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International » Hungarian Goulash

When you think of Hungarian Goulash, do you think of something your mom used to make with elbow macaroni, ground beef and tomatoes? A lot of us here at H2H do. We wonder how this came to be because the real Hungarian Goulash is nothing like that. It's more of a beef stew with homemade dumplings. Much better. Ildiko grew up in Hungary and shares her family recipe with all of you so we'll never be confused about what goes into authentic Hungarian Goulash. Thanks, Ildiko!

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Ingredients

The Goulash

2 tbsp canola oil
1 medium onion chopped
2 lbs beef cut into bite size cubes
2 lbs potatoes cut into bite size cubes
1 lb baby carrots (if you use large carrots, cut them into bite size pieces)
1 lb parsnips
2 tbsp salt
2 or 3 pinches black pepper
2 tsp Hungarian paprika (most important!)
3 tbsp fresh or dried parsley
dehydrated vegetable seasoning mix or 1 or 2 beef stock cubes (optional)

Dumplings

½ lb flour
1 egg
2 pinches of salt
a little water (about ¼ cup)

Special Equipment

Spaetzle Maker for making dumplings

How-to

The Goulash

Heat the oil in the pot on medium heat
Add the chopped onion and sauté for 1-2 minutes over medium-low heat
Add beef to the pot and brown on all sides
Add potatoes, carrots and parsnips. Stir for 1-2 minutes to coat the vegetables with broth
Add salt, pepper, paprika and other seasonings. Stir for 1 minute and then fill the pot with water. Stir everything together. Cover and boil the soup for about 30 minutes
After 30 minutes meat should be tender and vegetables should give easily when you stick in a sharp knife
Add the parsley to the soup and stir

Assemble the Dumpling Dough

In a bowl, mix 1/2 lb flour, 1 egg, a little salt and water and mix well
Keep adding water to get the right consistency. Watch Goulash video to see Ildiko’s ideal dumpling dough consistency

Make the Dumplings

Put your Spaetzle maker over the open pot. (You can also simply spoon the dough into the soup)
Spoon dough onto the Spaetzle maker. Using a wooden spoon, move dough back and forth over the openings.
Repeat process with the remain dough
Cover the pot and wait about 5 minutes for the dumplings to cook. They are ready when they come up to the top of the soup

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Comments (3)

Posted Thursday, February 5, 2009, at 2:11 am by kukaduro:

I am also a Hungarian and wish to add that you can make a thick stew or a soup as a variation of the recipe depending the amount of water you add. The stew ought to be cooked (simmered rather) in just enough water to cover the meat while to the soup version I add a diverse selection of vegetables, like tomatoes, celery or whatever I have in the house. One or two bay leaves and a little garlic helps. Some recipes recommend red wine to the stew version. Add only a little and at the end for two reasons. One is that the acidy wine makes the meat tough and the other if you cook the wine for long you wasted its taste all together. Buy good wine (not the Bull's Blood from Hungary!) and drink it during the process. It helps.
Posted Tuesday, September 16, 2008, at 1:40 pm by Elizabeth Farkas:

I just viewed the video by Ildiko and I would like to add my own regional differences to her recipie for gulyas. Being of Hungarian descent, I learned the art of cooking Hungarian from my father and my Great Aunt. This is how we make gulyas: We sautee the onions in sunflower oil in a tightly covered pot over low heat. When wilted completely, I add sweet paprika; and lots of it to the onions and stir well. Still under low heat. If not, the paprika will burn and become bitter. Next, I add the stew beef which has been salted to the onions/paprika mixture. I add a bit more paprika, a bit more salt, and pepper. Stir well and put lid back on pot. Allow beef to simmer until all sides are cooked. The added salt will allow the meat juices to come out and give better flavor to the soup. When meat has browned$ suffiiciently, I add several beef broth cubes and caraway seeds and allow the flavors to add to the meat for a few minutes. Then I add water to cover the meat plus a couple inches more.
Posted Thursday, July 10, 2008, at 5:01 pm by Joaquin Poblete:

Just came back from Budapest and I can tell ya - Hungarians make the best soups/stews!

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