Hungarian Goulash

Irmgard's Note:

This is my mother's recipe for goulash but I've made a couple of alterations to improve it, such as using beef broth instead of water and real Hungarian paprika instead of Spanish paprika. You can use Spanish paprika if Hungarian is unavailable, but it tastes much better with Hungarian paprika. It is also nice made with stewing veal. When I was a child, I liked this so much that I used to eat it for breakfast if there was any left over from supper!

• Total Time: 2 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 3 lbs stewing beef , cut into 1 inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 large onions , thinly sliced
• 1 ½ cups beef broth
• 2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika
• salt and pepper
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup water
• ¼-1⁄3; cup sour cream

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven and add stewing beef.
2. Saute until nicely browned.
3. Remove meat from pan with slotted spoon and put to one side.
4. Add onions and cook until slightly softened and caramelized.
5. Return meat to pan.
6. Sprinkle meat and onions with paprika, salt and pepper.
7. Add broth and bring to a boil.
8. Cover and simmer for 1-1/2 hours or until tender.
9. Mix flour with water to make a smooth paste and add to simmering goulash.
10. Bring back to a boil and cook until the sauce thickens.
11. Add sour cream and heat through.
12. Serve over potato dumplings or egg noodles.

Reviews

[chadfox]

this was delicious! i served it over egg noodles, but i also added large amounts of merlot to it while cooking. i also added large amounts of merlot to my stomach, but it was a sunday afternoon, so why not? ;-) it was almost stroganoffy...with the sour cream. but definitely one of the most delicious things i've ever cooked.

[Liara]

My family enjoyed this very much! I added half a cup of red wine and it was wonderful. We had it with mash potatoes. Thanks!

[Lennie]

This is one of those recipes where I would give more than 5 stars if I could. It was delicious -- fabulous flavour! -- and the recipe works just as it says it will. I don't have a single quibble: the instructions are straightforward and very simple and this is quite easy to prepare. I followed it exactly as written, with 2 small additions. After cooking the onions (step 4), I added 1/3 cup merlot to deglaze the pan, before I added the meat back in. Then, as well as the 2 tbsp Hungarian paprika, I added a good sprinkle of smoked paprika too (I've been adding it to recipes a lot lately). I served this over Bev's Mashed Potato Pancakes (Potato Pancakes), which I thought worked well. My entire family enjoyed dinner; thanks so, so much for posting this recipe: it's a real keeper.