

• Beef Stew is the same Dutch oven, chuck-and-potatoes idea, built on a tomato base and deglazed with a little brandy and red wine.
• Beef and Guinness Stew simmers beef chuck in Guinness until the gravy turns thick enough to coat the spoon, with mushrooms and carrots alongside.
• Slow Cooker Pot Roast takes the same economical chuck and lets the slow cooker do the work, turning it out with root vegetables in a herby broth.
• Lamb Stew is the one-pot answer for a lamb night, with cumin, fire-roasted tomatoes, and fresh mint.
• Hamburger Soup is the quick weeknight cousin, ground beef and potatoes in a savory tomato broth when you don’t have hours to spare.