American Goulash: A hearty, comforting, and easy pasta and beef dish. Simmer beef, peppers, and onions in a tomato sauce, then toss with pasta and cheese for a savory meal ready in 40 minutes!
Pair Goulash with some veggies! These Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Roasted Broccoli, or Italian Salad all make great side dishes.
American Goulash
American Goulash, also known as slumgullion, is a super easy and comforting dish made with ground beef, elbow macaroni, and onions in a tasty tomato sauce. In the Midwest, it’s just called “goulash.” Don’t mix it up with Hungarian Goulash, which uses stew meat and is served over homemade dumplings.
Most recipes throw everything into one pot, but I like to do it a bit differently for a few reasons. One, it’s easy to overcook the pasta, making the whole thing too starchy. Two, leftovers get mushy as the pasta soaks up too much liquid. Lastly, it doesn’t really save much time.
So, in this recipe, we cook the pasta separately for the best Goulash experience. It’s simple, delicious, and a perfect comfort food!
Quick Tip
Elbow macaroni is the traditional pasta for American Goulash. If you’d like to experiment with different pasta shapes, opt for varieties that are thick and relatively small, such as small shells, ziti, or penne – they all work well.
Goulash Ingredients
- Ground Beef: Using lean ground beef saves you time by eliminating the need to drain excess oil. Ground turkey works well too..
- Elbow Macaroni: In a pinch any other small pasta will work here.
- Veggies: You can use a yellow or white onion and any color pepper here.
- Seasonings: The seasonings in this goulash recipe provide a balanced blend of savory, smoky, and mildly spicy flavors.
- Tomato Base: The crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce provide a rich tomato flavor and create a saucy consistency. Combined, they make a delicious sauce for the pasta and beef.
- Cheese: If possible shred your own cheese to avoid the pre shredded coating that can make the dish a little waxy.
Variations
Recipe Variations
- Cheese: Mix mozzarella and cheddar for a cheesier option. Lactose intolerant? Enjoy without cheese!
- Extra Veggies: Enhance with frozen corn, carrots, or mushrooms. Add spinach at the end.
- Beans: Transform into chili mac with chili or kidney beans.
- Fresh Herbs: Sprinkle diced Italian parsley for a burst of freshness and color.
How To Make Goulash
- Prep: Chop onion, garlic, and red pepper.
- Cook Veggies: Sauté onion, red pepper, and garlic in olive oil until tender.
- Cook Beef: Brown beef, drain, and add spices.
- Tomatoes: Mix in tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, bouillon, Worcestershire sauce, and bay leaves. Simmer.
- Macaroni: Boil and cook macaroni, then drain.
- Finish: Stir Cheddar cheese into the meat mixture. Add macaroni if serving immediately, or store separately for leftovers. Adjust seasonings. Enjoy!
American Goulash FAQs
Can You Freeze American Goulash?
To freeze, cool the meat sauce, then store it in a labeled, airtight container and freeze. Avoid freezing with noodles to prevent mushiness. For serving, thaw in the fridge overnight and reheat gently on the stovetop, adding water or tomato sauce if needed.
How Long Does It Take To Make Goulash?
This recipe is efficiently prepared and requires a total of 40 minutes.
Goulash Recipe Tips
- Good tomatoes make all the difference in this recipe. I recommend San Marzano® or Muir Glen® fire-roasted. Alternatively, swap tomato sauce with 15 oz Rao’s® marinara for richer flavor.
- Grate the cheese freshly. Pre-grated cheese contains a cellulose coating to prevent clumping and does not melt as smoothly.
- Generously salt the pasta water. While we don’t add salt directly to the Goulash due to its salty ingredients, it’s important to season the water in which the macaroni cooks. (Read about how to properly salt your pasta water here.)
- Sauté seasonings with meat and veggies before adding tomatoes; it intensifies flavors. Don’t skip this step.
- If you have extra time, allow the meat sauce to simmer for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally. While totally optional, it does intensify the flavors and result in a richer and deeply savory sauce.
More Ground Beef Recipes:
- Beef Tacos best beef taco mixture
- Taco Pasta in one skillet
- Beef Lettuce Wraps with coconut rice
- Taco Lasagna with pasta
- Egg Roll in a Bowl keto friendly!
American Goulash
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup diced yellow onion 1 onion
- 1 cup diced red pepper 1 pepper
- 1 tablespoon finely minced garlic 3–4 cloves
- 1 pound lean ground beef 93/7
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- Salt and pepper
- 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 2 (14.5-ounce) cans fire-roasted crushed tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons beef bouillon powder
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup freshly shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
- 3 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
Instructions
- Finely dice the onion and red pepper, and mince the garlic.
- In a large, cast-iron pot, heat olive oil over medium-high. Once shimmering, add finely diced onion, red pepper, and minced garlic. Sauté until tender, adjusting heat if needed. Simultaneously, bring a separate pot of water to boil on high heat.
- Turn heat to high and push veggies aside in the pot. Add beef to the middle, letting each side sear for 30 seconds. Crumble and cook until no pink remains, then drain excess grease. Reduce heat to medium. Mix in tomato paste, Italian seasoning, paprika, chili powder, garlic and onion powders, and season with pepper to taste. Stir until spices release their aroma, about 1–2 minutes.
- Pour in the tomato sauce, scraping the pot’s bottom for any browned bits. Mix in fire-roasted crushed tomatoes. Add beef bouillon cubes, Worcestershire sauce, and bay leaves; stir gently. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low, partially covering the pot. Simmer until fragrant and tender, ideally 30–45 minutes for a richer sauce or until pasta is cooked. While simmering, shred the cheese.
- Once the water boils, season with salt (roughly 3/4 tablespoon). Add macaroni and cook as per package instructions. Drain when done.
- Off the heat, mix in the Cheddar until melted. If eating immediately, combine meat mixture with cooked macaroni. For leftovers, add macaroni to bowls and top with meat mixture to prevent noodles from bloating in storage. Adjust seasoning to taste, and enjoy!
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hi Chelsea,
I am wanting to make a big pot of American goulash and your recipe looks wonderful. I have a large bag of red and white quinoa macaroni that I would like to use in place of the elbow macaroni. Mainly because I think it will hold up much better. Anyway, I would love to get your thoughts on that.
Thank you,
Polly
Hey Polly! I’m excited for you to try this! If you add the macaroni pre-cooked into the Goulash you should be good to use any macaroni! Hope this helps! Thanks!
Wow! So I’m surprised at the disrespectful people who don’t know how to read and aren’t grateful for the time and effort people like you put into hosting a website, cooking and testing, writing and posting, moderating and then offer it all for free!
This recipe was delicious (!!!) and in fact, when I search for a recipe and I see your site, I’m on it! The only thing I did to this American Goulash recipe is add carrots, celery and a serrano pepper cuz we like it spicy around here. This is a saved recipe and on the rotation! Thanks Chelsea!
Your comment truly made my day! Thanks so much for taking the time to write that and appreciating the hard work that goes into this! So thrilled you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks so much Sandee!
Made this tonight. Very good, better than my usual bland goulash. The red peppers made a big difference, along with the addition of worcestershire. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the cheese (I usually don’t use) & chili powder or paste. I added the tomato sauce & big can diced tomatoes. It still was very tasty. Next time I’m adding cheese, paste & fire roasted tomatoes.
Delish! I am so thrilled you enjoyed! 🙂