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American goulash is an easy, old-fashioned, and comforting meal that is insanely delicious and perfect for the cold winter months. Everything cooks in one pot, even the pasta!
Everyone needs a hearty recipe that they can go to on those chilly days where you want to be warmed up from the inside out! Try this chicken stew, this fantastic beef stroganoff, or this yummy BEST EVER Beef Bourguignon!
What is American Goulash?
Goulash is a hearty dish of stewed beef and tomatoes that was first developed as a Hungarian dish. It typically doesn’t even have pasta, but this American version does and cooks right in the sauce. This makes it an easy and complete meal. It tastes similar to lasagna but without ricotta cheese. I love it because it’s a 1:1 ratio of meaty red sauce with noodles. The more beefy sauce, the better!
This time of year is all about the hearty meals that keep us warm and leave us feeling full and satisfied. American goulash will do precisely that! Plus, it’s easy to make. Get ready for this… You make it all in ONE POT. It only takes about 10 minutes to prepare, and then the rest of the time, it’s just cooking on the stove. This recipe makes a lot, so it’s perfect for feeding a big family, sharing with others, or eating the leftovers for lunch the rest of the week. Enjoy!
Ingredients in One-Pot Goulash
This delicious one-pot meal is perfect when you need an easy recipe for those busy, on-the-go nights. The ingredients are simple, and you probably have most of them already at home and ready to go! See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact measurements.
- Ground Beef: I like to use lean ground beef in this recipe.
- Onion: Dice up your onion into small, similar sized pieces.
- Garlic Cloves: If you don’t have fresh garlic cloves on hand then you can use minced garlic. 1/2 teaspoon equals about 1 clove of garlic.
- Water: The water is used as a base to cook the pasta noodles in.
- Beef Base (or bouillon): The beef boullion just ups the beef flavor and adds to the overall taste.
- Tomato Sauce: The tomato sauce will mix everything together.
- Diced Tomatoes: Canned diced tomatoes are easy and work perfect for this sauce.
- Bay Leaves: These add in that classic, deep flavoring to the overall dish.
- Soy Sauce: My favorite one to use is this soy sauce.
- Seasoned Salt: This adds to and enhances the flavors in the goulash.
- Italian Seasoning: You can use store bought or you can make this homemade Italian Seasoning and always have some on hand!
- Paprika: This sweet spices adds in a lot of flavor.
- Black Pepper: The pepper will only add in some seasoning, there isn’t enough for any heat.
- Elbow Macaroni Noodles: The best part about these is that you pour them in uncooked! No worrying about getting these ready beforehand.
- Cheddar Cheese: Freshly shredded cheddar from a block will melt in the sauce better.
- Fresh Parsley: This is used as a garnish for the finished recipe!
Let’s Make Some Dinner!
This American goulash is packed to the brim with beef, noodles, and cheese. The flavors are incredible, and my mouth waters just thinking about it!
- Brown the Meat: Brown ground beef in a large stock pot. Remove from pan and drain. Leave about 1-2 tablespoons grease in pan. Add the diced onion and then cook for about 5 minutes over medium heat until tender. Add the garlic and cook another minute.
- Simmer: Return ground beef to pot along with the water, beef base, cans of tomatoes and sauce, soy sauce, bay leaves, seasoned salt, Italian seasoning, paprika, and black pepper. Then, stir together, bring to a boil, cover, reduce to low and let simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add (uncooked) Noodles: Stir in the noodles then cover, and simmer 15-20 minutes or until al dente. Stir occasionally to prevent noodles from sticking to the bottom.
- Mix in Cheese: Just before serving, stir in the cheese. Serve garnished with fresh parsley.
What’s the Difference Between Hungarian Goulash and American Goulash?
Hungarian goulash is a thick stew filled with meat and vegetables. It sometimes has dumplings or potatoes in it rather than pasta. The classic sample ingredient in traditional Hungarian goulash is paprika. American goulash doesn’t have any extra vegetables (aside from the tomato-based sauce), and it has macaroni noodles and cheese. American goulash also goes by the name “American chop suey.”
Can You Freeze American Goulash?
YES! This is a fantastic meal to make ahead of time! Here is how you can freeze it after it’s been cooked and reheat it later!
- Freeze: Once your goulash has cooled then you can place it in a casserole dish and cover it with a double layer of foil. Or, you can put it in a ziplock bag and lay it flat in your freezer. Make sure to label your container with the date! American goulash can stay frozen for up to 3 months.
- Reheat: When you are ready to eat your goulash, take it out of your freezer and thaw it in your fridge overnight. Heat it up on the stove on medium heat until it is warm throughout! Enjoy!
How to Store Leftovers
This goulash recipe makes a lot so it’s likely that you will have leftovers! This makes a fantastic lunch or dinner the next day!
- In the Fridge: Place your cooled goulash in an airtight container and put it in your fridge. Leftover goulash can last 3-4 days in the refrigerator.
- Reheat: You can heat this back up on the stove on medium heat until it’s warmed through. Or, you can warm it up in the microwave. Cook it for 1-2 minutes on high and stir. Continue this until its warmed up!
What to Serve with Goulash
Goulash is a hearty dish that lends itself to just about every side out there! It’s easy to add things to this meal that your entire family will love! I like to add in some rolls or breadsticks, and a couple of veggies and maybe even a salad. I’ve gathered a few recipes that I have served with this before!
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American Goulash
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 large onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 3 cups water
- 1 tablespoon beef base or bouillon
- 2 (15 ounce cans) tomato sauce
- 2 (15 ounce cans) ddiced tomatoes (one petite diced)
- 3 bay leaves
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Seasoned salt
- 2 tablespoons Italian Seasoning
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups elbow macaroni noodles uncooked
- 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded
- Fresh Italian parsley chopped
Instructions
- Return ground beef to pot along with the water, beef base, cans of tomatoes and sauce, soy sauce, bay leaves, seasoned salt, Italian seasoning, paprika, and black pepper. Stir together, bring to a boil, cover, reduce to low, and let simmer for 20 minutes.
- Stir in the noodles, cover, and simmer 15-20 minutes or until al dente. Stir occasionally to prevent noodles from sticking to the bottom.
- Just before serving, stir in the cheese. Serve garnished with fresh parsley.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
EXCELLENT! Great tasting dish and pretty quick to prepare. I couldn’t find elbow macaroni at grocery store but used a small tubular pasta and it still came out awesome! Keeping this one!
So good! Very flavorful and easy to make.
I added mushrooms into mine as well. 🙂
I also cook my noodles separately because if not the starch from the noodles are too much. Plus I don’t like the taste of it if it’s not cooked separately.
My 2 brother in laws love it, so I make sure that I cook it once a month and take them each a huge container of it.
One eats it with the meat and the other brother in law eats it with the meat
I actually cooked some goulash a couple of days ago. In America it’s called spaghetti
because of the meat, stewed tomatoes, onions and noodles without a few of the ingredients is the reason it’s called spaghetti.
😛😝😜😂
In American
heartland, it’s spaghetti if it has spaghetti…… noodles, elbow or other, it’s goulash!
My mom made this growing up and I’ve made it on regular rotation for the last 25 years. It’s so great and my kids love it. My parents called it Slumgulion – not sure where that name came from, but when I tell people American goulash – they know what I’m talking about – LOL
That’s what my mom called it too. This recipe is similar to hers, but I don’t remember her using too much tomato sauce or any broth. She used canned whole tomatoes(which had a good amount of juice) and she broke them up with a spoon. She also added green peppers, more cheese, and cooked the pasta separate, stirring it in during the last few minutes to heat through. Even as kids, we didn’t like mushy pasta. I still can’t eat it.
We made it just as the recipe says except we used beef broth instead of water, we used our own preserved tomatoes from the cold room for the sauce, and a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes. It was awesome, we did manage to over cook the pasta a bit, but it was very yummy, only the wife and I eating it here so we had to freeze some and use it up later, it thawed well and was enjoyed again. Might be an idea to turn off the heat a few minutes early, the volume of material and heat mass will finish the pasta.
Thanks
One of my go to suppers. My Mom called it “Slum-gooey” and we still call it that today ! Only difference is I add chopped green pepper to the onion to sauté. Gives it a little kick and crunch and color. Also, have used all different pasta, but always cooked the pasta separate. Serve with a side salad and a hunk of bread. Definitely will fill your family’ bellies !
Very good recipe, and easy to make your own! I used Worcestershire sauce in place of the soy sauce, then added some crushed red pepper to spice it up! I also seasoned the meat while it was cooking with salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder. We also used mozzarella instead of cheddar. With a dish like this, you almost can’t go wrong with small variations!
Quick question though- for the nutritional information, what would you say is a serving size? Maybe 1 cup?
Yes, about 1 cup. The nutritional information is just a guide.
I’ve made this a few times & it’s absolutely delicious & so easy to make. Last time I made it I added a can of red kidney beans & that was delicious too.
This is exactly how I remember my mom making it when I was a kid. I’m definitely making this one!
This was great. Only changes I made, was since I was cooking for 2 I halved the recipe & reduced the amount of salt. This definitely on old timey recipe.
It’s even better if you use homegrown canned tomatoes!
Absolutely delicious. I made it the first time this evening and everyone loved it to include the neighbors. Only thing I did differently was to cook the noodles separately and I didn’t add the water. Also, I added kidney beans and peas and made for a delicious meal.
Make this, cooking the pasta separately, but my family always called it American Chopped Suey. no idea why. I love your method of cooking the pasta with everything else. I’ll try that next time.
Wonderful recipe, but 1 tablespoon of seasoned salt is WAY TOO MUCH! It over-powered the entire dish. I’m revising it for next time to ½ – 1 tsp seasoned salt, and providing some at the table so if anyone wants more they can add it themselves. A great lesson learned: you can always add, but you can never take away.
Pamela. If u ever over salt again, add a raw peeled potato and let it cook. It will absorb a lot of the salt!!
HAGD❤️
Cathy