How to make Hungarian Goulash

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By Priscilla Benfield
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This is a delicious soup recipe that is easy to make. There are many recipes out there that call themselves goulash but this is the real Hungarian goulash recipe. Enjoy!

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

1 1/2 - 2 lbs. beef
4 medium carrots
5 stalks celery
1/2 bunch parsley
Szeged brand Hungarian paprika
1 medium onion
salt
pepper
dumplings (ingredients)
1 egg
1 cup flour
1/2 cup water

Step 1

You will need a large dutch oven or soup pot.
Cut the beef into cubes. Slowly brown cubed meat in about a teaspoon of shortening. I do mean slowly. This process should take about 20 minutes. Stir cubes around occasionally as they are browning. Meat will become tender and will also create some liquid as they brown.
Step 2

Chop onion and add to meat. I chop the onion finely but if you prefer the onion to not cook away as much chop it larger. Chop half a bunch of fresh Italian parsley. (make sure stems are chopped finely).
If you prefer to not chop your vegetables by hand you can use a food processor. It does make the parsley easier to chop.
Add to pot of meat. At this time, there should be some liquid from the browning of the meat in the pot. This is the beginning of the liquid for your soup. Add 2 tablespoons of paprika and 2 cups warm water. Stir and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.
This soup needs to simmer as these steps are being performed.
Step 3

Peel carrots and cut into slices about 1/8 " thick. Slice celery (including leaves). Celery can be slightly larger pieces than carrots. Celery will cook faster. I try to get the vegetables to all be the same tenderness. Remembering what cooks faster is key when you are chopping them up. Celery will cook faster than the carrots so make sure the carrots are cut thinner.
Add to pot. Add 2 more tablespoons paprika, salt and pepper. Add enough water to cover. Cover goulash and simmer.
Step 4

In a medium sized bowl beat 1 egg with a fork. Stir in salt. Slowly add in flour, a little at a time until it forms a thick batter. Drop batter by teaspoon into BOILING, salted water. You need to use a large pot for this. Let dumplings boil for 10 minutes and then drain and rinse well. These dumplings will thicken the soup slightly but goulash is not stew and should stay soup like.
Step 5

Check vegetables in goulash. They should not be mushy but a little firm. Taste broth for flavor. Adjust with salt, pepper and paprika. Add dumplings and stir. Hungarian goulash is ready to serve!
This just gets better the next day. Dumplings will make this goulash thicker than a regular soup but will still be soup-like and not as thick as stew. Many Hungarian goulash recipes are for a stew and traditionally it is meant to be a vegetable and meat soup.