Goulash

This recipe is adapted from traditional Hungarian goulash. It’s rich and immensely satisying, with delicious slow-cooked beef and savoury paprika notes in every bite.

Servings

8 Servings

PREP TIME

45 mins

COOK TIME

45 mins + 6 hours

TOTAL TIME

7.5 hours

Difficulty

Easy

Wine pairing

Shiraz, Tempranillo

Ingredients
 5 tbsp olive oil
 1 tbsp butter
 1.50 kg gravy beef
 1 large onion
 2 large potatoes
 1 red capsicum
 2 carrots
 250 g mushrooms
 5 garlic cloves
 750 ml beef stock
 400 g tinned diced tomatoes
 ½ cup tomato paste
 6 tbsp plain flour
 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
 1 tsp brown sugar
 4 tbsp paprika (see ingredient note)
 1 tsp oregano
 ¼ tsp caraway seeds
 3 bay leaves
 ¼ cup parsley
 ½ tsp chilli powder (optional)
 salt and pepper, to taste
 sour cream, for serving (optional)
Ingredients
 5 tbsp olive oil
 1 tbsp butter
 3 lbs gravy beef
 1 large onion
 2 large potatoes
 1 red capsicum
 2 carrots
 9 oz mushrooms
 5 garlic cloves
 3 cups beef stock
 14 oz tinned diced tomatoes
 ½ cup tomato paste
 6 tbsp plain flour
 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
 1 tsp brown sugar
 4 tbsp paprika (see ingredient note)
 1 tsp oregano
 ¼ tsp caraway seeds
 3 bay leaves
 ¼ cup parsley
 ½ tsp chilli powder (optional)
 salt and pepper, to taste
 sour cream, for serving (optional)
  • I use half sweet paprika and half hot paprika – I like this combo but you can experiment with the flavours you prefer. If you use all hot paprika, you may want to leave out the chilli powder.
  • Gravy beef is osso buco with the bone removed. You could also use beef chuck.
  • Use a homemade or good quality beef stock to get the best flavour.
Jump to Directions

Variations

If you don’t have a slow cooker, you can still make this in a heavy pot or dutch oven:

  • If cooking on the stove top, keep completely covered with a lid and cook over very low heat for 2-3 hours.
  • If cooking in the oven, keep completely covered with a lid and cook at 160°C / 325°F for 2.5 hours.

Directions

1

Prepare the ingredients

1. Chop the vegetables. I prefer a rustic feel for this stew, so these are my recommendations: 

  • dice the onion and capsicum
  • chop the potatoes into 2.5cm / 1 inch pieces
  • chop the carrots into thick slices, and halve or quarter these if they’re too large
  • slice or cube the mushrooms
  • crush the garlic.

2. Chop the beef into cubes, about 4cm / 1.5 inches in size.

Tip: You can do this the night before, and store everything in the fridge so it’s ready to cook the next morning.

2

Cook the ingredients

Note: If your slow cooker has a sear/saute setting, do these steps directly in the slow cooker. Otherwise you’ll need to cook the ingredients on the stove top, and then transfer them to the slow cooker later.

1. Mix together the flour, paprika, oregano, caraway seeds and a pinch of salt and pepper in a small bowl.

2. Sprinkle half of the flour mixture onto the beef and mix until the beef is coated.

3. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the slow cooker or a pot, and sear the beef in batches over medium-high heat (add more oil before each batch as needed). Remove beef to a plate once browned.

4. Deglaze the pot with the balsamic vinegar, and scrape off as many of the burnt bits as you can using a wooden spoon (leave those bits in the pan for extra flavour!).

5. Once all of the beef is browned, turn the heat to medium-low and add the butter followed by the onion, carrot, capsicum and garlic. Cook just until they have softened, then add the mushrooms and cook until they’ve softened as well.

3

Slow cook the goulash

Note: If you cooked your vegetables on the stove top, transfer them to the slow cooker now.

1. Sprinkle half of the remaining flour mixture over the vegetables, stir, then add the remaining half and stir until well combined. Everything will be quite thick and stuck together, but that’s what we want – it will thin out when cooking but it’s also going to ensure we have a thick sauce to accompany our stew.

2. Add the tomato paste, diced tomatoes, beef, potatoes, stock, bay leaves and chilli powder (if using – you can also add this last if you want to taste for heat).

3. Stir it all together and then slow cook on low heat for at least 6-8 hours. When it’s finished cooking, taste to see if you want to add more salt and pepper. You can also add some more chilli powder if you’d like it hotter.

Tip: Plan for the slow cooker to finish 30-45 minutes before you want to serve dinner. The sauce will appear thin; traditional Hungarian goulash does have a thin sauce, but this will thicken on standing (or you can reduce it further by simmering).

Serve over mashed potato, pasta, rice, polenta or spaetzle (egg noodles, pictured below) and with crusty bread to dip into that savoury sauce.

Wine pairing

A beef stew this rich commands a bold red wine. Typical choices would be a Shiraz or Tempranillo, but I love pairing this with Durif/Petite Sirah. You could also pair it with a Rioja.