When it comes to a classic comfort food, you absolutely cannot go wrong with this Easy Goulash Recipe. Easy to find ingredients, flavorful and feeds the whole family.
One meal that I grew up on since childhood has been Goulash, it has always been one of my favorites. As adults we grow and evolve and make those recipes into our own.
This Easy Goulash Recipe is one that we have tweaked over the years and has quickly become a dinner time staple. Everyone in the whole family loves it, and that is with picky eaters.
This recipe makes a nice large batch that will fill everyone’s bellies and keep them full. Serve it up with some of your favorite side dishes if you’d like but this is a meal in itself.
Full of ground beef, pasta, cheese, vegetables, seasonings and more, you really cannot go wrong. Obviously you can adapt this recipe to your liking, but I highly encourage you to try this recipe first.
Flavorful and filling, this will become one of those recipes that make it onto your monthly menu rotation. Perfect for anytime of year and just brings that comfort to your belly.
If you’ve been looking for a new way to make this tried and true gem, then you have to come to the right place and need to make this Easy Goulash Recipe ASAP.
Some of our other family favorite dinner time meals that we have on our site include: Ground Beef Enchiladas, Homemade Sloppy Joes and Chicken Broccoli and Rice Casserole.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- Easy to find ingredients helps this come together in around 35 minutes.
- Kid and adult friendly!
- This makes a nice large serving for a family.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST):
Lean ground beef
Sweet onion
Green bell pepper
Garlic
Crushed tomatoes
Chicken stock
Petite diced tomatoes
Soy sauce
Worcestershire sauce
Italian seasoning
Dried oregano
Paprika
Kosher salt
Black pepper
Elbow macaroni noodles
Cheddar cheese
Fresh chopped parsley for garnish, optional
HOW TO MAKE THIS EASY GOULASH RECIPE, STEP BY STEP:
- In the bottom of a stock pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat, add the ground beef, onions, and peppers. Break up the beef into crumbles and cook, stirring occasionally until the beef is no longer pink and the onions and peppers are softened about 5-8 minutes. Drain off any excess fat or liquid if any came off the beef.
- Add the garlic and stir it in, cook until fragrant, 30 seconds.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, chicken stock, diced tomatoes, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning, oregano, paprika, salt, and pepper, stir to combine.
- Bring to a simmer, once it starts to simmer slightly add the macaroni noodles, stir to mix in.
- Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the pasta reaches the tenderness you prefer. Stir every few minutes to make sure nothing sticks.
- Stir in half of the cheese.
- Serve immediately with the rest of the cheese as a garnish and parsley, optional.
I’M NOT A FAN OF PEPPERS, DO I NEED TO USE THEM?
If you are not a fan of peppers, which we realize that some people are not – you can absolutely leave them out in this recipe. No need to worry about the outcome, it will not change anything.
WHAT IS THE BEST CHEESE TO USE?
Our favorite cheese for this Easy Goulash Recipe is freshly shredded cheddar. We like to use freshly shredded as it melts better. Or you can leave the cheese out if you’d like.
Some other cheese that you can use to switch up the flavor include: Colby Jack, Monterey Jack, Gouda, Muenster, etc. Just use some of your favorite cheeses and see what you like best.
CAN I USE ANOTHER PASTA?
While we definitely prefer the elbow macaroni in this recipe, you can use any of your favorite smaller pasta should work as long as you use the amounts called for in the recipe itself.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HUNGARIAN GOULASH AND AMERICAN GOULASH?
Hungarian Goulash is absolutely the opposite of American Goulash. The Hungarian version is more of a soup or stew that is made with meat and vegetables and spiced with paprika.
American Goulash is a recipe that is made with beef, pasta, tomatoes, seasonings and more. Two completely opposite recipes that share the “goulash” name.
HOW TO STORE:
This Goulash Recipe can be stored in an airtight container where it will keep in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days.
You can also freeze this recipe, store in a freezer container or bag and it will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To defrost, remove from the freezer into the refrigerator until thawed. Reheat in the microwave until heated through.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- We like to use a lean ground beef for this recipe, anything 80/20 and above works best.
- Other meats can be used, ground chicken, ground pork or even ground italian sausage.
- Make sure to NOT DRAIN your petite diced tomatoes.
- Other pasta can be used, see above but we highly recommend elbow noodles.
- Freshly grated cheese works best, you can also use other types of cheese. See above for some ideas.
- This can be frozen, see above on how to do that.
- You do not have to use the green pepper if you do not like.
- This is the American Goulash version and not the Hungarian version, which is very tasty as well.
Love a good classic comfort dish that is perfect for any time of the year? Then you never can go wrong with this Easy Goulash Recipe.
If you like this recipe you might also like:
If you’ve tried this EASY GOULASH RECIPE or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!
Easy Goulash Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 small sweet onion small diced
- 1 green bell pepper small diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 14.5 ounce can petite diced tomatoes not drained
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cup dried elbow macaroni noodles
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese divided
- Fresh chopped parsley for garnish optional
Instructions
- In the bottom of a stock pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat, add the ground beef, onions, and peppers. Break up the beef into crumbles and cook, stirring occasionally until the beef is no longer pink and the onions and peppers are softened about 5-8 minutes. Drain off any excess fat or liquid if any came off the beef.
- Add the garlic and stir it in, cook until fragrant, 30 seconds.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, chicken stock, diced tomatoes, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning, oregano, paprika, salt, and pepper, stir to combine.
- Bring to a simmer, once it starts to simmer slightly add the macaroni noodles, stir to mix in.
- Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the pasta reaches the tenderness you prefer. Stir every few minutes to make sure nothing sticks.
- Stir in half of the cheese.
- Serve immediately with the rest of the cheese as a garnish and parsley, optional.
Notes
- We like to use a lean ground beef for this recipe, anything 80/20 and above works best.
- Other meats can be used, ground chicken, ground pork or even ground italian sausage.
- Make sure to NOT DRAIN your petite diced tomatoes.
- Other pasta can be used, see above but we highly recommend elbow noodles.
- Freshly grated cheese works best, you can also use other types of cheese. See above for some ideas.
- This can be frozen, see above on how to do that.
- You do not have to use the green pepper if you do not like.
- This is the American Goulash version and not the Hungarian version, which is very tasty as well.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
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