Hungarian Goulash
Hungary's national dish: chunks of beef simmered slow with onions, sweet paprika and tomato into a rust-coloured stew. Originally a herder's dish cooked over open fires; modern versions are richer and thicker. Not the German "goulash" with sour cream - that's pörkölt-adjacent and a different thing.
Overview
Beef chuck cubes brown briefly, then simmer slow in a generous onion base with paprika as the dominant spice. Tomato, garlic and caraway add depth; potatoes go in late. The defining flavour is the paprika, Hungarian sweet paprika, not generic Spanish; the colour and flavour are different.
Ingredients
- 1 kg beef chuck (cut into 3 cm cubes)
- 3 tablespoons lard (or vegetable oil)
- 4 onions (chopped; equal weight to the meat is traditional)
- 4 garlic cloves (crushed)
- 4 tablespoons Hungarian sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon Hungarian hot paprika (or to taste)
- 1 teaspoon caraway seeds (lightly crushed)
- 2 tablespoons tomato purée
- 400 g tinned chopped tomatoes
- 1 red pepper (chopped)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 litre beef stock
- 600 g potatoes (peeled, cubed)
- salt
- pepper
- A small bunch of flat-leaf parsley (chopped)
Method
Stage 1 - Brown
- Heat the lard in a heavy casserole over medium-high heat.
- Season the beef; brown in batches deeply. Set aside.
Stage 2 - Onions
- Reduce heat to medium. Add the onions to the pan with a pinch of salt.
- Cook 15-20 minutes, stirring often, until very soft and golden. (This is the structural step; rushing the onions gives flat goulash.)
- Add the garlic; cook 1 minute.
Stage 3 - Paprika
- Take the pan OFF the heat. Add both paprikas and the caraway; stir for 30 seconds (paprika burns at high heat and turns bitter).
- Return to medium heat.
Stage 4 - Build the stew
- Stir in the tomato purée; cook 1 minute.
- Return the beef. Add the chopped tomatoes, red pepper, bay leaves and stock.
- Bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper.
- Cover and braise on low heat for 1 ½ hours (or in a 160°C oven), stirring occasionally.
Stage 5 - Potatoes
- Add the cubed potatoes; cook another 30-40 minutes until both meat and potatoes are tender and the sauce has thickened.
Stage 6 - Serve
- Discard the bay leaves.
- Taste; season again.
- Ladle into bowls; scatter parsley.
- Serve with crusty bread or buttered noodles.
Notes
- Hungarian paprika is non-negotiable: Spanish paprika tastes different. Hungarian sweet paprika (édes paprika) has a brighter red colour and slightly sweet character.
- Don't burn the paprika: Off-the-heat addition is critical. Even 30 seconds at high heat turns paprika acrid; the dish never recovers.
- Lots of onions: Equal weight to the meat. They cook down to a sweet base; less and the stew is thin.
Storage
- Improves overnight. Keeps 4 days refrigerated.
- Freezes 3 months.
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