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Hungarian Goulash
Hungary’s national dish, goulash—or gulyás in Hungarian—has countless variations. Some are soupy; others thick and meaty. Our version takes inspiration from Tibor Rosenstein, chef/owner of Rosenstein restaurant in Budapest, whose unique method makes for a deeply flavorful stew. He incorporates the cooking liquid and spices in stages, allowing them to reduce between additions and concentrate into a complex, velvety sauce. Root vegetables are a must; their sweet notes balance all the beefy richness. We opted for celery root—also known as celeriac—which has a parsnip-like texture and earthy, celery-like flavor. As is the case with many Hungarian dishes, paprika—both hot and sweet—is a key seasoning; be sure the paprika you use for this is fresh, fragrant and vibrant in color. Hungarian red pepper paste, usually made with sweet and spicy peppers, plus acetic acid, also is essential. We approximate this by pureeing a few easy-to-source ingredients.
4 to 6
Servings
Tip
Don’t cook the stew too gently. And don’t cover it during simmering. The pot is uncovered for the entire time, allowing the liquid to reduce as the meat becomes tender and the flavors concentrate to create a rich and complex dish.
2¾ hours
1 hour active
Ingredients
-
½
cup drained jarred roasted red peppers
-
1
tablespoon lemon juice
Directions
-
01In a blender, combine the roasted peppers, lemon juice, sugar, hot paprika and ½ teaspoon salt. Puree, scraping the blender jar as needed, until smooth, about 30 seconds; set aside.
Reviews
January 31, 2026
Wow!
This was absolutely delicious. I made the dish exactly as written in the recipe. The broth is rich and layered. Amazing.
December 17, 2024
Killed it!
I made a small mod to this dish and used a flat iron. The result was the beef became tender much quicker than chuck which meant the pots were added before the final stage of extra water. The second mod I had to make was adding a touch of cayenne because I only had sweet and smoked paprika. Use the smoked paprika softly unless that’s the flavor profile you’re looking for. Regardless it came out beautiful, robust and perfect for winter.
January 27, 2024
Delicious!
We made this mostly as written, but used bell peppers and added carrots with the potatoes. It was our first time not browning meat for a braise, and it was a huge success! The sauce was rich and silky, gorgeously dark brown (from the paprika?). As others noted, this was pretty much hands-off after the initial effort. Will definitely make this one again.
January 26, 2024
Following up
I'm embarrassed I complained about tough beef when it had nothing to do with the recipe. It was simply a matter of not using a certain kind of 100% grass-fed beef. I recommend for all stews (and long-cooking cuts like brisket) beef that is grass-fed but FINISHED on grain. The texture of the beef the second time I made this was succulent at the suggested cooking time. The flavor was phenomenal. Again I smoked and peeled my own red pepper, which is really fun if you have the equipment, and I used Penzy's Hungarian sweet paprika as well as a half-sharp paprika blend. Everything worked perfectly and the dish was even better the next day--although not better enough to suggest you put off eating (and inhaling the paprika aroma of) the dish on day one.
January 6, 2024
Spectacular...
This is worth the time. I made the extra effort and roasted my own red peppers (using a Turkish stovetop device I bought from Milk Street) and the flavors were amazingly vivid. The timing was tricky, though. After three hours, my beef was still a little tough. The problem might have been that I used 100% grade-fed beef, which (for all the environmental benefits) tends to be drier and tougher. Even with a 4 hour cook I disliked the texture. Next time I'm going to use fattier chuck that's at least finished with corn... Noodles would be a wonderful accompaniment or a sourdough loaf.
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