Hungarian Gulyás (Goulash Soup)
The real goulash, the herdsmen's soup: beef chuck sweated with onions in lard, seasoned with Hungarian paprika, garlic and caraway, simmered in water with peppers, tomato, carrots and potatoes until tender. No pasta, no flour.
Edited by JP Lambiase
Change the estimate
Swaps change the price only: cook any meat to its own safe temperature. Where these numbers come from
In Hungarian, *gulya* means a herd of cattle and *gulyás* the cattle herder, and the dish comes from what the herdsmen cooked on the Great Hungarian Plain (Wikipedia:). Wikipedia says Hungarian makes a strict difference between gulyás, a soup, and pörkölt, a stew that evolved from it; the American idea of goulash as a thick stew, and the American macaroni goulash (our American Goulash recipe), are both something else. How old is it? The cookbook author George Lang traced it to the 9th century, a simple meat soup of the nomad herdsmen; he also laid down rules such as no garnish but diced potatoes or small dumplings (Taste Hungary, "The Eater's Guide to Hungarikums," 2019:). Wikipedia, citing Britannica, says the 10th century. Either way the first versions had no paprika, which only reached Europe in the 16th century (Wikipedia, uncited). Today gulyás soup is "made primarily of beef, potatoes, carrots and onions" with "a solid dose of red paprika" (Taste Hungary), and on December 5, 2017 Hungary's Hungarikum Committee added *magyar gulyásleves*, Hungarian goulash soup, to its collection of national treasures (444.hu:).
🇭🇺 The original
The real goulash, the herdsmen's soup: beef chuck sweated with onions in lard, seasoned with Hungarian paprika, garlic and caraway, simmered in water with peppers, tomato, carrots and potatoes until tender. No pasta, no flour.
🇺🇸 The American version
America kept the name and the paprika but made it ground beef, tomatoes and macaroni in one pot: a weeknight dinner, not a herdsman's soup. See the American Goulash (One-Pot Macaroni and Beef) recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Onions first, gently
Sweating the onions in lard without browning, then letting the beef cook in their juices, builds a sweet base the paprika can bloom in, the herdsman's method in a modern pot.
Paprika off the heat, then water
Stirring paprika into the fat away from the flame releases its color and flavor without scorching it, and the warm water (the source says cold water can toughen the meat) stops the cooking right away.
🧰 You'll need 4 items
Everything the steps call for. Tick off what you have before you start.
Pans and pots
Tools
Step by step
- Step 1
Melt the lard in a 7- to 8-quart Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring often, 8 to 10 minutes, until glossy and translucent but not browned.
- Step 2
Add the beef and stir. Cook about 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until the meat has lost its raw color and given off most of its juices. Meanwhile mince the garlic with the caraway and a pinch of salt and smear it into a paste with the flat of a knife.
- Step 3
Take the pot off the heat, stir in the sweet and hot paprika and the garlic paste until the meat is red all over, then pour in the warm water and add 2 tsp salt.
- Step 4
Bring back to a simmer over medium heat, cover and simmer gently 1 hour, until the beef is starting to soften.
- Step 5
Add the tomato, pepper rings and carrots, plus more water if you want it thinner, and simmer covered 30 minutes more.
- Step 6
Add the potatoes and simmer 20 to 25 minutes, until they are tender. Taste for salt and serve in deep bowls with bread.
Hungarian Gulyás (Goulash Soup)
Serves 8 · about 4 quarts · 2 hr 45 min total
Base
- 2 tbsp lard (or vegetable oil)
- 2 medium onions, diced (300 g)
- 1 1/2 lb boneless beef chuck (680 g), cut into 3/4-inch cubes
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/8 tsp caraway seeds
- Kosher salt
- 2 tbsp Hungarian sweet paprika
- 1 tsp hot Hungarian paprika (optional)
- 2 1/2 quarts warm water (or beef or chicken stock)
Vegetables
- 1 medium ripe tomato (150 g), peeled and cubed, or 1/2 cup canned diced tomatoes
- 2 green bell peppers (300 g), cored and sliced into rings (Hungarian wax peppers if you can find them)
- 2 medium carrots (150 g), sliced
- 2 lb potatoes (907 g), peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
To serve
- Crusty bread
Equipment: 8-quart Dutch oven, Chef's knife and cutting board, Measuring cups and spoons, Mixing bowls
Method
- Melt the lard in a 7- to 8-quart Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring often, 8 to 10 minutes, until glossy and translucent but not browned.
- Add the beef and stir. Cook about 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until the meat has lost its raw color and given off most of its juices. Meanwhile mince the garlic with the caraway and a pinch of salt and smear it into a paste with the flat of a knife.
- Take the pot off the heat, stir in the sweet and hot paprika and the garlic paste until the meat is red all over, then pour in the warm water and add 2 tsp salt.
- Bring back to a simmer over medium heat, cover and simmer gently 1 hour, until the beef is starting to soften.
- Add the tomato, pepper rings and carrots, plus more water if you want it thinner, and simmer covered 30 minutes more.
- Add the potatoes and simmer 20 to 25 minutes, until they are tender. Taste for salt and serve in deep bowls with bread.
Adapted from Karina Kruth, "Traditional Hungarian Gulyásleves (Gulyás Soup)," The Spice House (October 29, 2018; serves 6, 2 1/2 lb beef). To feed 8 under $3 we use 1 1/2 lb beef with twice the potatoes (2 lb) and add two carrots, following Taste Hungary's description of today's soup. We use water, which the recipe allows instead of stock. Taking the pot off the heat before adding paprika is our tip, because paprika scorches and turns bitter quickly. Estimated cost: about $19.60 for the pot, about $2.46 a serving. thespicehouse.com. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
Tips
- Estimated cost: about $2.46 a serving, about $19.60 for the pot. Beef is most of it; pork shoulder is cheaper and is used in some Hungarian versions.
- Like most soups, it tastes better the next day. Cool it in shallow containers within 2 hours and reheat to a rolling boil (FSIS).
- Want the pinched egg noodles (csipetke) that Hungary's official vocational cookbook lists among the core ingredients (Wikipedia, Gulyásleves)? Pinch a stiff egg and flour dough into the simmering soup for the last 5 minutes.
- Fresh paprika matters; a tin that has sat for years tastes of dust.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Gulyás is a soup, not a stew. Documented for Hungarian usage (Wikipedia: the stew is pörkölt).
- Goulash dates to the 9th century. Disputed: George Lang says the 9th century (Taste Hungary); Wikipedia, citing Britannica, says as far back as the 10th century; no recipe survives from either.
- Goulash always had paprika. Folklore: Wikipedia says early versions had none because paprika reached Europe only in the 16th century (that sentence is uncited).
- Never add flour, and no garnish but potatoes or small dumplings. Documented as George Lang's rules (Taste Hungary); many Hungarian cooks follow them, others do not.
- Gulyás soup is a Hungarikum. Documented: added December 5, 2017 (444.hu).
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