Traditional Hungarian Goulash - Gulyás (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between Hungarian goulash and regular goulash? ›

Hungarian Goulash is a thick meat and vegetable stew with a broth that's heavily seasoned with paprika, while American Goulash is a quick dish made from ground beef, tomato sauce, herbs, and elbow macaroni noodles. It also goes by the name of American Chop Suey.

In present-day Hungary, Gulyas can be made as a soup (Gulyásleves) or, perhaps less commonly, as a stew (bográcsgulyás). The basic ingredients include onions, peppers, tomatoes, meat, paprika, caraway seeds, potatoes, and homemade noodles (csipetke).

The classic “kettle goulash” is prepared by frying cubes of beef or mutton with onions in lard. Garlic, caraway seeds, tomatoes, green peppers, and potatoes complete the stew. Székely gulyás, another Hungarian specialty, is a stew of pork and sauerkraut flavoured with tomatoes, onions, caraway seeds, and sour cream.

Hungarian goulash is very similar to beef stew, but there are some differences. While a typical stew consists of slow braising chunks of meat with root vegetables in a seasoned broth, goulash uses spices such as caraway, cumin, paprika, and peppers which really enhance and alter the flavor from a classic beef stew.

Sides to serve with Hungarian Goulash

Since your meal already consists of a truly fantastic, hearty bowl of amazing flavor, sides can be minimal. Go with a big green salad and crusty bread or rye bread.

Is beef stroganoff the same as goulash? No, because stroganoff is a thick pasta dish where one of the main ingredients is some type of pasta noddle, whereas goulash is more of a stew without noodles but lots of potatoes and different spices.

Hungary's most famous food, the goulash, is a crimson-hued beef soup laced with vegetables and imparting the sweet-sharp flavor of fresh paprika.

The Hungarian word for this delicious dish is gulyáshús, from gulyás, "herdsman," and hús, "meat." Historically, goulash was a stew cooked by shepherds using lamb or beef. The paprika came later, but today it's a vital part of an authentic goulash.

There are two kinds of goulash: Hungarian goulash, which calls for the slow-simmered beef to be served alongside egg noodles, and American goulash, which pulls in ground beef and cooks the noodles in the pot alongside the sauce.

American goulash, sometimes called slumgullion, is an American comfort food dish, similar to American chop suey.

What is the national soup of Hungary? ›

Goulash (Hungarian: gulyás), is a soup of meat and vegetables seasoned with paprika and other spices. Goulash came from Hungary and is commonly eaten in Central Europe and other parts of Europe. It is one of the national dishes of Hungary and a symbol of the country.

Once a lowly dish for herdsmen and peasants, goulash rose to fame thanks to the Habsburg Empire and Hungarian immigration abroad. A recipe follows the end of this article. No Hungarian food is more well-known than the goulash.

Both paprikash and goulash are paprika-based stews, but goulash is made with beef and vegetables, while paprikash is most typically made with chicken. Recipes vary, but goulash is usually not thickened with flour like paprikash is, and goulash typically isn't enriched with cream or sour cream.

Though one noticeable thing about traditional Goulash is that the broth is thinner than what you think of with stews, and it's not thickened with flour or cream. Also, it's not typically served over mash like stews, it's served in bowls like soup.

Czech goulash differs from Hungarian goulash, of course. It tends to be milder and beefier, with fewer vegetables than its Hungarian counterpart; it's sometimes made with beer, and it's always served with houskové knedlíky, the ubiquitous Czech bread dumplings, not noodles, potatoes, nor sour cream.

American goulash is more of a pasta and ground beef dish

A comfort classic in the U.S., American goulash bears little relation to its Hungarian predecessor. Chunks of beef or pork are replaced by ground meat, drowned in a tomato sauce over macaroni.

Difference Hungarian and Austrian goulash

Whereas Hungarian-style goulash like gulyás or pörkölt is often soupy and contains bell peppers or potatoes, the Viennese-style goulash only contains beef and onions.