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
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Spicy Italian Pinwheels Recipe
Tiffany
Great recipe! The family loved it.
Kim
Delicious! My family loved this recipe. I will be adding a bit of cinnamon to the dish, as one person recommended, above. Having lived in Nortjern KY for 7 years, we loved Skyline chili and Goldstar chilis. Luckily Walmart has the canned versions of our beloved chilis. Having something that is similar to those chilis, would be great.
Sarah
The large amount of Worcestershire nearly killed it for me. I fixed it by adding a tablespoon of brown sugar. I also added a few tablespoons of cream. I suggest starting with 1 tablespoons of Worcestershire, and increasing to taste. But everyone loved it when it was done.
Anndrea
How big is a serving size? 1 cup?
I’m going to make this tonight and have been trying to track calories.
Brian
It came out great
Jan
OMG! I love this. So easy and quick. It reminds me of home. Great winter dish.
Jim Kearns
A great recipe and 5-star worthy. But like everyone else, I would tweak certain ingredients to suit my own tastes. I add an extra 1/2 to 1 cup of elbow macaroni since I like more pasta in my goulash. I also add 1 tsp of cinnamon as recommended by my friend from Cincinnati where their famous Skyline Chili features cinnamon as the “secret” ingredient. Otherwise this recipe is great.
Denise Carroll
For me, not 5 min prep time, 30 min cook. More like 30 min prep, 1 hour to cook.
Sam
This recipe was amazing! I usually don’t like goulash but it was really good. I cut the recipe in half and it still made a good amount. My 3 yr old and 10 yr old loved it!
Sarah Smith
Very good! Can this be frozen?
Todd
This was fun to make,was anxious to break in my new Dutch oven. I did add a good bit of heat. Love it spicey!
Shawn
Wonderful to hear Todd! Thank you for your comment!
Dave Kostner
Way to much seasoning. Especially the bay leaf. That is pretty much all I taste. Next time I will only put one in and half the Italian seasoning.
Patricia LaGrange
This was great. I took half of the pot to my grandson and his family. His wife loved it and the baby, 1 year old, as her mom said, “Tore it up.” The baby had some on her chin and her little tummy.
Debbie C
I put this goulash together tonight because I was feeling nostalgic about my family & have been thinking of re-creating a goulash from dinners we had when I was younger (10-11 yrs old). My mom slowly got away from 1 pot dinners and casseroles after she remarried due to Dad’s preferences for meat & potatoes & veggies individually.
But, as I stated, I created this goulash dish tonight and after 50 years the filling & hearty flavors of widow’s penny pinching recipe came back and the comfort this dish brought to me was wonderful. I cannot describe the flavors or texture other than soothing to my soul.
This has been recorded so that my children will not have to wait 50 years to revisit a favorite.
Melissa
Great recipe!!Made this tonight and everyone had seconds with still plenty left over and I feed a family of 5!Thanks for sharing
Cindy Wade
This is delicious! I didn’t have any tomato sauce, so I used 1 can of diced tomatoes and 1 can of Rotel. Very good!
Michelle Gray
Made this tonight for dinner! It was delicious. I added sriracha, habanero hot sauce, a little crushed red pepper, as well as a packet of beefy onion soup mix. I also didn’t have enough tomato sauce (only 1 can), so I added some ketchup to make up for the rest.
Vaughn P Gorton
Just coming off the range. Yum!!. . I’ve been tasting it as it cooks. Really good. Like someone else said, “Not mom’s but . . ” I will definately do this again . . and again . .!!
Vaughn P Gorton
Just coming off the range. Yum!!. . I’ve been tasting it as it cooks. Really good. Like someone else said, “Not mom’s but . . ” I will definately do this again . . and again . .!!
Pam
Not like my mom’s but even better!