This super easy Goulash Recipe is a comfort food classic! It’s filled with hearty ground beef and tender pasta in a rich tomato-based sauce and comes together in about 30 minutes!
I’m always looking for new and exciting ways to turn ground beef into dinner, but sometimes I just love the good old classics that bring me right back to my childhood. This Goulash Recipe is just that. It’s super affordable, quick to make and tastes like a warm hug on a cool evening.
Classic Goulash Recipe
Are you familiar with Goulash? If not, let me introduce you to this old fashioned recipe! This recipe is an American Goulash that’s great for busy weeknights, but I love to take this recipe to potlucks and parties because it makes a ton and is super affordable. It’s also great for picky eaters, I haven’t met one kid who doesn’t love this dish!
Goulash is filled with ground beef, onion and bell peppers along with macaroni noodles in a tomato-based sauce. I like to stir in some sharp cheddar cheese at the end to give it a creamy texture. My family loves it!
Goulash Ingredients:
- Onion – I like to use either a white or yellow onion
- Green Bell Pepper – you can use other colors of peppers if desired
- Ground Beef
- Garlic
- Tomato Sauce
- Diced Tomatoes – I love using the petite diced tomatoes here
- Beef Broth
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Seasoned Salt
- Italian Seasoning
- Bay Leaves
- Dry Macaroni Noodles – other small pastas would work too
- Cheddar Cheese
How To Make Goulash
- Start by browning the ground beef along with the onion and bell pepper. Drain any fat and then toss in garlic until fragrant.
- Pour in tomato sauce and diced tomatoes along with beef broth and Worcestershire sauce for some added depth of flavor.
- Add in the seasonings as well as dried macaroni noodles and let simmer until the noodles are cooked through.
- Finally stir in the cheddar cheese and dig in!
Tips and Variations:
- Make sure you use a big pot, as this recipe does make a lot!
- You can swap out the macaroni noodles for any other small pasta you have on hand.
- To make this an even leaner meal, you can use ground turkey in place of ground beef.
- Try adding in extra veggies like: corn, peas, diced carrots, green beans or even stirring in baby spinach at the end!
- Stir in a cup of sour cream at the end to give this recipe an even creamier base!
- The goulash is not quite soup consistency, but if you would like to add extra beef broth to make it more soupy you can definitely do that!
More Comfort Food Dinners
- Chicken Noodle Casserole
- Cabbage Soup Recipe
- Instant Pot Beef Stew
- Ground Beef Cheesesteak Pasta Skillet
Helpful Products To Make This Recipe
Here are some of my favorite tools to make this American Goulash Recipe:
- Cast Iron Dutch Oven (6 quarts)
- Wooden Spoon Set
- Cheese Grater
Easy Goulash Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 2 lbs. ground beef, lean
- 3 tsp garlic, minced
- 2 15 oz cans tomato sauce
- 2 15 oz cans petite diced tomatoes
- 3 cups beef broth
- 3 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 tsp seasoned salt
- 2 tbsp Italian Seasoning
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 cups macaroni noodles, uncooked
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Add olive oil to large pot over medium-high heat. Add in the onion, bell pepper and ground beef then cook until beef is no longer pink. Drain any excess fat and return pot to stove top. Add in garlic and stir until fragrant (about 30 seconds).
- Pour in the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, seasoned salt, Italian seasoning, bay leaves and dried macaroni noodles. Stir and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to a light boil and stir occasionally until the pasta is tender, about 20 minutes.
- Remove the bay leaves and stir in the cheddar cheese just before serving. Enjoy!
Nutrition
PIN THIS IMAGE TO SAVE THE RECIPE:
One Skillet Chicken Parmesan Pasta
R Graham
I made the recipe exactly as it was written and it was delicious; the whole family loved it. A definite “keeper”!
Anne
I loved this one pot meal, except for one thing. I used Costco’s Italian seasoning, and it overpowered the meal. Is it possible it was supposed to be 3 teaspoons vs tablespoons of Italian seasoning? Next time I will do 1-2 teaspoons vs the 6 teaspoons the recipe calls for.
Thankful mama
My family’s new favorite ghoulash recipe! Thank you!
Barb
This is an easy to prepare meal that calls for ingredients that many people have on hand. I halved it, but it was very tasty.
Kasie B
Followed recipe to a T though I halved it, turned out AMAZING!! Something we get when we out often and now I can make it at home ! Thank you for sharing !!!
Kristine
This recipe was delicious . I actually halved the recipe and it turned out great .
Anna from Hungary
Why you delete comments that disagree with you?
Shawn
Anna, I only remove comments that are offensive, rude, or don’t contribute to the recipe. It is very clearly stated in the blog post that this is a recipe for AMERICAN Goulash, NOT Hungarian Goulash. Those are two different types of recipes. Feel free to Google the term “Hungarian Goulash” for that recipe. Thank you.
Tammy From America
Can you imagine coming onto someone’s own blog and commenting some nonsense? Don’t you have bigger problems in Hungary (you do). Get a life.
Great recipe, I enjoyed it!
ken
very good, easy
Ann Morgan
Best goulash recipe we’ve ever used. We left out the bay leaf.
Mel
I was so thankful to find this super quick meal! My kids loved it. I only used 1lb of beef (what I had thawed), water instead of broth and 1tbsp1/2 of Italian seasoning (I ran out). I used gluten free macaroni’s and only boiled it for about 15 min. It worked out wonderfully! Will be making this again!
Thank you!
Kory lojewski
Lol that’s literally what I did because my mom’s gluten free. Try adding a can of sweet corn to it. I promise u will love it. If u Like corn ofcourse. I used only 1lb meat also cus I don’t like a meaty noodle dish like this. Bit I still used full amount of noodles. Instead of cheddar cheese I used grated and sheedded parmesean
Tom
I liked the fact that this recipe is so easy and quick. My wife and I prefer lower salt content so I used low sodium broth and only half the salt. I used two tablespoons of Italian seasoning as called for in the recipe, but thought the flavor of the oregano was overpowering.. I also thought the macaroni was over cooked. It was overall a good recipe and I will make it again. The next time I’ll use much less Italian seasoning and won’t cook the macaroni as long.
Teresa Lynn cratty
Noodle were overcooked really no flavor I won’t be cooking this again.