I made this for my family of six, including picky boys...not only did they love it...the neighbor boy changed his dinner plans when he smelled it...and gave up his favorite fast food tacos! I did leave out the parsnips, I wanted to skip a trip to the store!
Hungarian Goulash
The recipe for this hearty, savory soup comes from Katalin Bánfalvi, author Carolyn Bánfalvi's mother-in-law, who lives in the village of Bőny, in northwestern Hungary. Hungarian sweet paprika confers a singularly deep, rich color and flavor.
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Credit: André Baranowski
4 tbsp. sunflower or canola oil
2 yellow onions, chopped
1 1⁄2 lbs. beef chuck, trimmed
and cut into 1⁄2" cubes
Kosher salt and freshly ground
black pepper, to taste
1⁄4 cup sweet paprika
2 tsp. dried marjoram
2 tsp. caraway seeds
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, cut into 1⁄2" cubes
2 medium parsnips, cut into 1⁄2" cubes
1 1⁄2 lbs. medium new potatoes, peeled
and cut into 1⁄2" cubes
1 tomato, cored and chopped
1 Italian frying pepper, chopped
1. Heat oil in a 5-qt. dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Increase heat to high. Add beef and season with salt and pepper. Cook, uncovered, stirring only once or twice, until the meat is lightly browned, about 6 minutes. Stir in paprika, marjoram, caraway, and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add carrots, parsnips, and 5 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium. Simmer, covered, until the beef is nearly tender, about 40 minutes.
2. Add potatoes and cook, uncovered, until tender, about 25 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and peppers; cook for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with rye bread, if you like.
SERVES 4 – 6
Ratings & Reviews (17)
I seared the beef first, then continued following the recipe, but I added one cup dry red wine. Everyone was licking their spoons.
This was my first try at Hungarian cooking and I am so glad I tried it. This recipe was easily made with readily available ingredients. It was a homey, comforting soup that I found was tasty after several days in the fridge. I will be making this again and again.
I've never had a goulash with such intensely concentrated savory flavor. Given this recipe's relative ease and superb flavor, I think I'll be revisiting it often.
I prepared this for one of my clients. It is wonderful and very authentic. It is very easy to prepare as well.
Deep, rich flavor and very easy to make. Coming back to Saveur online to get the recipe again after misplacing the magazine article!
This is one of my favorite recipes from the magazine so far. The page from that issues is all curly from multiple spills. I tend to omit the parsnips because I'm not fond of that flavor, but I find this recipe works equally well with both beef and lamb.
This is one of my favorite recipes from the magazine so far. The page from that issues is all curly from multiple spills. I tend to omit the parsnips because I'm not fond of that flavor, but I find this recipe works equally well with both beef and lamb.
This soup is incredible and hearty. Keeps great for several days in the refrigerator. I add a little bit of red wine to it and serve it with popovers. Even my 6 year old son loves it!
I am from Hungary and can tell you that this is a very authentic recipe. Note also that in Hungary goulash is always only this, a hearty soup but never a stew. A stew version of this, minus the vegetables, is called pörkölt. By no means does everyone use marjoram or caraway but they are good additions. Nor does everyone use parsnips, but for those of you who don't like parsnips, try it in this recipe as their strong flavor changes in this soup. Be sure to use the recommended Italian peppers and never those big tasteless California peppers. You can add a bit of garlic with the onions and you definitely can cut down the 4TB of oil to half but then you have to be more careful when cooking the onions to the right degree of translucency. In Hungary they would always have a small pasta called csipetke added the last 15-20 minutes of cooking, which is unavailable here except in some Hungarian stores. A good substitute is packaged Swiss spätzle, although they are somewhat bigger.
This was very flavorful and satisfying. The beef was very tender, and the combination of spices made for a very rich flavor. I especially enjoyed the freshness off the tomatoes added at the last minute. Thanks also to LVASVARI for the tip of adding spaetzle -- they were a great addition. I was glad to know that this is an authentically Hungarian recipe.
I made this recipe and it was very easy to do, time consuming though. A friend and I share Recipies and critique each other respectively. The flavor as I thought was kind of minor. The spice combination I felt would have been stronger, all in all, it was good, the meat tender as is the veggies. I would not use sea salt next time, I would use regular salt. I will do this again. It is a good recipe and great for colder weather. Happy cooking!
I made this recipe and it was very easy to do, time consuming though. A friend and I share Recipies and critique each other respectively. The flavor as I thought was kind of minor. The spice combination I felt would have been stronger, all in all, it was good, the meat tender as is the veggies. I would not use sea salt next time, I would use regular salt. I will do this again. It is a good recipe and great for colder weather. Happy cooking!
It is very important that the parsnip be substituted to parsley root, and add chopped celery root. Parsnips are not in existence in Hungary, and it's very sweet. Unfortunately it is very difficult to find the real Hungarian Paprika. I have to ship mine directly from Hungary-Kalocsa. I was actually born in Hungary, and still cooking the original way. Your soup would taste better if the meat is not completely trimmed. I know the healthy way of cooking is at the outmost for the majority of people, but the flavor would suffer.
It is very important that the parsnip be substituted to parsley root, and add chopped celery root. Parsnips are not in existence in Hungary, and it's very sweet. Unfortunately it is very difficult to find the real Hungarian Paprika. I have to ship mine directly from Hungary-Kalocsa. I was actually born in Hungary, and still cooking the original way. Your soup would taste better if the meat is not completely trimmed. I know the healthy way of cooking is at the outmost for the majority of people, but the flavor would suffer.
Reading some of the comments I thought of some helpful hints. Caraway is also known as Cumin, and if ground it doesn't get under your teeth. I personally omit the bay leaf, it is too strong in this soup. The secret to any Hungarian cooking is to keep it simple. One comment was mentioning "csipetke", the small dumpling, that is vey similar to "schpetzel" , that we make fresh: 1 egg with a pinch of salt and 5-6 tbsp all purpose flour, mix well, drop small domplings into the slowly cookin soup with a tsp, cook until it rises to the top. ( I was a cook for a short time in one of the Hungarian restaurants in California.)
I have made this numerous times now and it's always a hit. I add a cup of red wine in place of one cup water. Absolutely delicious.
Hungarian Goulash
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