An authentic Hungarian goulash recipe for one of Hungary's most famous dishes. Tender beef pieces in a rich delicious sauce made with lots of paprika and with caraway seeds.
AUTHENTIC HUNGARIAN GOULASH RECIPE
Before starting any discussion regarding authentic, traditional recipes, I would like to point out that every traditional/national recipe, although following some general rules and a similar list of ingredients, does differ from region to region, village to village and house to house.
Just as an example: my grandmother's recipe for the Romanian national dish sarmale – cabbage rolls tastes different than any sarmale I have ever tasted in any other household. I am not speaking of restaurants because I would never come to the idea to order some in a restaurant, that is just something I make at home.
My aunt and I have both learned how to make sarmale from my grandmother and although we both follow her recipe (I do that to the letter), our sarmale never tasted exactly as those my grandmother used to cook.
This is probably the same with this Hungarian beef goulash.
The recipe follows the traditional, classic rules of cooking a Hungarian goulash, uses the ingredients that are to be found in recipes for the Hungarian beef goulash, but I am pretty sure that even in this case there will be plenty of people who, for some reason or another, will have something to complain...
Still, I really wanted to post this recipe for an authentic Hungarian goulash because this beef goulash is so amazingly good, so really worth it to learn how to make it and then cook it on a regular basis.
HUNGARIAN BEEF GOULASH
I am Romanian and I was born and raised in Transylvania. A very large Hungarian minority lives in Transylvania, so there is no surprise that many of the dishes I grew up with are Hungarian or are very much influenced by the Hungarian cuisine.
Have a look at this amazing Chicken Paprikash, which was one of my favorite meals as a child (still is), these delicious Hungarian Langos, which my grandmother used to make so often or this amazing Dobos Torte, another Hungarian classic.
My grandmother never ate beef, so she never actually cooked this Hungarian beef goulash. What she did cook a lot was the pork version of the Hungarian goulash.
So, when deciding to cook this easy Hungarian beef goulash recipe, I had to check with some cookbooks first. I have quite a few Romanian and Saxons cookbooks (a lot of Saxons used to live in Transylvania as well and they also cooked many Hungarian inspired dishes) and I have to say that all the recipes I found (about 7 or 8 of them) are very similar.
Some use lard to cook the beef, some use oil but recommend using lard if available, some are made with potatoes, others are served with dumplings. Some use lots of tomatoes, some less. Some spice the Hungarian beef goulash with caraway seeds, some leave those out.
What they all have in common are the use of lots of paprika, lots of onions and red peppers.
My Hungarian beef goulash recipe follows the rules of cooking an authentic Hungarian goulash recipe and uses the ingredients that are to be found in a traditional goulash.
The result is an incredibly rich, flavorful beef stew, comfort food at its best!
INGREDIENTS FOR HUNGARIAN BEEF GOULASH
Beef:
- I used chuck beef to make the Hungarian beef goulash. Beef chuck is a part of meat cut from the neck, shoulder blade and upper arm. The meat has a lot of connective tissues, which make it a very good choice for stews. The long cooking process tenderizes this rather tough cut and the fat content ensures flavorful results.
Pork Lard:
- An authentic Hungarian goulash recipe is definitely made with lard. If you cannot find it or don't want to buy it only for making just one dish, you can use a neutral vegetable oil instead. Not olive oil though.
- If you do buy lard, here are some more recipes using lard, all of them Romanian or Hungarian.
Easy Pork Stew or Hungarian Pork Goulash
Hungarian Pastry Rolls with Walnut Filling
Apricot Jam Crumble Cake with Walnuts
Paprika powder:
- I cannot insist enough on you using the very best paprika powder you can get. It makes no sense attempting to make an authentic Hungarian goulash recipe using cheap paprika powder, it just won't taste like it should taste.
- Cheap paprika only tastes of dust, if you ask me. Real Hungarian sweet paprika powder is rich and has a beautiful red color. It may be a little pricier than the cheaper sort, but not that expensive either. And trust me, it is really worth it! Once you've tried it, you'll never go back.
- And I have to admit I always add more paprika powder than a recipe requires. I remember my grandmother's way of using paprika, she would just take the container and almost emptied it completely over the onions in the pot, she never bothered with teaspoons or sprinkles.
- I normally use sweet paprika with a little bit more of hot Hungarian paprika. You can decide yourself how much hot paprika you want to use, but don't overdo it, the Hungarian beef goulash is not really supposed to be hot.
Ground caraway seeds:
- Caraway seeds are often used in Hungarian and Romanian/Transylvanian cooking and not only for sprinkling on crackers. My grandmother even used them to make a caraway seed soup when I was little, just broth with caraway seeds in it, served with croutons. Delicious and perfect for an upset tummy!
- I absolutely love their flavor and I would not make this easy Hungarian goulash without them. Give them a try, you might be surprised!
Vegetables:
- I used red peppers to make the Hungarian beef goulash. Hungarian pointy red peppers would be the first choice, but if you cannot get them, red bell peppers are fine as well.
- You will also need some ripe tomatoes, some onions and garlic. I add a little tomato paste, because when using fresh tomatoes in a sauce recipe I often feel that they are not flavorful enough. Tomato paste just adds a bit of extra tomato taste.
Beef broth:
- You can use beef broth or water. If you use broth, make sure that the broth is not too salty, it will cook down and you might end up with a sauce that tastes too salty.
- I almost always use homemade beef broth (or chicken stock, if I am out of beef broth).
HOW TO MAKE HUNGARIAN BEEF GOULASH?
Step 1: Cut the beef chuck into small cubes, about 2 cm/ 0.7 inches. Give them onto paper towels and pat them dry with more paper towels.
Step 2: Melt some of the lard in a Dutch oven or heavy bottomed stewing pot. Fry the beef cubes in 2 or 3 batches, depending on the size of your Dutch oven, adding some more lard before each batch. Give the fried beef cubes to a plate and set aside.
Step 3: Add about 1 teaspoon more lard to the pot and fry the chopped onions until very lightly colored, about 4-5 minutes, stirring often and keeping an eye on them.
Step 4: Add the garlic, chopped peppers, chopped tomatoes and bay leaves. Cook for another 3-4 minutes, stirring a few times.
Step 5: Add the spices, stir well to coat, about 1 minutes. Add the tomato paste, meat and beef broth. Cover, bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer until the meat is really tender. This will take about 1 ½ to 2 hours.
Step 6: Remove the lid and continue simmering the Hungarian beef goulash for another 10-15 minutes, allowing the sauce to reduce and thicken slightly. Adjust the taste with salt and pepper.
HOW TO SERVE THE HUNGARIAN BEEF GOULASH
The Hungarian goulash can be served immediately and it can be reheated as well.
In Romania, we always ate goulash with pickled vegetables, pickled green tomatoes most of the times. Gherkins or other pickled cucumbers or vegetables are great as well.
Crusty bread and sour cream, preferably the Eastern European sort called smetana are perfect side dishes for the Hungarian beef goulash. However, nowadays I love eating goulash with mashed or boiled potatoes.
You can also serve the goulash with dumplings - nokedli, gnocchi, spätzle, egg noodles.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Can I make Hungarian beef goulash with pork?
Of course, Hungarian pork goulash is a very popular version, especially in Romania. Here is a delicious recipe for Hungarian pork goulash. Another amazing Hungarian pork stew is the pörkölt, you should definitely try it as well.
Can I add potatoes?
You can add potatoes, the Hungarian goulash will be less authentic, but very good as well. Add small potato cubes during the last 30 minutes of the cooking time and add more broth to make sure that they are cooking properly. Check that the potatoes are soft before turning off the heat.
Can I leave out the caraway seeds?
If you definitely don't like them, you can leave them out. Otherwise I recommend using them.
Can I freeze Hungarian beef goulash?
Yes. The goulash can be frozen in airtight containers for up to three months. Defrost it slowly, preferably overnight, in the refrigerator.
Hungarian Beef Goulash – Authentic Hungarian Goulash Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 kg/ 2.2 lbs stewing beef beef chuck for instance
- 2 tablespoons lard or vegetable oil – you might need more in this case, divided
- 2 onions about 300 g/ 10.6 oz
- 3 large garlic cloves
- 1 red bell pepper about 100 g/ 3.5 oz
- 2 to matoes about 200 g/ 7 oz
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons Hungarian sweet paprika powder
- ¼ – ½ teaspoon Hungarian hot paprika powder (to taste, the goulash should not be too hot)
- ¾ teaspoon ground caraway seeds
- 1 ½ tablespoons tomato paste
- 500 ml/ 17 fl.oz/ 2 cups beef broth or water
- fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Cut the beef chuck into small cubes, about 2 cm/ 0.7 inches. Place them onto paper towels and pat them dry with more paper towels. Chop the onions very finely. Chop the pepper and the tomatoes as well.
- Melt some of the lard (or oil) in a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed stewing pot. Fry the beef cubes in 2 or 3 batches, depending on the size of your Dutch oven. Fry for about 5 minutes per batch or until nicely browned on all sides. Add more of the lard before each batch. Transfer the fried beef cubes to a plate and set them aside.
- Add about 1 teaspoon more lard to the pot and fry the chopped onions until very lightly colored, about 5 minutes, stirring often and keeping an eye on them. If they threaten to catch, add a splash of water and continue cooking.
- Add the garlic, chopped peppers, tomatoes, and bay leaves and cook for about 3-4 minutes, stirring a few times in between.
- Add the paprika and caraway. Stir well for about 1 minute, add the tomato paste and stir well again. Add the meat cubes and the beef broth, stir well.
- Cover the pot, bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer the Hungarian beef goulash until the meat is very tender about 1 ½ – 2 hours. Check to make sure that the meat is really tender.
- Uncover the pot and continue cooking the goulash for another 10-15 minutes until the sauce reduces and thickens slightly. Adjust the taste with salt and pepper.
angiesrecipes says
I won't complain as long as it involves beef 🙂 And yours looks fantastic!
Karen (Back Road Journal) says
I can just imagine how good your goulash is...delicious!
Bridget says
Hello Adina, I just wanted to let you know that I made this for family dinner yesterday and thought it was wonderful! I have tried several Hungarian goulash recipes over the years and my search has ended. I served it with egg noodles, but will try your nokedli recipe next time. Also, my family and I lived in Germany for several years and I have been craving a good bowl of German gulaschsuppe -- I think this will make an excellent starting point for that! (and if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them!)
Thanks for posting this recipe, I look forward to exploring more of them!
Adina says
Hi Bridget, so happy to read your comment. We love this goulash as well. I will try to post a recipe for the German Goulaschsuppe as soon as possible. 🙂
Bridget says
That would be wonderful! Thanks, Adina!
Tracy says
It was good, but I couldn’t find authentic Hungarian Sweet paprika bear me and tried organic paprika in it. I think that’s what my dish was missing but I still loved it and it hit the spot.
Adina says
So happy to hear it, Tracy. Thank you.
Zoltan Komlósy says
Hello Adina! Good to see your recepie about Hungarian food. Thre right method to make always start with onion in otherway is not Hungarian.
Chris Paulson says
My Grandfather was also born in Transylvania, and came to the USA with his family when he was 2 years old. I wanted to compare the goulash recipe I have from my mother (it was her father that came from Transylvania) to see if it is authentic, and yours was the first one I looked at. Mine has bacon, green pepper, white wine and marjoram. Have you heard of any of these ingredients used in an authentic recipe? Thanks!!
Adina says
Hi Chris. I guess it all depends on the region, you will probably not get far and find another version. This one is slightly more Hungarian than Romanian/ Transylvanian. Green peppers make total sense, we use them more than the red ones for cooking. But not the bell pepper sort, you need the smaller, pointy ones, which are only pale green, more yellowish and are milder in taste. Bacon is very often added, but I have never used white wine or marjoram. Marjoram was totally unknown to me in Romania, I image that your recipe was originally made with cimbru, which is the most common dried herb there, but difficult to get in other countries.
Violeta says
Arata foarte gustos .Voi incerca cu siguranta.
Multumesc pentru reteta.
Adina says
Mersi, Violeta. Sper sa iti placa! 🙂
linda versluis says
greetings Adina, just wanted to tell you I made this last night for dinner and it was fabulous, One thing i loved about it was it was not so chunky as goulash i have tried in the past and the flavors just melded so well together. I couldn't find any hot paprika added a dash of cayenne, i will keep hunting for it as this is a keeper for us. Thanks for sharing, Linda
Adina says
Hi Linda. Thank you for letting me know, I love to hear if the recipes work for my readers as well. Have a nice week.
Al says
Really nice recipe! Thank you!
Made it with your dumplings recipe too! I didn’t have the special paprika but used ordinary paprika plus a little hot chilli powder - it was still mild in taste. Yum!
Adina says
So glad to hear it, Al. Thank you for your comment.
Tunde says
Hi, I just found this recipe. Unfortunately I cannot understand why people doesn’t make some researches before they post a recipe calling it authentic… This is so sad, really ? I don’t know what is this, but for sure not gulyas. Gulyas is a soup. The authentic one. It is called gulyas leves. Goulash Soup. Has a lot of vegetables, potato and pasta, all this is in gulyas soup. Together. Gulyas isnt a stew, is a SOUP!!
Here is the most authentic gulyas soup recipe what i could found. This is how should a authentic gulyas look like. Try it, it is very tasty. What you made is a stew, but not even Hungarian stew.
So complaining or not, but there is a huge difference between a stew and a soup.... Gulyas is not, never was equal with a stew, it always was a soup. Doesn't matter in how many restaurants, or homes you taste in Hungary, it is always a soup. Even the name is Gulyasleves, which means Goulash Soup.
https://www.nosalty.hu/recept/tradicionalis-gulyasleves
Adina says
Hi. Thank you for the input, Tunde. As the only Hungarian word I know is nem tudok, I have to go with the general description of a recipe, in this case, "Goulash is a soup or stew of meat and vegetables seasoned with paprika and other spices. Originating in Hungary, goulash is a common meal predominantly eaten in Central Europe but also in other parts of Europe (Wikipedia)." The recipe is also reflecting the dish cooked by Hungarians living in Transylvania (and all the Romanians who learned the recipe from the Hungarians). Apart from that "authentic" is such a disputed word when it comes to food, everybody seems to have a different opinion on what a specific authentic recipe is. I might not be perfectly at ease with some Sarmale recipes (Romanian national dish) that other Romanian people call authentic, although I totally agree with them that for them their own recipe is authentic. To conclude, I always say that this is only food, it should make you content, even happy, it should not cause distress or controversy, there are enough more serious/bad things to make us unhappy.
Tunde says
@Adina, thank you for answer. You shouldnt take wikipedia as a sure source since is wrote by people. At list not the english version, because as made by people, can be wrong. What is made by people, can have mistakes. The Hungarian wikipedia is correct about gulyas. Gulyas is not soup or stew. Is soup. Even is Transylvania. What you made is porkolt, even in Transylvania.
I try to help you, not to offend you. The link what I have sent is a Hungarian site, that is for sure the authentic Gulyas. If you will go in Hungary someday, try in some restaurants, you will see, that what you will get is a soup. If you ask for porkolt, you will get a food like you made as a gulyas.
Yes, this is just food, of course, until is not wrote authentic, couse then you should follow the real, authentic version.
About sarmale we can either speak, because it is made in Hungary as well as toltott kaposzta, or in Serbia, as Sarma, or in Poland as Golabki. I eat all the versions, they are kinda the same. Is a Turkish origin dish. Just like the mici. Serbians have the cevabcici, with a little difference. I have Serbian friends, they are not use garlic for example in cevab.
The csirke paprikas is a authentic Hungarian food either, with a thick sauce, made with a little flour, not watery sauce, and the authentic versions of food they are kept as they must be. If differing, then usually wrote after the title, "as I do", or just simply is not put in the title the authentic. It is like at a traditional romanian dish, lets say papanas would be wrote, its a authentic soup, not a dessert. You got the point? 🙂
You have a nice blog, keep the good work, and I reccomend to make the authentic gulyasleves, it is very tasty, i use to make 2 times a month aprox. And the porkolt either.
Va doresc numai bine, si spor la lucru cu gatitul. Cu Stima: Tünde.
Tunde says
@Adina, I just forgot one thing, why is important to we keep the authentic recipes as they are 🙂 As you know, most of the countries culture part is the culinary part either.
Here in Dublin is very in "vogue" (before the covid of course), that the bachelor and hen parties are made at Budapest. They going there because the nightlife is much cheaper then here, the city is awesome, and they often going because of food either (not only of course, but is part of it), and they are very surprised when they order a Gulyas, or Csirkepaprikas, and they are far not like the english language site's recipes.
Why we get soup, when we ordered stew, etc. So when we put on our website a authentic recipe, it is a big responsibility, mainly if that dish is not from our natal country. thats why when I make a authentic recipe video for post, I make many many researches, but not in english, but in that country natal language, then, as you know, google is your friend, I translate them.
I check many recipes, and when I see that is the 5th-6th recipe say the same ingredients, I make them only, or if I know someone from that country, I ask her, his advice.
Is very bad to hear, or see somewhere, that the Gulyas for example is not as should be in Hungary, couse the english language sites doesnt say the same like there. Most of this sites owners, wasnt there, didnt taste the authentic dish never, they saw on a english site, and thats it, couse of course they dont speak Hungarian, or Romanian, or Serbian, or any other language, to check on thos language sites.
But is not impossible, mainly if we speak about a recipe, because can be used google translate. Do you understand what I mean with authentic recipes? Other recipes doesnt matter 🙂
Martha says
@Tunde, your extensive long post I am afraid is drivel. There are no recipes of ANY national dish that can be regarded as puristically authentic. The dish is only as authentic as the people in the area of origin cook it and every cook will tweak that dish according to what they have available to them using ingredients that are common to the dish. What matters most is that the resulting food is enjoyable and worth cooking again. Gulas, Gulyas, Gulasch, goulash is eaten as a soup or stew all across Eastern Europe. A stew can also be a thick soup and the ingredients will vary. My Czech daughter in law would not add tomatoes but would always add potatoes. I like both in mine and we all add caraway seeds. I'm really not interested in your fanaticism Tunde, Adina has posted a very good recipe here that people everywhere can make and enjoy in the winter months and it is a very respectable goulas. For British cooks my one good tip would be that our British dumplings made with suet are lovely in this dish, I've never had much success with Czech dumplings..neither does my daughter in law..but I may revisit
Adina with your dumplings recipe.
Adina says
Thank you, Martha, you speak from my heart, I think exactly the same.
Judith says
Must say, that the picture looks very good, but in Hungary we would call it pörkölt, the gulyas usually means gulyas soup. Yes, definitely caraway seed is a must, we didn’t put bay leaves in though. We browned the meat a bit and put the chopped onion, black pepper on top, salted it. The onion got sautéed with the meat and let it’s juices out, than the paprika and the liquid…
Maybe somebody would be happy with the recipe of the gulyas soup too! I’m a bit of this and a pinch of that kind of cook, so can’t really write it down.
Don G says
I too have tried several Hungarian goulash recipe and this by far is the best. Definately reminded me of what we had in Hungary. I highly recommend this and will be making it often.