I found this recipe for Goulash on The Pioneer Woman website. I like a lot of her recipes because they are usually pretty easy to follow and good to eat. This was definitely both of those.
Goulash
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Cup Onion, chopped
- 3 cloves Garlic, chopped
- 1 1/2 lb. Ground Beef
- 1 15 oz can Beef Broth
- 1 15 oz can Tomato Sauce
- 1 15 oz can Diced Tomatoes
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 tsp Seasoned Salt
- 2 tsp Dried Italian Seasoning
- 1 Tbsp Paprika
- 1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper
- 2 Cups Elbow Macaroni
- 1 Cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese, grated
- Chopped fresh herbs, like parsley, chives or dill, optional
Instructions
- Place the oil in a large dutch oven or pot and place over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the onion and cook until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 more minute. Add the ground beef, breaking it up into little pieces with a wooden spoon, and cook until no pink remains, about 5 minutes. If a lot of liquid or fat remain in the skillet, drain most and discard.
- Add the beef broth, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, 1/2 cup water, Worcestershire sauce, seasoned salt, Italian seasoning, paprika, and ground black pepper. Stir to combine and return to a simmer.
- Add the macaroni and return the pot to a simmer once again. Reduce heat to medium low and cook for about 12 minutes, until the macaroni is tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and fold in the cheese. Stir until it is completely melted into the sauce. Serve topped with chopped herbs, if you like.
I pretty much followed her recipe to the letter and only made a couple of tweaks here and there.
1. Cook onion in oil until soften. I used garlic powder instead of fresh garlic.
2. Add the ground beef to the onion and garlic and brown. Drain off liquid. It was at this point that I realized that I had selected a skillet to cook in and it wasn’t going to be big enough. So after I cooked the meat and drained the liquid, I switched to a large pot.
3. Add next 9 ingredients: beef broth, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes (I ground these up in a blender because my family doesn’t like chunky cooked tomatoes), 1/2 cup water, Worcestershire sauce, seasoned salt, Italian seasoning, paprika and ground black pepper. Stir to combine, bring to a boil and then turn down heat to simmer. While it’s simmering, cook the macaroni.
4.Add the cooked macaroni to the mixture and simmer again. In the original recipe, it instructs you to add uncooked macaroni and let it soften with the mixture. I felt like this added more time than necessary, so I cooked the macaroni while doing the previous step.
5. Add the cheese and stir well. Top with chopped herbs (optional). I opted not to do the herbs as it freaks my boys out to have sprinkles of green things they can’t identify on top of their food.
6. Enjoy! I served it with a salad and garlic toast. It was DELICIOUS! So much so that my family has insisted I add to our cycle of recipes.
