Hungarian Goulash - The Ultimate Beef Stew 

The ingredient amounts (also in grams) are right in the description and the print recipe is linked there as well. As always, thanks for liking our recipes and videos and sharing our family table each week. If you love honest and unpretentious food talk with a bit of sarcasm be sure to check out our podcast: www.youtube.com/@sipandfeastpodcast

your goulash is very good compared to most we can see on the internet. some advice from hungarian guy with cooking background: use 5 times the garlic, but give it a light colour by adding it before the onions. you can put the caraway seeds with with the garlic as toasting helps it, but make sure to chop it up on oily surface (so they dont jump away) or ground it up first. Bacon is not traditional but OK instead of the lard. You can use smoked paprika if you can get (huge difference in flavor at the end), but as paprika has a colour component that dissolves in fats, make sure to add it before adding any water and give it time to get mixed with the oils. This traditionally happens after the onions are golden. Trick is to make sure the paprika doesnt burn at all, so use thermometer and keep it under 130C or add a little water to bring down temp to 100C before adding the paprika. give the meat at least 3 hours to cook or 45 minutes in pressure cooker. Do these and it will be 10/10 guaranteed. optionals: you can add a bit of carrots before the potatoes, but not too much as onions already make it a bit sweet. Noodle pinches are really nice also ("Csipetke")

Another Hungarian here (we are all coming out of the woodwork!) and I have to say this looks really good. Of course, like any other country, these recipes can be regional and in my family we never added tomato or carrots. Then we serve it over nokedli (small dumplings) and then top it with some sour cream. So lush! 🤤

As a Hungarian, I thank you for not making pörkölt out of gulyás (goulash)... 😁 Goulash is a soup, pörkölt is a beef stew (without carrots and potatoes) and even if you call it beef stew you cook it like a soup, with carrots, potatoes, and with more broth (tbh we would make it with a little more broth, to make it more "soupy", and you missed the galuska aka dumplings, but it's ok 🙂), and it looks delicious! 😉Oh, and the peppers: these type of bell peppers have a nice, but totally different taste than the peppers we use for this, you might find them for example as Cecei peppers, they are light yellow, and usually sweet, try them once, makes a difference! 🙂Aaand if you want to go full Hungarian, add "hegyes erős" hot peppers cut into slices to your dish when you eat it, I think it's called Hungarian hot wax pepper in English - the best and hottest type of it is bogyiszlói (and I admit I have no idea how available those are outside Hungary, but who knows). 🙂

Im actually a hungarian, and i really like to see hungiran food out there in the world, hope u enjoy it! Your soup look really good its not the traditional ways but its close enough, nice content as always, thank you! Keep it up bro.

As a American Hungarian ( born in Pecs ,Hungary) it’s nice to see something other than Italian ,Mexican or Chinese or fast food. We are a small minority with a huge food variety .

If you want to try another Hungarian dish, I would highly recommend Chicken Paprikash!

It was fun to see so many Hungarians commenting on this video - I loved reading all of your suggestions and variations on this dish! Understandably, food and culture is very dear to people, so talking about them can get everyone's emotions riled up quite easily. But I noticed how kind everyone was to each other, and that really touched my heart. The Hungarians who commented let everyone know what ingredients were authentic, and they gave all of us some helpful cooking methods, but they were also very open and willing to let people make substitutions or variations for personal taste and regional availability. (And to their national dish, no less!) - How cool is that? 🙂 There is an upscale grocery store called Central Market in the southern US that has wonderful bulk spices. They have Hot and Sweet varieties of Spanish paprika, and they also have Hungarian paprika. However, it is not labeled "Hot" or "Sweet." It just says "Premium Hungarian Paprika" and it is more expensive than some of the other spices. (To me, it is worth that higher price! I use it a lot). Is there a Hungarian paprika that falls in between hot and sweet? If there is, maybe this is what I have? I love spicy food, and it does have some spiciness to it, but it also has a LOT of great flavor! When I cook, I use it in place of cayenne powder or mild Indian chili powder, because I want the heat but I also want more flavor. I don't think it is as spicy as kashmiri chili powder or cayenne, so I always use a larger amount than the recipe calls for. I am wondering if it is okay to use for this recipe. If it is very important to use the sweet variety, that is okay - I will be happy to go purchase it. 🙂 I just wasn't sure what to do. Thank you!!! I am really looking forward to making this. I have a feeling that it will become one of the recipes I keep returning to.

little hint from europe.. to go a more traditional gulyás-road: you'll skip the fresh tomatoes. add the hungarian paprika powder to your mirepoix/sofritto and move it vigorously to keep it from burning. it's a kind of 'blooming' the paprika.. then immediately add tomato-paste instead of the aforementioned fresh tomatoes. ps: i really celebrate this channel. the recipies, the execution, the presentation.. and last, but not least: the family! extraordinary work, you guys.. thanks a ton!

Happy to see so many fellow Huns here 🙌🏻 Recipe was REALLY close! Paprika only dissolves in fat (it pained me to see the sprinke of the hot one in the end), but you nailed the rest of the action! 👍🏻 We'd never use bell peppers, but the other kind (Cecei) is not so widely available outside Hungary. Thank you so much for making this video, it was heartwarming 🥰

The kid sitting down to a bowl of it was the best part. Few things in this world give you a greater feeling than feeding your kid and having him enjoy your cooking. One of the best parts of being a dad. Of course, if it sucks, they’re going to tell you about it. For years! Noticed a hint of nervousness in his tone when he was asking that boy what he thought. Made my day. It passed! If it hadn’t, He’d probably be hearing about it for a good long while. Mine never let me forget the time I put too much spinach in when I tried to make eggs Florentine. My son still calls it the green horror.

In Austria - neighbour of Hungary for those who don't know - we have a version of this named after the traditional coaches you can ride as a tourist in Vienna, Fiaker. The basic beef Gulasch here has no vegetables other than lots, and I mean, LOTS Of onions, and the meat is often sold ready to cook for this dish cut into cubes. You'd usually eat it with bread rolls, Semmeln, or a kind of regional dumpling, Semmelknödel or Spätzle. A variation of Gulasch here Kartoffelgulasch, which can be either a meatless version which focuses on potatoes, or a version that uses both potatoes and sausage. They're all very good.

Yum! My neighbors, as a child, were Hungarian and they cooked all the time - and shared, with my family and our neighbors. I still remember it…in fact, the matriarch and cook of the family, shared her recipe with my mom. This one is special. ❤️

I like the cosy atmosphere on this channel. Feels like I am watching a good friend of mine cooking. Also added this recipe to my cooking playlist. Soups are probably my favourite dish, so try it is a no-brainer to me. Best wishes to the family.

Love seeing James do his review. He has a great appetite and enjoys the cooking.

I can't help but smile whenever I see someone enjoy our culture/food. not exactly how we make goulash at home, but looks great regardless 😋

My stepmother was of Hungarian descent and she cooked the most amazing and interesting meals. Super delicious! She was from a 13 sibling coal-mining family from Nanty Glo, PA. And her Christmas cookies/pastries were beyond delicious!

this is one of those great channels that you stumble upon and realise its cooking gold. you guys make a great effort as a family to make our cooking better, and i hope you are making gazillions from you tube for your efforts. thanks so much to the team at sip and feast. cheers

just a few hints: - bigger pot - use a lot more of fat. Don't worry about it. Literally big spoons of lard. This was a very "lean" version which may not make it taste strong enough. - meat could have been cut to smaller pieces. These pieces might be a bit too big even to put onto a spoon. I would say cut these pieces in half. Lots of water and 4-6 hours of cooking. The longer you cook it, the better...

Goulash is one of the best smelling things to cook, it's worth cooking just for that.

I tried telling my Midwestern friends that macaroni and hamburger was NOT goulash for a long time and then just gave up. Great job on this video!

I love how you show everything. You might not like this though, please don’t go commercial, you’ll lose control. This is what makes this channel gold.

I love the fact that your son is your recipe critic and he eats everything! He's too, too funny with the ratings. I have boys and I love to see them eat... they don't even come up for air, Lol! 😁 Thanks for the recipe share.

I love the way you present each step of the recipe so clearly. It makes it easy for me to follow along and recreate the dish at home. 👌👌🤩

Another Hungarian here. This does look delicious as most of your dishes do. It's not how my family was taught how to make it, but that is the beauty of it. I like to change ours up all the time just for fun and to experiment with flavors.

Looks like a pretty good recipe. I'm from Szeged, same as your powdered paprika. We usually use fairly fresh, locally produced paprika powder, or even home made one which are more vibrant and have a fuller taste profile than what you can usually find abroad, but that's something that's hard to get around. We prepare gulyás traditionally in a slightly different way which some people might find a little simpler. I don't think I've ever see anyone coating the beef in flour, and we don't use beef stock either. We start by adding lard or beef fat as oil is more likely to burn, we chop up the onions into really small bits, put it in the heated fat, add a pinch of salt and roast until it gets soft. Then we add about 1,5dl of water and some paprika powder and boil away the water. When the water is gone you add the beef, which is also usually chopped up into smaller cubes, salt it, season it, add the cumin seeds, the garlic and roast it until the meat starts to get uniformly white. When the meat is about done you add the tomato and the bell peper, for which we usually only use the regular old white peppers or white bell peppers, sometimes also called Hungarian sweet peppers, not sure about its availability abroad, but technically any "standard" paprika can be used that doesn't have an overly strong sweet, bitter or spicy taste. We then cook the stew for about 90 minutes. The paprika is supposed to completely melt away you're not really supposed to find chunks of tomato or paprika in the stew. When the beef is sufficiently tender we add the chopped up carrots, parsley root, a small amout of chopped up celeriac / knob celery, parsley leaves and celery leaves along with the potato. Replenish water as you see fit so it doesn't burn, tailored to your taste. I prefer the more soupy version, some people use less water and prefer the thicker, more stew-like version. Cook for another ~45-50 minutes on low-medium heat until the carrots and potatos are done. You may add any additional salt, pepper and paprika powder as you see fit. In my region of Szeged and the Great Plains gulyás can be quite spicy so if you like hot food, don't hold back on the spicy paprika. We also add all sorts of hot paprika creams or cook a bit of chilly paprika in the soup to make it spicier. Some people also add "noodles" to the soup. You take one egg, mix it with 80 gramms of flour, one chopped teaspoon salt and work it together into a dough. You then take tiny little pinches of the dough with your finger, roll it into a little ball and add it to the stew towards the end. It only needs about 5 more minutes or less to cook completely firm. I think this method might be a little bit easier as there is less hassle with the meat, but it's a little more time intensive as you need to let the beef stew for a good while so it's tender enough.

I just recently I started to experiment with recipies for chuck roast because I was tired of pot roast (and here in Hawaii chuck goes on sale for $4.99lb often cheaper than ground beef). I made Hungarian Goulash & was blown away. I decided to make Chicken Paprikash since I had so much Paprika, another delicious dish that I'd never tried... Another chuck recipe I tried & was surprised by was German Sauerbraten. Its sweet & sour and will be something that goes into rotation. Even in these increasingly hard times you can eat well on a budget...

Tara is right. I learned from a Hungarian and use the beef fat and a bit of lard to brown. Thanks for this, as a Midwest boy, allI we knew was beef and macaroni!

Ah! When I was a kid I lived in Hungary for about 6 years. Gulash was always my favourite soup. I haven't had it since I was small...I'll definitely give this a try! Thanks for reminding me of this soup ^^

I am Hungarian and my parents are literally off the boat Hungarian immigrants. This is great recipe you made here. I see some other comments about authenticity and maybe they have the kindest intent but I will say that I’ve altered this recipe handed down from my parents and grandparents. They taught me to use cut up tomatoes but I don’t care for tomato skins so I use can diced tomatoes. I do use cubenelle peppers or hot wax peppers. I like to use a mortar and pestle to crush the caraway seeds to a powder (my family doesn’t care for the seed texture) oh and I add smoked paprika in with the sweet paprika. Authentic or not authentic, this was a great recipe and video! Thanks.

My Austrian mother made this with the addition of celery (optional), parsnips, parsley, majoram, & red hot peppers. Authentic Hungarian sweet paprika & no bacon. It can be served on its own with rye bread or over noodles or dumplings depending on thickening. Delicious!

I use any stock I have, chicken, veggie or beef, I do 2/3 stock and 1/3 dry red wine. The wine makes a super smooth succulent sauce. I also use 1 table spoon spicy paprika and 4 tablespoons sweet. I slow cook it in the oven at 275 for 3-4 hours, delicious. This is a great comfort food for cold weather months.

I saw a Hungarian once, so im expert on the matter. My tip is to add all vegatables at the end, with potatos. Paprika and carrots turn into mush after 2,5h and onions will disolve completly. I like to add onions twice, one time at the beginning, finley minced with garlic, and big chunks at the end. Hope this helps.

Great job on more authentic goulash! I'm part Hungarian, & also was exposed to the American style, but love the real Hungarian version. Looks so good, that I might try to cut the recipe down, as I'm now widowed, & only cook for myself. I do portion leftovers & freeze in prep/storage containers as well. Thank you for making this. :)

My Granny Roberts used to make this all the time only she used smoked Hungarian, German sausage or Polish kielbasa, whatever was on sale. Most ingredients like tomatoes, celery, onions and carrots, she grew in her garden, and she grew her own spices so meat was really the only thing she was paying for yet she was really frugal, she learned to cook during the 1930s and 40s, her family didn't even have electricity or running water until 1942, being thrifty stayed with her all her life.

I love how you get your family involved too, that’s what cooking and eating is all about. Sharing it with a friend or loved one ♥️

fun fact: gulya is the beef herd and gulyás is the cowboy. These Hungarian cowboys were cooking gulyás (goulash soup) on open fire in big cauldrons. Germans confuse goulash with pörkölt, which is a beef stew, so unless you add "soup" (Hunarian goulash soup) you will get a stew if you only ask for Hungarian goulash there. But both are Hungarian anyway. Actually I like bean goulash more where you have beans in it. Much thicker and much tastier. You can make a similar soup with lentils too but interestingly we do not call that goulash, just lentils soup. But essentially it is the same, just with lentils instead of beans.

I’m a big fan of your channel and originally from Hungary. What a nice surprise it was to see this recipe! ❤

I love the recipes, just made the beef stroganoff, but what brings me back is how wonderful yall relationship is. As a viewer you can see how you care for each other and are so kind and respectful. Love seeing creators truly have fun with what they do and share it with those they love!

I'm 30 years outside of high school, but a friend of mine even back in middle school was an immigrant from Hungary. His rant on "American goulash" still burns in my ears all these years later. I showed him this recipe months ago when I first saw it posted. it and he was very excited to see it just like the others here. As far as the spicy paprika (pap-rih-ka, not pap-ree-ka), another friend of mine went to Hungary on deployment with the USAF in the 90s and brought back a satchel of it for me. My wife (girlfriend at the time) was making just a random "Betty Crocker Cookbook" recipe for baked scallops that called for a "light dusting of paprika" and she grabbed some of THAT instead of just your American garden variety McCormick paprika. I like heat, but that stuff took me be surprise. LOL My current plans are to make your recipe for our post-midnight Liturgy potluck at Pascha (Eastern Orthodox Easter) next month. Absolutely looking forward to it and sharing it with our friends in the parish, and will probably send picks to my high school buddy to show I've been schooled properly. :)

Watching your channel for the first time. The video is so well structured, narration is very clear and easy to remember. Great idea to lay out ingredients in the beginning. Thank you!

Apparently I have been cooking Hungarian Goulash for 20 years! I always called it beef stew with peppers (as opposed to without peppers and just more root veg). Next time I take it to potlatch, gonna use the "Hungarian" name tag. Fancy! Lol, seriously that looked great. Never used bacon always fat trimmings. But next time...bacon. Because, why not?

Paprikash is great too, it's onions, potatoes and chicken usually, served alongside knedle(not the sweet ones, basically bigger spatzle). You can use broth and veggies for flavoring, but usually the veggies are removed(and often fed to pets/farm animals). Also feel free to try smoked paprika, from the same brand, mix and match and experiment whether you prefer sweet or smoked for various recipes.

I like your way of presenting. Clean and neat, all ingredients and timeline are clear to catch.

Thanks for uploading this. Can’t wait to try making it.

This looks soooooo rich and delish 🤤🤤🤤 Your presentation is perfect too 👌 So glad I just discovered your videos.

Another good-tasting and easy recipe! Thank you, we thoroughly enjoyed it 😋

It's ghoul-ash for Halloween😁

I think the most important thing fir us all to learn is when any of us immgrates to another country, you have to do the best with the items you have. That is why I like cooking and cooking history. I will try this recipe. 😊

Whenever I have to coat a bunch of meat, I put the flour or flour/seasonings mix in a produce bag from the grocery store, add the meat, spin the top of the bag shut making a big air bubble inside, and shake it up really good. Thorough and uniform coating. Perhaps it doesn't make for good cooking videos.

Many thanks for all your great content, guys! I've tried 3 of your recipes (lentil soup, pasta e ceci and goulash) and every one of them went super tasty! Greetings from Eastern Europe!

That goulash looks really delicious. Thanks for sharing.

I just made this recipe for a family get together and it was a hit! Thank you so much for this! I am saving this recipe, it’s great for our chilly night here in Chicago and special occasions too!

James is a great taste tester! So cute and is very honest and gives it all a lot of thought!

Every time I watch your videos, my mouth starts watering. Such beautiful but basic ingredients, and your techniques for heat distribution are flawless. I usually throw a pinch of flour into the mix if it's not thick enough, but crushing the potatoes works just as well. I'm definitely making this next week. Hope the beef isn't too expensive. 👍

Loved this recipe! 10/10, adding to my go-to recipes! Thank you for sharing

Thanks Tara for asking about alternatives for people who don't eat pork! I keep kosher and was wondering about alternatives for the bacon until Tara spoke up.

I really enjoy the format of your videos, it is entertaining. Having your son scoring the dish adds credibility and is original also.

Man! Great entrance with my favorite shirt/chair combo. I haven't even watched the rest of the video yet, and I know I'm gonna like this one. Big energy.

Amazing recipe. Hadn't made Goulash before but have eaten plenty in Hungary, this tasted just like it. The potato mashing trick works really well to thicken up the stew. I left out the bacon and used butter for the fat. I tried browning the garlic early by putting them in before the onions like a commenter suggested. Most important for a good dish was getting all ingredients fresh. I got everything from the market and it cost me €18 (~ $20) including 1kg of beef. Total got me about 6 servings if served with some bread. Thanks for the recipe, will make again!

I just came across your channel. Every things looks so good. I love that your family is involved also.

I’m definitely going to try this. It looks amazing!!

Thanks from Devon UK

Another Hungarian here. Nice job on this recipe. My family didn't coat the meat in flour first, but pretty much the rest of the recipe was right on. The reason I don't have an issue with the flour is because we always made nokedli to go in it at the end, which probably did the exact same thing with the flour that would come off of those. Either way, this looks amazing and I would recommend this video to my friends who want to try making Gulyas for the first time

Beautiful job

I made this tonight and it was a big hit. I'm not surprised, everything I have ever tried from this channel has been amazing!

Best goulash is made over the natural fire in a big kettle. Here in Slovakia (neighbour to Hungary) we never add carrots. But some red wine (while meat is stewing), tomatos and tomato sauce. And yep, fresh branch of sprout. It comes from the fact that many of sheep shepherd made a goulash like this in nature and it probably came from parts of austria hungarian empire. Goulash made at home might be good but it never tastes like one with a smoky flavor

This looks delicious. I've always wanted to try this dish. I'm definitely gonna make this soon.

Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!and I can just taste it 😋

I have to say, and I’m sure all your fans would agree, you and Tara present top notch videos and your website is beautiful! Son, James, is also a top notch taster. Looking for him to be a judge on “Chopped”! Thanks again for the great recipes ❣️

What an entrance!! And the goulash looks delish!

Just discovered your program. Love it. Love how you present everything. Love your common sense! Your wife and son are tv naturals👍 Margaret from Ireland

Thank you for this recipe. It looks delicious and great for the fall weather. I've read a few of the comments from Hungarians and they provided some good tips, too. I will be making this recipe this weekend. Good Job James 8.5 🥰🥰😋😋

I made it, super good and today, I will make it again, thx for your recipe

Your video quality is good. You have a decent screen presence as well. Your wife and son are a nice touch. Thanks for sharing.

I grew up on American Goulash. In December I get to taste the real thing in Hungary. Winning!

Talking of Brocolli soup, have you tried a real English staple, Brocolli & Stilton soup. Onion and Garlic Fresh Broccoli Celery (optional) Potato (Maris Piper works well) Stock (vegetable or chicken stock) Stilton cheese (you can also use a different type of blue cheese) Seasoning according to taste You can optionally sauté the onion and garlic

Your intro was classic! Great recipe as usual.

This looks so good!

Im Hungarian, basically you start out like you would with pörkölt just you pour more water ( beef broth ) half way done,you put your veggies in, carrots,turnip, celery,potatoes . Bell peppers big No-no It gives a totally different taste! Usually we make csipetke ( or some other pasta for soup). Enjoy.

Hi James. I've been subscribed to your channel for a few months now. I came across you guys with the pasta sauce taste testing video. Just wanna say I absolutely love this channel and I think you do a really good job! Cheers!

As your wife suggested, I always use the fat I trimmed to brown the meat. I even make sure the meat has enough fat for that purpose. One great advantage of this method (apart from the flavour) is that if you put the fat in first and allow it to start renedering, you can brown the meat in batches and never have to add any additional oil as the rendering keeps on giving!

Tara is a genius.

Jim running out like a 1980s game show host was awesome lol Great vid as always guys!

I appreciate the salt explanation! More of this tid bits of knowledge please ❤️

@SipandFeast Tara asked a great question! As a person that doesn't eat pork, I was thinking the same thing. Love the recipe and I plan to try it soon. Thanks guys!

Looks delicious! My Italian Grandmother used to make Goulash for my Slovenian Grandfather. But served the Goulash on top of Polenta, so so good!!

I am a big fan of stews and things that all get thrown into a single pot or crockpot or whatever. Can't wait to try this, looks amazing.

I've eaten authentic Gulyas once. It was phenomenal! She was a Cottage Cook that sold her wares at Pop Ups here in Cypress, Texas (Bites of Transylvania) - Hungarian and Romanian food and baked goods. She seems to have cut back on her business, but I think of her Gulyas often and want more!! Yummmm. I am of English, Welsh, Scots-Irish descent and I love this stuff. Tex-Mex and SW cuisine is wonderful, but sometimes you want something from the Old World. 😋❤❤❤

722 thousand subscribers! No wonder you're smiling! Love the way you bounded through the door!

7 seconds in and I already had a good laugh, man I love you all and this channel. Thank you!

looks fantastic!

The fat is so delicious! Adds so much flavor and texture.

My Hungarian refugee neighbors taught us how to make chicken paprikash with nokedli when I was a kid. That should be your next adventure in Hungarian cooking, it's amazing!

When I prepare Goulash, it's often like 1:1 meat and onion. Only one ore two carrots and a single bell pepper. Beside the broth and some spices that's basically it. My family is not always a fan of it, but I like to use heart meat (come on, it's only muscle fibers... 😅) - because other meat gets quite pricy here in Switzerland. I like this variant. It's rather sweet. But... 🤷‍♂

This kid is one of the luckiest kids in the world. Spoiled with the best home cooked food you can dream about

The secret with goulash is to have the same volume of onion as meat, because it works as thickening as well as flavoring.

My grandmother and great-grandmother would hands down give this a 10 out of 10. They never used bacon in their recipe but they would not turn it down. Can't wait to make this.

Love the honest ratings by family👍

I just read Joseph Wechberg's "Blue Trout and Black Truffles" with a lot of pre-war(s) Eastern European dishes and cuisine and it really reignited my interest in the historic foods of that region. They sound so unique and really special.