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
Your mom
I am a single father of a special needs son. I am quite perturbed over this recipe. It was rated as a 5/5 recipe, so I made it. It is so ridiculously over spiced with both Italian seasoning and salt. THIS RECIPE NEEDS TO BE REMOVED OR CORRECTED AS FOR IT IS CRAP!
Inorder to save our meal or get remotely eatable I drained all the juices. Rinsed the dish in a strainer put back on stove and added a small can of tomato paste. It is still a little heavy on the salt but atleast it’s eatable now.
Carol
Much better than the “Goulash” my parents threw together as a child.
Dawn
We love this recipe. I will try tsp for Italian seasoning this time but we loved it before so maybe we’ll love it more with less Italian. I make my own seasoning so maybe my homemade Italian is different from store bought. We only eat meat that we hunt/raise and butcher, so I only use deer, bobcat, cougar and moose for this simple and delicious recipe. It tastes great with all of our wild meat. Thanks!
Lenore
I pre- cook the macaroni to al dente and then add. It speeds things up. I use tomato paste to thicken and no Italian spices.
Kirsten Vitale
Very good goulash. Took me a little longer for prepping cause I’m slow. Might opt for recipes next time. It makes a lot. Also we like noodles so I put a whole 1lb box of various elbow noodles then added a can of tomato soup. So it was probably double the noodles. Came out great.
Katherine Mikels
Have you ever made this in a crockpot?
Dave S.
I have had it in the crockpot today and it is coming out just fine.
Heather
Can you freeze this goulash
Shawn
You can freeze it, but sometimes after freezing pasta, it can turn mushy when reheated.
Phyllis Slaughter
I used a 1/2 lb. of ground chuck and a 1/2 lb. of mild Italian sausage. It added a little bit of spicy flavor. We really enjoyed it. Will definitely be making this again.
Linda Mondro
Great!!
The DeeVah
I added tomato paste to thicken it up. Used my own seasonings from my garden, fresh herbs are the best! If you know how to cook, you wouldn’t have used 2 tbsp, if your recipe dependent, try it again & use less. The DeeVah
Mandie
Do you drain the tomatoes?
The DeeVah
I added tomato paste to thicken it up. Used my own seasonings from my garden, fresh herbs are the best! If you know how to cook, you wouldn’t have used 2 tbsp, if your recipe dependent, try it again & use less. The DeeVah
Nancy
Sounds similar to my family recipe except we use tomato juice instead of broth or water. The juice gives it more flavor. And we DON’T use Italian seasoning at all. We prefer to use garlic powder.
Patricia C Smith
I used half the beef broth and a jar of pasta sauce because it has all the seasonings already in it. It turned out pretty good. I just added a little extra Cajun seasoning for some heat..
Heather
Cook the meat first, removed with a slotted spoon, leaving the water and fat, then cooked the onions, garlic, and peppers. I had thyme, summer savory, oregano, basil, rosemary and mint in my cupboard, so I use them instead of Italian seasoning. Then brought all the items in. Except only one can of tomato sauce, 2 cups of broth, and 2 1/2 cups of macaroni. Brought everything to a boil. Turned out very nicely.
Jojo
I don’t use Italian seasonings in goulash either. I use onions, garlic, paprika, tomato, bay leaves, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce instead of salt, beef broth, V8. NEVER any oregano or basil. It’s not spaghetti sauce and I don’t want it to taste like an Italian pasta sauce at all. I love Italian food but goulash should be noticeably different.
River
BEWARE THE ITALIAN SEASONING.
I unfortunately didn’t see the comments saying 2 Tbsp on Italian Seasoning is way too much before making this. It did, in fact, ruin it. It’s way too overpowering now. I believe it was meant to be 2 tsp like the seasoning salt.
I think this recipe could’ve been really good if not for this.
Bill Matuszewski
Absolutely in fact I’d not put any Italian seasoning at all it ruined it for me also
Tim TUrner
I thought I was the only one, had to throw it out, nobody would eat it. Complaining about the Italian Seasoning.
Kien Tran
Recipe is a little too watery. I had to add about 2 more cups of dried macaroni to get it to thicken. Not bad. Very tasty. Needs some salt, pepper, and about a teaspoon of paprika.
Barb
My name Barb Bickerton and live in Vancouver BC Canada which my younger brother ask me to make Goulash like my mom did when we were kids.
But I forgot how she did her.
So I want to make it for my brother and sister to have for dinner.
Would please send me the easy way so I can make it for them.
Thank you
Barb Bickertom
Barb.bickerton@gmail.com
Adam Bauman
This recipe calls for WAY too much itialian seasoning. I think it was supposed to be 2 tsp not 2 tbls. I put in 1 table spoon and it ruined it.
Cheryl S.
Awesome recipe! My family loved it,I will make again
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.
Bill Matuszewski
I used 2 teaspoons of seasoning and it was way to much how the dogs will eat it
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!
Connie Foley
Are you bored? Seriously, don’t be negative!!! Do you want to do this?
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.