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This Authentic Hungarian Goulash is my Hungarian mom’s real deal recipe! It’s comforting, hearty, and delicious.

Hungarian Goulash

What is Hungarian Goulash?

Hungarian Goulash is very different from the Americanized version. Goulash is a rich and hearty stew made with root vegetables, beef, and a rich broth seasoned with Hungarian paprika and tomato. It’s a Hungarian dish, but it’s popular in other Eastern-European cuisines, as well as worldwide!

My mom was born and raised in Budapest, and was kind enough to share her authentic recipe for Hungarian Goulash! This goulash is the real deal, straight from my Hungarian mom!

The Ingredients for Authentic Hungarian Goulash

  • Bacon fat. You can also use lard or coconut oil.
  • Beef chuck. You’ll cube into 1” pieces.
  • Sweet Hungarian paprika. Get the good stuff!
  • Ground caraway seeds. This is something my mom always raves about in Hungarian cooking, and it really makes it.
  • Green bell pepper, tomato, carrots, parsnip, celery, and potatoes.

How to Make Authentic Hungarian Goulash

  1. Saute the onion: Using a dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat. Sauté the onions until translucent.
  2. Cook the beef: Turn heat to high and add the beef and salt, constantly stirring about 3 minutes until it’s seared on all sides. Remove the pot from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Add the paprika and caraway seeds. Stir together and add just enough water to cover the beef. Stir in the green pepper and tomato, cover and cook over super low heat for about an hour until meat is tender.
  3. Add the vegetables and broth: After the meat is tender add beef broth, carrots, parsnips, celery, bay leaves. Bring to boil reduce to a low simmer and cover. Cook for 30 minutes.
  4. Add the potato: Add potatoes, bring to boil, reduce heat, and cook for another 15 minutes or till the potatoes are tender.
  5. Serve: Using a slotted spoon, remove the green pepper, tomato, celery, and bay leaves. Serve topped with fresh parsley.

Can you make this recipe AIP?

If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you’ll know that this isn’t a typical recipe for me to share. It’s very much not nightshade-free! However, I do have an AIP version of this dish in my cookbook, The Autoimmune Protocol Comfort Food Cookbook.

Can you make this in the instant pot or in the slow cooker?

Doing this in a dutch oven is best, but you can likely modify it for an instant pot… it would just take some work to get it right.

Hungarian Goulash in a dutch oven

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Authentic Hungarian Goulash

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Michelle
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 120 minutes
  • Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x
  • Category: Main Dishes
  • Method: Stove Top
  • Cuisine: Hungarian
  • Diet: Gluten Free
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Description

This Authentic Hungarian Goulash is my Hungarian mom’s real deal recipe! It’s comforting, hearty, and delicious.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 1/2 tbsp bacon fat or lard (sub coconut oil)
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 1.5 lbs beef chuck, cubed into 1” pieces
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1.5 tbsp of sweet Hungarian paprika
  • 1 tsp of ground caraway seeds (sub whole caraway seeds)
  • 1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into large quarters
  • 1 tomato, quartered
  • 32 oz beef broth
  • 1 1/2 cup carrots, peeled and sliced
  • 1 1/2 cup parsnips, peeled and sliced
  • 4 ribs of celery, sliced in half
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into one-inch cubes
  • 1 tbsp fresh parsley

Instructions

  1. Using a dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat. Sauté the onions until translucent.
  2. Turn heat to high and add the beef and salt, constantly stirring about 3 minutes until it’s seared on all sides. Remove the pot from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Add the paprika and caraway seeds (note that paprika will burn if you add it while it’s on high heat)
  3. Stir together and add just enough water to cover the beef. Stir in the green pepper and tomato, cover and cook over super low heat for about an hour until meat is tender- you can add water if it gets too low, but don’t let the water reach any higher then it was originally.
  4. After the meat is tender add beef broth, carrots, parsnips, celery, bay leaves. Bring to boil reduce to a low simmer and cover. Cook for 30 minutes.
  5. Add potatoes, bring to boil, reduce heat, and cook for another 15 minutes or till the potatoes are tender.
  6. Using a slotted spoon, remove the green pepper, tomato, celery, and bay leaves. Serve topped with fresh parsley.

Notes

All nutritional information are estimations and will vary. Estimations do not include optional ingredients.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 serving
  • Calories: 447
  • Fat: 14.6g
  • Carbohydrates: 38.9g
  • Fiber: 9.4g
  • Protein: 40.5g

Recipe by Judy published on Unbound Wellness. Photos by Eat Love Eats