~557 cal · 43g protein · 26g carbs · 30g fat (estimated, per serving)
🍽️
Kettle of paprika-red goulash with beef and potatoes
🇭🇺 Great Hungarian Plain
Gulyás means "herdsman," and the mounted cattle drovers of the Great Plain cooked it in hanging kettles centuries before it became Hungary’s national dish. Real gulyás is soupier than the world’s "goulash" — and the paprika must be Hungarian, sweet, and fresh.
Sign in to save recipes to your book and leave reviews.
Make it yours
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
Ingredients
Serves 6 —
•
2 lbs beef chuck, large cubes
•
3 yellow onions, diced
•
3 tbsp sweet Hungarian paprika
•
1 tsp caraway seeds, crushed
•
4 cloves garlic, minced
•
2 Hungarian wax or bell peppers, sliced
•
2 tomatoes, chopped
•
3 + 2 potatoes and carrots, chunked
•
3 tbsp lard or neutral oil
Instructions
1
Sweat the onions in the fat until golden — Hungarians say the onions should almost dissolve.
2
Off the heat, stir in the paprika (it burns bitter in seconds), then the beef, caraway, and garlic.
3
Add a splash of water and stew covered on low 45 minutes, letting the meat cook in its own juices.
4
Add peppers, tomatoes, and 6 cups water; simmer 30 minutes. Then potatoes and carrots for a final 25.
5
Season and serve in deep bowls — it should be halfway between soup and stew, red as a sunset.
Great Plain kettle cooking.
Ratings & reviews
Sign in to rate this recipe once you’ve cooked it.
No reviews yet — be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers — know your destination
📍
Great Hungarian Plain. Where mounted herdsmen invented goulash over open fires.
🗺️
Hungary. Paprika country, where herdsmen’s stews became national treasure.
🌍
Europe. Village recipes guarded for generations.
The story behind this dish is up top — worth a read while the pot works.
👩🍳
Richard Moore & Kelsey Tucker
Recipes cooked, tested, and researched by the creators of Spin the Globe. How we build our recipes →
More from Hungary
Bundáskenyér
Hungarian "fur-coat bread" — slices dipped in seasoned egg and milk and fried golden.