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!
Video
Nutrition
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Turns out perfect every time. I post photos on instagram and get so many messages asking for recipe and I always send them your link! So simple for anyone newer to cooking and tastes INCREDIBLE!! Thank you so much!
Love this recipe. Added spinach because I had some leftover, next time might add some diced carrots. Best ghoulash recipe I’ve ever made.
Made this tonight and it was delicious! So simple and quick.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the Goulash, Sarah!
Very tasty! Love the one pot method.
It’s a time saver for sure!
Love this recipe. Made it more than a few times. But my wife is on a diet, can you please tell me the serving size for the macros listed?
I believe it should be about 1 1/2 cups per serving.
I use large cans of Ro-Tel (vice diced tomatoes) and avoid the cheddar cheese.
I grew up eating Goulash in western Massachusetts. I love making your recipe; it’s a staple in my home, along with chili and chicken nooodle soup (complete with a head of cabbage!). Your recipe is easily completed and DELICIOUS.
I’m so glad you enjoy it! Thank you for your comment!
I’ve made this multiple times, it’s a family favorite
That’s wonderful to hear Anna, thank you!
This recipe is perfect! Everything about it is spot on! And so easy!
How does this do in the freezer? Container or freezer bag better?
The pasta would be more mushy if frozen and thawed, but it’s still delicious imo. I use my Souper Cubes to freeze leftovers, any airtight container would work.
My favorite goulash recipe. The hubby loves it, too! There’s so much flavor.
Hello. I need a recipe I can leave in the crockpot during a football game, 3 hours. How do you keep the noodles from getting to mushy?
Unfortunately noodles left cooking or even staying warm in a slow cooker for that long will eventually go mushy or absorb all the liquid. I would recommend trying my slow cooker chilli to serve during the football game!
This is not goulash. Ground beef? Tomato? Green bell pepper? Cheddar cheese? Never. No.
It’s not Hungarian Ghoulash—it’s American Ghoulash!
This recipe is perfect! Everything about it is spot on! And so easy!
So happy to hear it Mary!
Made this for my family of 6 (4 teenage boys, 2 of which are super picky eaters). I used low sodium/no salt broth and tomatoes. It only took about 10 minutes for the noodles to be done so keep an eye on that. We ate it with buttered Kings Hawaiian rolls and it was phenomenal. Thank you for this great recipe!
This came out delicious the only thing I changed was I added stewed tomatoes and I served it up with some garlic bread. I wanted to post a pic but it wouldn’t allow me to do that
It’s ok. Too herby imo. I’ll be looking elsewhere for a better recipe