When you say goulash, obviously your thoughts are flying to Hungary. Let’s show you a traditional Hungarian goulash recipe, as I like to do and how we love it in our family.
In Hungary, goulash in one of the national dish, with the Hungarians take great pride. It is an old, medieval recipe, which can be cooked outdoors, in a traditional goulash kettle, called “bogracs”.
There are two variants of goulash, the first is the goulash soup, which I will present here, and a type of goulash stew, that is, it is more constituent and thicker. It can also be made from pork or even without meat.
But the traditional Hungarian goulash recipe is a soup with beef meat, potatoes and vegetables.
If you are interested you can try another delicious potato soup recipe that you can find here.
Contents
Ingredients for Traditional Hungarian Goulash Recipe
The main ingredient is beef meat, I used about 600 g beef shin cut in cubes.
We still need vegetables, I used about three carrots, two parsley roots, two medium-sized onions, one tomato and one sweet red pepper.
We will need 5-6 medium-sized potatoes, which is about half a kilogram, and one green pepper.
Let’s Start Cooking!
First, we clean and finely chop the two onions.
In a soup pot, heat two tablespoons of pork lard (or 100 ml of oil), in which we put the chopped onion to fry.
We roast a little the onions, until it becomes translucent, after which we put the meat to fry.
Mix the meat to fry on both sides, until it turns colour. Season with two teaspoons of sea salt, one teaspoon of freshly ground pepper and two teaspoons of caraway powder (or whole seeds).
We also add a tablespoon of sweet paprika powder, a tablespoon of gulyas paste and a teaspoon of sweet pepper paste. They give a Hungarian flavour to the dish.
Mix and add a glass of water, do not burn the paprika powder, and leave to boil everything over medium heat.
In the meantime, clean and chop the sweet red pepper.
We also proceed with green pepper.
After we finish chopping the peppers, add them in the pot over the meat.
Mix, and let boil for about five minutes. If needed, add a little more water.
Chop the tomato, which we also add in the pot.
We add water to cover everything and let boil for about an hour, stirring occasionally. We have to be careful not to evaporate all the water, otherwise, it will burn. If necessary we add more water.
The boiling time depends on the type of meat used, some are made faster, others require a longer time.
While the meat is boiling, we can start preparing the other vegetables. We clean and cut into cubes the carrots and parsley roots.
We check, and if the meat is half boiled, add the carrots and parsley roots. Mix and boil for about 10 minutes.
Also, add the potatoes cut into cubes and season with two teaspoons of sea salt.
Finishing the Goulash Soup
After adding the potatoes, add more water to cover everything well and boil about 15-20 minutes. Everything must have the consistency of a soup. In fact, we only cook until the potatoes are done.
I also added a tablespoon of vegetable mix, for added flavour. Taste, and if necessary add more sea salt because the potatoes will absorb from the flavours.
And with this I finished, this is the traditional Hungarian goulash recipe, in my version.
Serving the Goulash
It is served hot, with fresh bread and who wants with chilli peppers.
You can find on our blog other delicious recipes of soups such as:
- White Bean Soup With Smoked Ribs
- Romaine Lettuce Soup
- Greek Lemon Soup Recipe
- Pork Meatballs Vegetable Soup
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Traditional Hungarian Goulash Recipe
Ingredients
- 600 g beef shin cut in cubes
- 3 pieces carrots
- 2 pieces parsley roots
- 2 pieces onions medium-size
- 1 piece red sweet pepper
- 1 piece green sweet pepper
- 1 piece tomato
- 500 g potatoes
- 2 tbsp pork lard ( or 100 ml vegetable oil)
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground pepper
- 2 teaspoons caraway powder or caraway seeds
- 1 tbsp sweet paprika powder
- 1 tbsp gulyas paste
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika paste
- 1 tbsp vegetable mix
Instructions
- First, we clean and finely chop the two onions. In a soup pot, heat two tablespoons of pork lard (or 100 ml of oil), in which we put the chopped onion to fry. We roast a little the onions, until it becomes translucent, after which we put the meat to fry. Mix the meat to fry on both sides, until it turns colour.
- Season with two teaspoons of sea salt, one teaspoon of freshly ground pepper and two teaspoons of caraway powder (or whole seeds). We also add a tablespoon of sweet paprika powder, a tablespoon of gulyas paste and a teaspoon of sweet pepper paste. Mix and add a glass of water, do not burn the paprika powder, and leave to boil everything over medium heat.
- Clean and chop the sweet red pepper and also proceed with green pepper. Add them in the pot over the meat. Mix, and let boil for about five minutes. If needed, add a little more water. Chop the tomato, which we also add in the pot. Add water to cover everything and let boil for about an hour, stirring occasionally.
- Clean and cut into cubes the carrots and parsley roots. check, and if the meat is half boiled, add the carrots and parsley roots. Mix and boil for about 10 minutes. Also, add the potatoes cut into cubes and season with two teaspoons of sea salt.
- After adding the potatoes, add more water to cover everything well and boil about 15-20 minutes. I also added a tablespoon of vegetable mix, for added flavour. Taste, and if necessary add more sea salt.
Nutrition
Hey Timea,
thanks for sharing this goulash recipe. I am definitely going to try that. My wife often cooks a stew, and I have to say it isn’t my favourite dish. But, that is because it can be a bit bland. But with your recipe and the mention of the chilli, I think I have found a great alternative as I love chilli.
thanks again for sharing
Thanks for the appreciation, John.