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
Dawn
Was pretty good! It would have better if I could have found my bag leaves like the recipe called for. I have no idea where they went! Anyway, very good and suspect will be even better tomorrow!
Tammi
I followed this exactly and it was pretty good! Thank you.
Britt North
Excellent recipe. My entire family loved it, including kids ages 11, 8, and 2 (and they never agree on anything!). I only made a few minor changes: I used chicken broth versus beef broth because that’s all I had and I used approximately a 1/2 cup extra broth because I was planning to use more pasta. I added a small can of mushrooms, a can of whole corn and a can of creamed corn, and a bag of frozen peas and carrots. I used approximately 32oz of fresh, diced heirloom tomatoes because i didn’t have any canned tomatoes. I also added a 1/3 cup more pasta (I used small shells) to absorb the extra liquid and because we love pasta. I served it with corn bread and we had leftover rice so I served it over that (this was entirely unnecessary, but I wanted to use up the rice in the fridge!). I will definitely be making this again! Thanks for the easy and tasty recipe.
Cassidy O.
If you like salt. This is way too salty for me. There’s salt in the beef broth, it calls for seasoned salt which is majorly salt, Italian is high in salt and Worcester is high in salt. I would not recommend, this much salt is not healthy or appealing in my opinion.
Jbar
Italian seasoning doesn’t usually have salt
Carrie
Not sure what kind of Italian Seasoning, you use, but normal Italian Seasoning has no salt.
Did you even make the recipe?
I made it as written and felt like it needed quite a bit more salt.
Susan
So easy so good. I substituted red and yellow pepper, small ones, since we cannot tolerate green peppers. Also I cooked the macaroni separately, omitting the beef stock. Still delicious. Cut the recipe in half, and still have left overs for two people. My husband grew up eating this and said this was the best ever.
Teresa Rich
This recipe absolutely deserves five stars. That’s the best goulash I’ve ever eaten
Rita C O'Saile
This is add-on to my original post. I used the petite tomato’s as specified. They seemed to almost disappear . I’ve always used regular diced tomatoes in mine. Next time I make I’m going to use those. It was great though . Thanks
Rita C O'Saile
I made for dinner but had to cut recipe in half. It definitely makes a lot . It turned out great , made hoe cakes to go with it and we all 3 loved it! I will make it again. This is a variation from my original recipe that I’ve used for over 30 years. I add a can of pinto beans to mine
Rachel Maki
My husband and I both loved this recipe. It’s even better than the “goulash” I’ve made in the past. Didn’t find it salty at all especially since we both need to watch our salt intake. Definitely a keeper!
Karen
Shawn,
I was so excited to find your recipe and to follow it exactly but I already have an epic fail. I can’t find my Italian seasoning! Could you recommend a substitute?
Thank you! I will make sure I have it on hand next time!
Karen
Shawn, I ended up making my own Italian seasoning after Googling the directions! Woohoo!
This is delicious! Thank you for sharing!
Tammy
Made this tonight for my family. oMGoodness…. amazing. Followed directions to point. Added some corn and peas. It’s amazing
Jane
Why makes ourselves feel better by making others feel bad. All these reviews saying how amazing the recipe is but they changed 90% of it. smh
Kat
Love this reminder..Great memories.
Ty so very much.
Susan
Recipe alterations due to allergies, vegetarian preferences or pantry item in hand, should not make the submitter feel bad. One should feel flattered. Especially if it still receives 5 stars.
Ashley
Sadly, that’s how all of these pages are. Recipes are looked at like guidelines, but I also make it the way it was written once before I alter anything.
Heidi M
Cut recipe in half when I made it, very good. Instead of ground beef, I used hot ground italian, amazing. I cut back on the seasoned salt due to my blood pressure, kept the rest. I actually use parm cheese on top. Yummy
JMad
This is a huge recipe, so since my family isn’t crazy about leftovers (although I’d rather cook once and eat twice), I cut it half. I omitted the olive oil and cooked the onions and beef in the beef’s fat. I didn’t have a fresh bell pepper, so I used frozen. Instead of seasoned salt, I used sea salt and smoked paprika. I didn’t have elbow macaroni, so I used egg noodles. I also added sautéed zucchini. My family loved it and we ate it all.
Burnie Stokes
Hard to have Hungarian Goulash without Hungarian paprika. Just enough to make it taste Hungarian.
TTT
As it says in the beginning of the article, this recipe is for American Goulash, not Hungarian. There is a difference.
I did not find it too salty but I used fresh garden tomatoes and low sodium broth.
It was delicious!
Amma Cares
This is so tasty! I wanted macaroni and tomato so badly and this did not disappoint. I used a combo of Impossible meat, texturized vegetable protein, and beef less broth base to keep it vegetarian. I love cheese, so I added extra sharp cheddar. Very satisfying!
Angie Carrington
Fantastic recipe!! I used Dale’s steak seasoning instead of Worcestershire sauce & Colby Jack cheese instead of cheddar. This stuff is the bomb!! Makes plenty for sharing with the neighbors too!! Everyone loved it-thanks for the goodness!!
Mike Thomas
The recipe itself is very good. I would, however, change one thing, and that would be to NOT add the UNcooked pasta into the Goulash. I found that the pasta had a somewhat pasty texture when not rinsed first. Therefore, I would cook the pasta al dente first, rinse it good, then add it to the recipe at the end.
Kris
I have NEVER had good luck just throwing the pasta in. Always ends up gummy I too will cook the pasta then toss it in. Probably lessen the beef broth I assume?
TJ
Turned out absolutely amazing.thx
Kerri
Super rude of you to call somebody a RETARD! In today’s day and age, who the hell even uses that word. Some of us are interested in trying to eat as healthy as possible. Portion size is directly correlated to serving size. If you don’t know the serving size nutritional value you are just winging it.
Jenny
Super yummy. I added used half turkey / half beef because that’s what I had around, and added an extra red pepper. Also extra cup of water because it ran low on liquid. Served with shredded cheese and some sour cream. Everybody loved it. Next time I’ll make on a Monday so we can take it for lunch all week. I think it would be great for using up almost any veg that’s on hand.
Kerri
As others have asked…..what is the serving size????
Tj
Cook it and figure it out.Isn’ rocket science really!Depends on portion size of courseI cant even actually believe people ask such a retard question
Kate
I’m so sorry that someone responded to you that way! They must live in a world of negativity & judgmental thinking. What a sad place to be.
To answer your question, you may have to just do the math per ingredients that you use and what size you want to base it off of. Obviously it’s going to be a bit high in carbs but there are ways to cut it back depending upon what you use.
Good luck!
Misty
I have made this a couple of times now and my family loves it!!!Even my super picky grandson gobbles it down.This is hands down the best goulash recipe ever.Thank you for posting!
Patty Collins
Really really good. So easy and fast. Also freezes good. I followed the recipe, except had to cut in 1/2 as there are only 2 of us
Debi
Thank you Patty C. for your review of the goulash. It was most helpful knowing that it freezes well and it was succesful cutting the recipe in half.
There’s only two of us too.
Kelly
I make it all the time is good every time.
Sandy
Made this for dinner today! Super easy and delicious. I’m a salt lover but would have used about half of the seasoned salt. My hubby agreed. Salt can be added after if needed but what great goulash recipe! Will definitely make it again!
Cody G
Hello found this recipe and am excited to try it for a work potluck. That being said, I would like to do it in the crock pot versus my dutch oven. Has anyone tried it this route? TIA
Matt
I know it’s a misprint but 388k(388,000) calories. Lol But I made this and my family loved it. I put double the bay leaves and dark kidney beans. Excellent if you have a tight budget. $15 can feed 5 people.
Mikey
it’s not a misprint, it’s the measurement of kilocalories. the new standard in measurement for what used to be called simply “calories”.
Rose Vernon
I may have missed it. But what size is the serving. Other recipes say 1 cup is a serving. I work in a kitchen on a very tight budget so I need this information. Thank You Rose
Lexa
I think it’s probably somewhere between 1/2 c & 1 c per serving. Depending on your kitchen’s needs, you can adjust it, like with most recipes. I do thst for my family of 7, just adjust our serving size sometimes depending on what I’m making, especially when my budget is super tight. Good luck and have a great day!
Bonnie
I made this goulash for my family, and it was a “Home Run!” I had enough leftovers for the next night’s meal, plus a lunch for myself. I used a large red sweet pepper instead of a green pepper. It tasted great with it. I think the next time I make it I will add kidney beans to it.
The elbow macaroni that I used cooked a little too fast, and they were too soft. I’ll be more careful the next time!
Shawn
I’m so glad you enjoyed the goulash!
Miranda
Hoeveel ml is een kopje?
TheBrain
Oh my God, this has nothing to do with a Goulash! 🙂
Vi
Perhaps your Goulash and other Goulashes differ. Love this recipe. It is exactly how my mom made it in the 1970’s and beyond. I make it the same way unless I’m out of one vegetable or another, so then I substitute. Thank you for posting this!
Robin D.
This is exactly AMERICAN goulash. The way every mom in the 70’s made it. It’s delicious!
Renae Patterson
I made this with cooked pasta instead of elbow pasta I used rotini 2 1/2 cups and only 2 cups of beef broth and it turned out great… absolutely delicious my family loved it. Thanks for sharing this recipe
Jade perkins
Very soupy? Did I do something wrong
Shawn
Did you add in dry noodles or already cooked noodles? The noodles should be dried when adding so they absorb a lot of the liquid in the goulash.
Dolsen
You never add oil when cooking hamburger! Hamburger has enough of it’s own fat. Even the 90% 10%. Don’t add cooking oil period!
Jody
I make this all the time the kids just love it and me as well.
Alicia
I agree. I just made the dish because everyone here seems to like it. I halved the dish just for myself to eat over a few days. It was very soupy and tomato-y. I like tomato, but the soupy tomato drowned out the flavor, imo. I used dry noodles too, to no avail. I think one might need to reduce the amount of tomato sauce, and maybe reduce the amount of the broth or add more dry noodles. 3/5 stars. It was decent, just not what I was hoping for.
Cody
If I don’t have beef broth, what could I use in place of it? Looking forward to trying this.
Shawn
You could use chicken broth in it’s place, but the flavor will be slightly different in the finished product.
Karleen K Donato
I am going to try your recipe tonight! I make a very simple goulash. I brown 1 lb of hamburg. To that I add 2 cans of tomato soup with 2 cans of water. Then I throw in one full box of elbows . I stir it really good . I let it simmer on low ….stirring it frequently till the pasta is done. Presto! Thats it! My grandmother and mom cut up an onion and added cooked it with the hamburg. I HATE onions so I don’t add them! Also my grandmother called this ” pasta vozoo”
Paula
Use 1 bouillon cube per cup of liquid. Just watch the salt content. Don’t salt without tasting
Mark Rizzuto
Beef cubes or chicken cubes or better than bullion. Its unlikely you would taste it anyway more for hydration of the noodles.
Lyndsey Miller
This was an instant hit with my family and they are picky! They loved it so much they went back for seconds! I’ve made it a few times now and I always make double batch! Made exactly as recipe is written and I wouldn’t recommend to change a thing! Great meal for a cold or chilly day!
Alex
My parents divorced when I was young so I was on my own most of the time when it came to meals. By 12 I was running a whole household. I cooked, I cleaned, and I took care of my brother and myself. I went to school then came home and did everything typical parents should be doing. This is a meal I’d make alot of the time because it was just throwing some very basic ingredients in a pot and it was so versatile. I just didn’t know what to call it. I didn’t realize back then it was actually a thing, but now I can definitely see how this became such a significant cultural meal for poorer people in Eastern Europe. We had a big garden as well that my brother and I were responsible for. If we had a bunch of okra it’d go in the goulash pot. Sometimes corn or peas or even diced potatoes. You can’t really mess this stuff up and it goes great with a slice of white bread. I still remember making it and my mother coming in and asking who taught me how. I just looked at her like she’d sprouted an extra head bc obviously, I’d taught myself. It sure wasn’t her or my father. It’s just a comforting meal and very instinctual, if that makes sense. I guess bc of the way goulash became a part of my life I’ve since stopped making it. It wasn’t the best of times and I don’t really like reminiscing about it, but now I have a life I would’ve never dreamed of having back then. I’ve had a great nursing career. I’m married to the absolute best person I’ve ever known. We have a home and two daughters where we all work together as a family. While I still make sure to teach my daughters all about basic skills of taking care of oneself and their home; like cooking, cleaning, laundry, home maintenance, car maintenance etc, I still do all of it for them bc I’m their mother and I couldn’t live with myself if I put them in the same position my mother did me. I’ve never made them goulash though, but I’ve decided I would today. We have all the ingredients on hand and don’t need to make a trip to the store. I could’ve made a long story short but this recipe is sentimental to me. I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who enjoys it.
Dawn
That was so sweet, I just had to say that Im proud of you for your tenacity. Maybe this meal will be a tradition you start by showing them how to make it! Then you can rid the negative side of it away and introduce them to Mom’s goulash! I hope they enjoy it!
Helem
Made this with low sod broth and tomato sauce. Also used 1 lb beef and 1 lb ground turkey. Was good and healthier
Sabrina
1st time making this as gluten-free version. Fingers crossed!
Gary O
I just made it for my wife and I at the cottage on a cold day. The recipe was simple and the experience was fantastic for a 30-40 minute meal. I was a little skeptical adding the uncooked macaroni in the pot but it turned out fine. If you like tomato based meals you will enjoy this one. I can see this dish becoming a great fall/winter/early spring go to monthly meal. I wish I would have had this in my arsenal when the kids were small it would have been perfect for those get home from work, rush to eat supper, then run the kids to their sporting event days!
JOHN EMERSON
“Marvelous Wonderful Recipe LOVE= AMEN!”
Bridget
Delicious! My whole family enjoyed this, even my 6 year old. The one thing we added was grilled Anaheim peppers which added some additional flavor to it. We’ll be adding this to our dinner rotation!
Jackie MacDonald
Great meal, real tasty and easy to make. I added herb & garlic cream cheese at the end before adding pasta and cheese. A definite recipe to add to your collection. With fresh bread and butter. Yum!
Lynetta
Question though…do you add the onions and bell pepper first and Sautee then add hamburger?
Jessica
I made this for dinner last night after googling easy ground beef dinner, took very little time, had all ingredients on hand (nothing fancy needed) and it was GREAT! My family loved it *(even the super picky one!!)
Lynetta
This is such a hit with my family. Especially my husband! I’ve made it around 4 times and just love it!
David B.
This was vary hardy stick to your bones hardy my family loved it thank you for making my dinner amazing
Sandra
Adults and kids loved this . Made couple of change I cooked pasta separately. Also I’m on low sodium diet so no salt added put in small amount of Carole seasoning.Sandra
Samantha
Did you not put in the beef broth then since you cooked the pasta before hand?