🥘 down the best goulash recipe
🧾 Ingredients
- 1 lb (450g) ground beef
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2–3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups elbow macaroni (uncooked)
- 1 can (15 oz / 425g) tomato sauce
- 1 can (14.5 oz / 410g) diced tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste (optional, for richness)
- 1 ½ cups beef broth or water
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (optional but recommended)
👨🍳 Instructions
- Cook the beef
- In a large pot or skillet, cook the ground beef over medium heat until browned.
- Drain excess fat if needed.
- Add aromatics
- Add diced onion and cook for 3–4 minutes until soft.
- Stir in garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Build the sauce
- Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, broth, and all seasonings.
- Stir well and bring to a gentle simmer.
- Add pasta
- Stir in the uncooked macaroni.
- Cover and simmer for 12–15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender.
- Finish with cheese
- Turn off heat and stir in shredded cheese until melted (optional but delicious).
🍽️ Tips
- Add a pinch of sugar if the tomatoes taste too acidic.
- You can mix in bell peppers for extra flavor.
- Leftovers taste even better the next day!
If you want, I can also give you the traditional Hungarian goulash version (which is very different—more like a stew with beef chunks and paprika).