Old Fashioned Goulash
Old Fashioned Goulash is an easy, healthy weeknight dish that’s sure to please your family and get you in and out of the kitchen quickly.
Cooking Inspiration
I have a confession to make……I was in a cooking rut a while back. I was fresh out of inspiration and had little interest in making anything too complicated. Does that ever happen to you?
When I find myself in a rut, I’ll often scroll through Pinterest looking for inspiration. So that’s exactly what I did. As I had hoped, I found all the inspiration that I needed for a delicious dinner.
So Easy to Make
I did find an old recipe for goulash and it got me thinking….and actually feeling a little inspired. The recipe looked easy enough and seemed perfect for a weeknight dinner. But, I knew I had to make some changes.
The original recipe had a LOT of sodium in it, so I cut way down on that. I also felt like the recipe needed more veggies, so I added red bell pepper. It turned out to be really easy to prepare and it was delicious!
This has now become one of my families favorite recipes. My husband and I have been known to fight for the leftovers the next day, lol.
If you’re looking for an easy-to-prepare, one-pot wonder, you’ll want to give this goulash a try. You won’t be disappointed! By easy, I mean that it only takes about 45 minutes from start to finish with 25 minutes being hands off.
That gives you enough time to throw together an easy side dish. If you scroll down, I’ve got some links to some easy side dish inspiration.
Tips and Tricks
- If you want to further bump up the veggies, cubed zucchini is a delicious addition.
- In a pinch, if you’re out of crushed tomatoes, you can substitute tomato sauce. But, if you have crushed tomatoes on hand, you’ll definitely want to use them to get a thick, slightly chunky sauce.
- The recipe can easily be doubled. It also freezes well, so you can have half tonight and freeze the rest to have on hand for a busy night.
What to Serve With Old Fashioned Goulash
- Parmesan Green Bean “Fries”
- Chunky Gazpacho Salad
- Parmesan Puffs
- No Knead English Muffin Bread
- Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Spicy Mustard Vinaigrette
- Honey Jalapeno Cornbread Muffins
- Creamy and Crunchy Apple Slaw
- Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts
- Easy Focaccia Bread Recipe
- Field Greens Salad
Old Fashioned Goulash
Old fashioned goulash is an easy, healthy weeknight dish that's sure to please your family and get you in and out of the kitchen quickly.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 bell pepper, chopped (whatever color you have on hand)
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 1 2/3 cups water
- 1 – 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup elbow macaroni, uncooked
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a dutch oven over medium high heat.
- Add ground beef, break up with a spoon and brown until no longer pink.
- Add onion, bell pepper and garlic, sauté for about 5 minutes until onion is translucent.
- Stir in salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and bay leaves.
- Stir in water, crushed tomatoes and soy sauce, bring to a bubble.
- Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.
- Stir in peas and macaroni.
- Simmer covered for 20-25 minutes, until macaroni is tender.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 317Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 67mgSodium: 802mgCarbohydrates: 22gFiber: 4gSugar: 8gProtein: 25g
ENJOY!
This recipe was originally posted on 02/06/2013. It was updated to improve user experience and reposted on 02/04/2021.
love this kind of recipe and hopefully I make enough or if it doesn’t get all eaten in one night , there will be left overs xoxo
Try it with chili powder instead of Italian seasoning and bake some Jiffy corn bread on top. WOW!
Thanks Beverley! You definitely need to make enough so that you have leftovers. I’ve been eating this for lunch for the past 3 days and it gets better as it sits!
Hey! This pasta dish looks great. Over at my blog I’m hosting a party called Pantry Party and this month the theme is pasta. This dish would be great to join us and if you have any other pasta dishes that utilize what’s in your pantry, you should join!
http://lawstudentscookbook.wordpress.com/2013/02/01/pantry-party-february-2013-announcement/
That looks good! I’m all for one pot dishes….cause I’m the only dishwasher we have right now, and the only chore I dislike more than washing dishes is vacuuming!
Following from Strut Your Stuff Saturdays at Six Sisters’ Stuff.
I hate washing dishes too, LuAnn!! Thanks for stopping by!
made this dish several times now – delicious and easy to make!
That’s great, Andrew, I’m so glad to hear that you liked it!!
how many does this serve?
This will serve 6.
i like to print out recipes but yours are to long — 9 sheets of paper and a vial of expense ink
thanks for nothing
I screen shot then save to photos for future reference
When I want to print a long recipe be the ads join in etc I just snap a pic of each page, save in my notes section then print. Voila!
I printed this from my tablet and had no trouble at all. It fit on one sheet of paper, although it did print back to back since I have my print option set up,that way. If you can’t do that, print only the range of pages you need. It’s not that hard to do.
Really?!?! Too lazy to write it down so you try downing someone else great work. Get a life!! I tried this recipe lastnight and the whole family just loves it. Even my fussy granddaughter. It’s our new Friday night special. Thanks for the amazing recipe.
Great recipe! Sounds super yummy but for some reason I tried to click on where it said Printer Friendly but nothing happen.
why won’t it let me print? I tried to click on printer friendly but nothing happens at all. Mmmmhhh! Am I doing something wrong?
Thanks
For those not able to print, just copy the text and put it into Word and print. Not a big deal.
Good recipes!
great recipes!
Looks awesome! A keeper for sure!
Simple and delicious. I love it!
We love goulash!! This recipe sounds really good!
I grew up eating goulash and made it a lot when my children were growing up. It’s just so delicious and your dish looks like the perfect comfort food for these busy and chili days.
This looks delicious. Now I’m craving goulash!
Sounds fantastic!! A great weeknight dinner for the whole family
Thanks! I really is a great weeknight meal, it’s so easy!
Oh this looks just amazing – what a delicious bowl of goodness! I want to dive right in. Your pictures are amazing also – what a meal!!
Thank you so much, Debra!
This is so similar to something my mom would make at least once a month when I was a kid!
I’m always looking for new easy weeknight recipes! Thanks for the inspiration, Lisa!
Thanks Michelle! I hope you like it!
It’s nice to know that even when you get in a cooking rut, inspiration can still find you! This goulash is a perfect and delicious example of that happening. I’ve never made goulash and guess what – I’ve just been inspired to do so! Fantastic job, as always!
Thank you so much!
perfect on a chilly winter night!
Thanks, Justine! It’s great comfort food!
Always looking for easy weeknight meals! This goulash will be great as leftovers for lunch too!
My dad used to make something similar but called it beefaroni. I always loved when he made it and I loved eating it for a few days for breakfast lunch and dinner. This is going to be like that I can tell. Very addicting and I will end up eating the whole pot myself.
I know, it’s addicting!
Oh my gosh – comfort food at it’s best! I need to try your version because it sounds delish!
Yummy. I have made different recipes of goulash and this one is great and easy. I eliminated the peas just because of preference.
Can you use worchestire sauce instead of soy sauce?
Ann – I’ve never tried this with Worcestershire sauce, but you certainly could give it a try. It would probably just add a little tanginess to the flavor as opposed to just the saltiness of the soy sauce.
Do you drain the grease after browning the meat?
I don’t drain it, but you certainly could.
DELICIOUS! Even though I used 96/4% ground sirloin and whole grain elbows, the flavor of this dish was fantastic! We all loved it, so this recipe went straight into my ‘rotation’. I’ll definitely be making it again & again. I came across this recipe on a day when I pondered what to make for dinner. Since I already had everything which this recipe called for on hand…that’s what I made. Our dinner was a huge WINNER! It was easy, healthy, and delicious. I served it with a nice tossed Italian salad. Thanks for this terrific recipe. .
I’m so glad to hear you loved this dish! I love the changes that you made to suit your family, I’m sure it was delicious!
Our family Goulash is so different than yours… but Im kind of goulash obsessed… Ive never met one that I haven’t loved. Ingredients are on the list for trying!
That great! I hope you love this one!
I need to add this to the menu. It looks so warm, delicious, and perfect for this cold weather!!
It’s perfect cold weather food!
I love goulash, it’s such a great family meal. Your added veggies makes it even better. What a yummy meal. I’d love to cozy up on the couch with a big bowl of your goulash!!
Thanks Debra! This is one of my favorite comfort food meals!
I grew up eating goulash and absolutely loved it especially with a slice of buttery bread! Time to make this delicious recipe!
It’s perfect comfort food for winter!
We love goulash!! I will be trying your recipe for sure!
Thanks Michaela! I hope you like it as much as we do!
What about adding beans to this recipe?? Any thoughts? I cannot wait to try it as is and maybe again with some beans for fiber and lower cholesterol per bite.
I haven’t tried this with beans, but I definitely think it would work. I would probably add a can of cannellini beans. But I’m sure whatever your favorite bean is would be fine!
My dad makes a stew that we call goulash in my home, it has tomatoes, onion,butter beans, hamburger meat and rice it’s so good. I guess this shows all the different goilashes put there.
Not arguing that it’s not Goulash but do you really think we put some of those ingredients in more than half a century ago, like 1 lb ground beef
1 tsp olive oil
1 bell pepper, chopped (whatever color you have on hand)
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup frozen peas