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
Tim
Way better than what I’m used to throwing together.
Thank you Shawn!
K-pilot
Too much Italian seasoning! I plan on making this again and changing the amount to 1 tsp and add garlic powder and onion powder.
Alexander Gates
I’m going to make this. I would not add cheddar though. Cheddar clumps up in hot liquid. I recommend grated parm
Patricia
I made this recipe tonight, the only difference is I used home canned stewed tomatoes and put the cheddar cheese on right before serving. It is absolutely delicious and my husband loved it!!
Shawn
I’m so glad you all enjoyed the recipe Patricia!
Marie
This recipe was , I used 1hamburger&1groung pork, mushrooms, rotel tomatoes
Whole family totally enjoyed this recipe.
Thank you for sharing your recipe
Marie
my this recipe is bomb,
Directions as followed only used 1 hamburger & 1 sausage,also put in rotel tomatoes..
This recipe is one heck of a keeper, whole family totally enjoyed it
I’m sorry I can’t say enough about this recipe
best ever thanks
katie
Can this recipe be cut in half?
Quincy Anderson
Yes it can!
Cassie
Loved it! Definitely don’t recommend using Banza or other chickpea pastas though as it will be too thick and the noodles won’t hold up as good. Made that mistake because it was all I had
Kimberly
I made this today and everyone loved it! J will definitely be making this regularly!
Nancy
I’d been hungry goulash this past week. I finally made this recipe tonight. Turned out thicker than I thought it would .but I’m not complaining! I love think soups and stews.
My family really liked it, too! They didn’t sound too excited about it, when I first started cooking, but after they tried, they wolfed it down!
Lisa
Very good flavor, I used Pork Sausage Italian style since that’s what I had on hand. This reminds me of my MIL Goulash. I used her recipe for yrs but eventually lost the recipe card So it was nice to find this recipe!
Pam Ogden
I don’t have Italian seasoning, but I do have Creole seasoning. Would that work?
Landry
Can I make this a day ahead and reheat? If so, should I add the noodles in separately or will they be ok sitting overnight? Thank you!
Shawn
You can make it ahead and reheat. However, it may be a little thicker the next day due to the pasta absorbing extra liquid. You could add a bit of beef broth as you reheat to give it a thinner consistency. Hope that helps!
Linda J
OMG! So, so good! Will be adding this into the rotation!
J Curtis
I made this as written except I added an additional small yellow pepper. Reminds me of the goulash that my mom made when we were kids, somewhat. We never added cheese, and I did not care for the addition of cheese at all, I’ll definitely make it without next time. All in all, a good recipe.
Tracie
Used this recipe today, my family really enjoyed this meal. My husband said to add some red flakes to this recipe, and it is the BOMB! I said it is great just like it is. I am going to try even more of your recipes in the coming days.
Kiley
My whole family lives this and it has become part of our permanent dinner rotation. I sometimes add diced carrots, and my kids prefer shell pasta, otherwise no changes!
Glenn
I made this and it was delicious. Reminded me of when I was a kid. I only added a little more garlic. I will pass this recipe to my friends. Thank you.
Teresa Holden
My fiancé has been asking for Goulash for a really long time. I’ve been procrastinating because I’m not a huge fan. This recipe changed my mind! I didn’t change a thing, and we both loved it! Thank you so much for sharing!
Sheila Wonders
I tried this recipe last night and it was a hit with my family! Personally, I would cut back on the amount of Italian seasoning and maybe add red pepper flakes, but it was SO GOOD! This is the type of recipe that you can play around with to suit your own palate. Loved it!
Linnae
This was really good. I added a can of rotel for a little kick. Kids loved it.
Seasons01
Very good. FYI add 1 tsp of salt and then at the end add salt to taste. Ours was a bit too salty.
I used Ziti noodles. The generic ones from Walmart are skinnier and they worked fine. However, I did cut them all in half in my bowl. They worked great.
Terra
I agree! For us too much seasoned salt fir sure!?
Michele
Made exactly as the recipe stated. We loved it! Can I freeze it? Thanks again. Michele
Shawn
So glad you enjoyed it Michele! Pasta can sometimes turn gummy when frozen and then reheated. If that doesn’t bother you, then you should be good to freeze this.
Kelsey
This was absolutely delicious! Made it for dinner tonight, this will be our go-to recipe! Thank you so much!
R. Lee
Made this for the first time today and loved it! Didn’t want to alter the recipe but was forced to by necessity. Didn’t have garlic or tomato sauce but did have pizza sauce so used that instead. And whole wheat elbow macaroni. Still turned out amazing! Gonna make this a dinner staple from now on! Yum!
Shawn
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for your comment!
Jen
My husband had a taste for goulash so I tried this recipe tonight. It turned out really good and was easy to make. I added a little paprika to the hamburger when I cooked it and used 4 cups of broth and a whole 1lb box of pasta but otherwise followed the directions. Decided to leave the cheese out so everyone can take the amount they want. It was a hit.
Tracie
Can I use V8 in stead of tomato sauce?
Jerry
This is a ‘what have you got’ recipe. Use what you have to make it, it won’t be bad!
A.K.A American Chop Suey, it was a staple when I was young. I like the spice additions,
pepper, pepper (hot) pepper!
Annette
In Australia I haven’t seen tins of tomatoes sauce, what else can we use please.
Greggums
You can make your own tomato sauce in about 30 to 90 minutes the quick way, or a day long process if you have the time. Depending on what you plan to use it for, it can involve only tomatoes to make, or other ingredients like lemon juice, vinegar, or spices. Search the phrase “tomato sauce with fresh tomatoes” and you’ll find many potential recipes.
Cindy
Just made this within the hour I needed. Awesome and easy dinner recipe for my family.
Cindy
I forgot to leave my review the other night after I made this. It was very delicious. It made quite a bit so my husband had leftovers for a couple of days. In a previous review I was going to make this and stated my family has made a similar recipe growing up but we used parmesan. I followed the recipe exactly and although I still prefer parmesan over the cheddar, it was still quite good. My husband loved it. Thanks for the recipe!
Shawn
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Cindy!
Shauna
This is by far one of my faves of yours!!!! So easy and such a crowd pleaser just as you have it!
Denise
Can you fix this in a crockpot?
Shawn
I think a slow cooker would work, but I haven’t tested this recipe that way yet. Let me know if you try it and how it goes!
Meredith
I love your recipe and have had cooked in the pot in past but I want to do slow cooker, so I’m curious as well. So I think I will try the slow cooker method out tonight.
Meredith
Forgot to add one thing to my previous comment, I do know that we are not to add pasta to the slow cooker until the last 20 or 30 mins I think.
Nancy C
Why add bay leaves when we just have to take them out again? Does it add to the flavor?
greggums
Bay leaves add a strong flavor, but most people don’t like chewing on them. Most recipes involving them say to take it out, but sometimes I grind them into a powder and leave them in. Dealer’s choice.
Angela
Empty bowls all around! Even the kid that doesn’t like tomatoes went back for a second bowl!
Terra
I didn’t have tomato juice. So used jar spaghetti sauce added water to jar and shook to thin it out and kill the rich flavor. I used 4 cups broth and added an extra cup of noodles.. and no peppers bc that’s not a goulash thing. Couldn’t remember my stepdads recipe. It wasn’t too far off .
Jillian
Not trying to be smart at all, but where’s the tomato juice listed in the recipe? I can’t find it, and you’re not the only one who has mentioned it!
Shawn
There is no tomato juice in this recipe. But there is Tomato SAUCE. It’s different.
Jason
Cooked a slightly modified (1 can of tomato puree and 1 can of tomato sauce, extra Worcestershire, lots of black pepper, red and green bell pepper) version of this recipe, and it was fantastic. Definitely bookmarking this one.
Jill
I made this tonight for supper. My 20 year old son ate 3 bowls! Really raved over it and said the leftovers (there was still a lot left) would be gone tomorrow! I expect he will be requesting this again and again.
As for me, I apparently liked it enough to eat until I was miserable. All and all, it was pretty tasty.
Jennifer
I am allergic to green peppers..will the taste be affected if I left them out?
RJ
No you can leave out the peppers. It wont effect it too much.
greggums
Swap it out with a different veggie instead and you’ll be fine. Try corn, peas, carrots, or spinach.
April
This was a huge hit with the family! We love spicy food, so we added some crushed red peppers and a bit of cayenne to it. So tasty! So hearty. We had a lot of leftovers, so I scooped them into some zip-loc baggies and put in the freezer. Those didn’t last long either as the teenagers would swoop them up before anyone else!
Hannah
What a great idea! How did you reheat your frozen leftovers?
Cindy
I’m making this tonight. My family has made a Goulash a bit different from this one for years. Our favorite thing is to put parmesan over the top when done so I am curious to try the cheddar. Will let you know, I am sure it will be great!
Shawn
Hope you enjoy it!
Shawn
Perfect. Easy. Deliciously satisfying. And super budget friendly meal that the whole family enjoyed (that’s priceless) Thanks so much!!!
Shawn
So glad you enjoyed it!!
Tina Stokken
Delicous! So easy and the family loved it!
Jeremy Cook
I put 1lb ground beef and 1 lb Italian sausage. It turned out great.
Klaire
Has anyone ever used crushed tomatoes instead of tomato sauce?
Donna
I made this tonight for the first time…delish…it will become a regular in our household!!! I used tomato sauce, but used crushed tomatoes in place of diced tomatoes…so good! My guess is this a pretty flexible recipe & and as long as you have the right amount of tomatoey goodness & liquid you should be fine. Anyone can correct me if I wrong, but I often use what I have on hand & most recipes come out fine.
Cathy
Can you freeze the leftovers?
Shawn
Pasta can sometimes turn gummy when frozen and reheated. But if that doesn’t bother you, then yes! 😉