Hungarian Beef Goulash Recipe

This delicious Hungarian Goulash Recipe is jam-packed with roasted vegetables and beef in an amazing spice-filled broth that is loaded with flavor.

Goulash is a traditional Hungarian stew that has origins all the way back to Magyar shepherds in the 9th century. The stew back then was dried out and held in sheep stomachs which were the olden day's version of a plastic container. When it was time to eat they would rehydrate it with water and feast.

Fast forward several centuries and goulash finally made its way to a big pot or kettle where meat, vegetables, and of course paprika, were stewed for hours over a fire until everything was tender. We take the same approach nowadays, but my guess is it’s on your stovetop.

Some very basic ingredients for goulash include beef, onions, carrots, potatoes, peppers, caraway seeds, paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper.

Ingredients for this recipe:

• 6 strips of chopped bacon
• 2 pounds of beef shanks cut into 1” cubes
• 2 peeled and medium diced yellow onions
• 3 finely minced garlic cloves
• 1 seeded and medium diced red bell pepper
• 1 banana or cubanelle pepper cut into rings or medium diced
• 3 cored and medium diced vine ripe tomatoes
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika
• 1 cup red wine
• 4 cups beef stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 peeled russet potatoes cut into 1” chunks
• 3 peeled and large diced or thickly sliced carrots
• optionally add 1 cup each of large diced peeled celeriac root and turnips
• salt and pepper to taste

Serves 10

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 3 ½ hours

Procedures:

1. Start by cooking some bacon in a large pot over medium heat until it is browned. Set the crisp-cooked bacon lardons aside.
2. Add the beef to the pot with rendered bacon fat and cook over high heat until they are well browned on all sides and then set them aside, which takes about 10-12 minutes. The beef drippings will absorb after 5-6 minutes and the beef will be brown much better after that.
3. Next, add the onions to the same pot and cook over low heat until they are browned and caramelized, which takes about 20-25 minutes.
4. Pour in the garlic and peppers and sauté over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes while occasionally stirring.
5. Place in the tomatoes and stew for 6-8 minutes or until a lot of the liquid has been absorbed.
6. Next, add back in the beef and bacon, along with the cumin, paprika, and optional caraway seeds, and cook for 4-5 minutes. The flavor and color should really intensify.
7. Deglaze with the red wine and cook for an additional 4 to 5 minutes or until the amount of liquid is reduced by one-half.
8. Pour in the beef stock along with bay leaves, salt, and pepper, and place a lid on the pot and cook over low to medium heat for about 90 minutes or until the beef is tender.
9. Add your desired root vegetables to the stew and cook for 20-25 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
10. Serve in a bowl with a garnish of chopped parsley.

Chef Notes:

Make-Ahead: You can make this up to 4 to 6 hours ahead of time. Keep the goulash warm over low heat until ready to serve.

How to Store: Cover and keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Cover and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator for 1 day before reheating. You may also need to add more beef stock and re-season.

How to Reheat: Add the desired amount to a small saucepot and heat over low heat until it is warmed. You can also reheat in the microwave until warm.

Serve the goulash with some homemade bread.

Caraway seeds are classically used, but I personally am not a fan of using them in this recipe.

Feel free to adjust the seasonings with more cumin, caraway, or paprika.

I almost always use cabernet sauvignon when cooking with red wine.

You can additionally add celeriac root, turnips, and parsnips.

[DjDire]

If anyone wondering, if you come to Hungary and want to eat something similar to this, it’s called pörkölt here. If you order a Gulyás you will get a soup, sided with white bread. Most of us make this food with only basic spices salt pepper and paprika. First we roast the diced bacon, and on that fat we caramelize the onions and then put in the meat, and give it a nice crust. After that we add water and spices, and when the meat is nearly done, we add the root vegetables and some pasta. Pasta or beans are not necessary ;) I hope I helped cheers!

[sarahbalogh]

I lived in Hungary for 8 years, am married to a Hungarian and have made this recipe over 6-7 times since and I LOVE this. Thanks. A bit different but I look forward to hosting this and making it for family when they come!

[azjendrasik]

I've been making goulash for 10 years. My wife is Hungarian and I made it my business to make it good, authentic and good tasting. I did...but. 2 hours after seeing your video I knew I had to try it. I'm a photographer and the visual aspect of it was incredible. I made it. It was delicious. Now I'm in the kitchen and making it again and simple put..BRAVO and thank you.

[jeffreyhancock]

I made this last night and it was wonderful. What I absolutely love about your style is you don't pretend to love every ingredient in a recipe. I'm tired of hearing "if you don't think you like it just put it in and you won't even notice". I don't like the taste of peppers and left them out and it was still good. I like caraway seeds, ground them up and it tasted great. Thank You also for using everyday cook ware, not brand new spotless pots and pans. Those of us who cook for our families actually wash our cookware and it is not always clean, sparkling and looking like it's brand new after we use it 5 or 20 times.

[eyyen]

I saved this video to try this recipe. I don’t care how authentically Hungarian it is, because it’s all good food and looked and sounded delicious. The only change I made to the spice was I was unclear what Hungarian paprika is like so I blended two teaspoons of sweet and one of smoked. I knew that would be good no matter what.

I also had purchased a half bushel of fire roasted Hatch chiles which we have in the freezer, so used one of those. I also didn’t have bacon but used some diced pancetta instead. It’s at the 90-minute cook stage. It smells like heaven! So I can’t give you a taste test result yet, but based on the ingredients and the techniques, not to forget the aromas, it’s going to be fantastic.

[DeJayHank]

made this a couple of times a few years ago and it is absolutely amazing. Came here to get a refresher before I make it again tomorrow.
I will definitely use ground up caraway seeds for it though. It really is not a goulash without the caraway. absolutely key ingredient.

[bridgethamann]

Went into new territories with this recipe, and I believe it to be the best stew I’ve ever had. We were given a venison roast, among other things, for my husband helping out another family. So I thought, it’s been awhile since we had stew, and of course, had to check out recipes from our smash burger guy. Now when I say new territories, I meaning, never had Hungarian stew, never cooking with wine, nor believe I had it growing up, along with trying out Anaheim pepper, parsnip, turnip and celeriac root. And am glad to say, my friend, you hit another home run in my household. Thanks for your welcoming videos and recipes!! And yes, I’ve been spreading your name out, encouraging people to try your recipes!! Just the other day, my bestest bestie ask for your smash burger recipe and I told her, you guys will love it, won’t want to make your burger any other way!! Thanks for your time and energy to share with others!! ❤

[jeanettebarr]

Oh Chef Billy. In my opinion you are one of the best chefs cooking in front of a camera. Thank you.

[anthonyal-hakim]

I’ve made this recipe 6 times and currently #6 is on the stove simmering! I’ve made it for deer camp and my family and everyone loves it.
The only thing I do differentl is I use venison and it awesome. Thanks for great stewing tips!

[TheMamba]

Hi I have been a Hungarian chef for more than 26 years now and I have made a lot of Goulash Soups during this time and I can say that you did a very nice job. Thank you for sharing this soup, which is especially popular with Hungarians. Nice work!!👍

[arpad]

I was really happy you brought up the need to braise the beef. This is where you develop your rich sauce. Kudos! (To that end, I would have left the bones in, and removed them before the soup phase.) Typically, a gulyás starts as a pörkölt, a thick braised meat stew with no other vegetables, which would be served over a starch. Instead, for gulyás, after that's done and the meat is almost completely tender you add the rest of the ingredients, like you did, and fill it up with more water than you did, to make a soup. What we know as gulyásleves or gulyás for short. I've really been studying and improving my gulyás and I don't want to nitpick. We say, "ahány ház, annyi szokás, " which translates to as many traditions as there are houses. Although, you could easily double that amount of paprika. I would even say triple.

There is one glaring problem. In no uncertain terms: no cumin. This is a lost in translation ingredient. Many Hungarians wrongly translate kömény (caraway) as cumin, which is known as Roman caraway in Hungarian. This is not a Hungarian flavor. I don't care for the caraway seeds either and when I used to add (regular) caraway, I would add ground; though I've migrated to a more traditional version without caraway and without tomatoes.

If any readers are interested, I translated the 1939 version from the chef, Magyar Elek, in his classic Hungarian recipe canon, "Az Inyesmester Szakácskönyve, " or "The Gourmet Master's Cookbook." It is not THE definitive version, as I don't think that exists, but it is definitely an important version that encapsulates many traditions. I'm absorbed by food history; Hungarian food history, mostly.

In 1831, one writer wrote about the intense spiciness of the paprika used, describing a "diabolical paprikás soup in which an unbelievable amount of paprika was used and the gulyás was like having a burning ember in one's mouth."

Note that these days, many people add carrots and some root vegetables. The celeriac root is an exceptional flavor. Tomatoes and caraway are also common. Bay leaves... eh... not as much.

Recipe:

THE GULYÁSMEAT, gulyás for short, is certainly a respectable Hungarian food, belonging to the soup category (though also an appetizer), that is so well known in and of itself that it's unnecessary to call it gulyás soup. The gulyás has a thin broth in contrast to its sibling, the pörkölt, which has a shorter, thicker broth. In fact, this is how they're different from each other because otherwise they are the same at heart; like we've said they're born from the same mother.

Both require bite sized, or if it's preferred, cubed meat, which is caramelized on paprika, onion and fat; and then braised until it evaporates its liquid, then is simmered with a little water, wine or meat broth. This is where their paths diverge because while we only add just enough liquid to the pörkölt broth, the gulyás has significantly more added, as we fill it with the liquid in which the ingredient potatoes have boiled. The pörkölt is served on a meat platter while the gulyás is served in a soup bowl. We eat it with a spoon as appropriate for a soup.
If we're talking about gulyás, most of the time we mean beef. (If a specific agricultural region prefers mutton, then we always specify it by name).

The gulyás can also sometimes be made with veal or pork but pork is too fatty, and makes it too heavy, veal, on the other hand is not always hearty enough to retain it's flavor in simmering water. It's necessary with the beef (we're always speaking of fattened steer) to use many different parts for a good gulyás. For instance, primarily the sirloin. This is a good flavorful, strong cut, but anyone who thinks this is enough by itself, is greatly mistaken. It additionally needs various parts to give it flavor, a little offal, perhaps heart, one or two udders or some kind of liver, and then something that will thicken it, ensure the collagen, like a hock or the cheek with skin parts because without this our dish may become a watery mess. All of these need to be included in a suspended kettle (or a slow simmering deep pot).

No way in the world do you need too many onions as, unfortunately, many commonly believe. It's not the onion that gives it its flavor and thickness, but rather a well selected variety of meat parts, and a good quality, delicious, famous sweet paprika from Szeged. The onion should only add nuance to the main flavors. If you have too much, our food will become sweet, bad smelling and create heart-burn.

50 - 60dkg [1 - 1 1/3 lbs] meat only requires on small onion in the gulyás. That too, should be chopped very fine. Heat up a spoonful of fat (it doesn't hurt if it's freshly rendered from smoked szalonna [salt cured fat-back]). Add the onion and toast them to a beautiful yellow, add a spoon of that mentioned sweet-famous [paprika], and when it returns to a simmer add in the cubed meat and sear for a bit (if you like, add a hint of flour) and if you want to eat exceptionally well, pour in a glass of quality white wine. Salt, but only a little. Cover with a lid so it can simmer nicely and soften.

Meanwhile boil, in salt water, peeled and quartered yellow or red potatoes (around 1kg [2.2lbs]); when they're almost completely done, we place them in the pan with the meat and pour in enough of the potato cooking salt water so that it doesn't hurt our chances of a good, thick soup. Cook the meat and the potato together a bit and when the both are tender enough, taste it to see if it needs more salt or paprika and then we can plate it. (Of course we serve the best of the meat pieces in the bowls).

Don't add caraway seeds, they ruin the character and it's only for the Viennese "Gollasch." There's no need for tomato either, this trend crept in from Serbian cuisine through the southern territory, into the Hungarian paprikás. You can confidently cook "green" peppers [typically Hungarian wax peppers - another common mistranslation, since these are called green peppers in Hungary but aren't green bell peppers]. This is very complementary for it. Small, thick csipetke [small, hard egg noodles] or csusza [rough irregular broken noodles], or even round cut noodles should not be cooked in, but coated in hot fat and served on the side on a warm plate.

[robreyescosme]

I made this today for dinner.. Amazingly delicious... I will make it again. Thank you for sharing the recipe..

[cosmicbrambleclawv]

Just made it tonight :D (minus the peppers, and with normal paprika cause nowhere around sells Hungarian 😅)

It was so good! The perfect little stew for getting over being sick ❤

[abbiegaille]

Thank you so much for this recipe! I have beef rump in my freezer and wasn't sure what to cook with it. Now I do! This was my favourite dish in Hungary when I travelled there 13 years ago. The stew was served in a carved out bread instead of a bowl. Thanks for the dinner inspiration and recipe. Can't wait to try this!

[toddduncan]

You've helped me learn soooo much Chef I just wanted to thank you for everything.
Im always excited to see your upload and constantly on your website.! Hands up walking away freakin awesome man!

[matildamaher]

I was chatting with the lady bus driver earlier., telling her my recipe for tonight She said that the German version of goulash bacon is added. Thank you for the recipe

[Brianlamb]

Cooked this today, very enjoyable to cook and eat.

[dimula]

I do a simplified version of such goulache regularly. I limit the number of ingredient, but keep all the techniques mentioned. Caramelizing ingredients makes the taste really good, even when you limit yourself to just meat, onions, carrots, tomatoes and paprika. I also skip potatoes to be able to freeze the a part of it for later (potatoes taste bad when defrosted). I also did the "full and traditional" version a few times (in which I even caramelized potatoes as well). It is very good, but I keep it for special occasions only :)

[jasonhays]

Made this last night and it is fantastic. Definitely going in my repertoire

[ibanezvbk]

I followed this recipe today, it's the best beef stew I've ever had, it was superb 👌 even my friends and next door neighbour loved it, thanks for this recipe boss outstanding 👌