American Goulash is a one-pot meal that is ready in just 45 minutes! This comfort food favorite is made with ground beef and pasta in a flavorful tomato-based stew. There’s a reason why it’s been a comfort food favorite for over 100 years!
One pot dinners are so quick and easy, and we can’t get over how fast it is to clean up! Goulash is one of those American meals we grew up with that doesn’t ever go out of style. When we think of home cooking, we think goulash. It is the ultimate comfort food, yet it doesn’t take forever to make! Your kids will be begging for this one over and over again, so it’s time to stock up on ground beef and macaroni noodles!
Hungarian Goulash is a stew that dates back to the 9th century. This recipe is for an American Goulash which dates back to the early 1900s and is generally made using ground beef and pasta in a chili powder and paprika tomato stew.
Pasta Options for Old Fashioned Goulash:
We love this dish with elbow macaroni, but you can also use egg noodles.
Meat Options:
A traditional American-style goulash calls for ground beef. For a lighter version, you can swap the ground beef out for ground chicken or turkey. If you prefer pork, use ground Italian sausage. If you are vegetarian, you can use meatless crumbles.
Additions:
We love how easy it is to customize goulash! If you like additional veggies in your meal, you can add almost anything to this dish! Common favorites are sliced carrots, green beans, peas, and corn.
Make Ahead Instructions:
Goulash is best made and eaten fresh, but you can always prepare it early. Store your goulash in the fridge and reheat when ready on the stove in a large saucepan over medium heat.
Storage and Reheating Instructions:
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat in a large saucepan on the stove over medium heat until warmed through.
If you like this recipe, you may be interested in these other delicious ground beef recipes:
Watch the video below where we will walk you through every step of the recipe with a video demonstration.
My kids loved this meal. My daughter went back for seconds.
So good! Not my wife’s favorite dish due to lock of flavor but this was a winner. I subbed smoked paprika. I think toasting the herbs with meat made the difference.
This is delicious
Delicious! One of my favorites.
This was very good as all of the recipes here are. I did half the recipe as there is only 2 of us to cook for. Also, I had to make a couple of alterations due to being snowed in and not able to go to the store. I only used Tomato sauce and chicken broth. I do feel like the beef broth would’ve given a richer, beef flavor. It was still good nonetheless. And I used the sharp cheddar for the cheese. This is a real simple recipe with great flavor and super easy to make. Using 1 pot also is a plus 🙂
I have made this at least half dozen times it is a very good easy recipe. I change different things each time but it is great to make an eat . Thank You
This was a good base. Tastes will differ, of course. I found this to be too tomato sauce forward. I added more chili powder, more garlic, more salt, definitely more pasta, bell peppers, some red pepper flakes and some balsamic. Heat is definitely very personal. My opinion is to add more beef broth in place of tomato sauce in order to cook the pasta and curb the overwhelming plain tomato sauce component. I prepared as directed and then adjusted to my family’s taste. Thank you for the post, ladies.
Made it per recipe and very delicious. Change from just macaroni, ground beef and pasta sauce which I usually make. Will be making regularly.
Keep your head up you’re doing justice to my cooking.