Goulash recipe: Hungary's paprika beef soup from the kettle

This goulash recipe follows the Hungarian original, gulyás, which is a soup rather than the thick stew sold under its name across Europe: beef, onions, sweet paprika and caraway, simmered slowly. The key is the paprika: it goes in off the heat, onto onions sweated for 20 minutes, because it burns in seconds.

Gulyás means cattle herder. On the Great Hungarian Plain, herdsmen cooked beef and onions in a bogrács, a kettle hung over an open fire; paprika, which reached Europe in the 16th century, became its signature only later. Late September suits it: cool evenings and the paprika harvest around Szeged and Kalocsa. For dessert, stay in Central Europe with our Viennese apple strudel recipe.

Ingredients

Take the pot off the heat before the paprika goes in: burnt paprika turns the whole goulash bitter.

• 1 kg beef shin or chuck, in 2 cm cubes
• 2 tbsp lard or sunflower oil
• 3 onions (about 400 g), finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 tbsp sweet Hungarian paprika
• 1 tsp caraway seeds, lightly crushed
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 litres water
• 2 carrots and 1 parsnip, diced
• 1 mild green pepper and 1 tomato, chopped
• 600 g waxy potatoes, in 2 cm cubes
• For the csipetke: 1 egg, 100 g plain flour, a pinch of salt

Method

1. Cook the onions in the lard over a low heat for 20 minutes, until soft and translucent but not browned. Slow onions melt into the broth and give it body without flour.
2. Raise the heat, add the beef in two batches and turn it for about 5 minutes, until it loses its raw colour. Sealed rather than browned, it stays tender.
3. Take the pot off the heat, stir in the garlic, paprika and caraway for 30 seconds, then pour in 250 ml of water. The water stops the paprika scorching and fixes its colour.
4. Add the salt, cover and simmer gently for 1 hour 15 minutes. The beef braises in its own juices first, which concentrates the flavour.
5. Add the remaining water, carrots, parsnip, pepper and tomato and simmer for 30 minutes.
6. Knead the egg, flour and salt into a firm dough, rest it 10 minutes, then pinch off pea-sized pieces. The pinching gives csipetke its name.
7. Add the potatoes and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, adding the csipetke for the last 5. Stop once the potatoes are tender, or they will cloud the broth.

What to drink with goulash

Serve it with crusty bread, hot paprika on the side and a Hungarian red with freshness, such as a Kékfrankos from Eger or Sopron. It tastes even better the next day.

Goulash recipe FAQ

Is goulash a soup or a stew? In Hungary, gulyás is a soup. The thick braise sold as goulash abroad is closer to pörkölt.

Which cut of beef is best for goulash? Shin, chuck or cheek, cuts rich in connective tissue that turns to gelatine during the long simmer.

Can I make goulash ahead and freeze it? Yes. It keeps three days in the fridge. Freeze it without the potatoes and csipetke, which turn grainy, and add them when reheating.