14: Recipe | German Goulash

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I mentioned last week that I had cooked German Goulash. It’s nothing like the Amerian Goulash (which I think is most commonly made with ground beef) but more like a beef stew that is slow-simmered in broth with onions, carrots, celery, tomato paste, and paprika. The meat needs to be cooked for a couple of hours so that it’s buttery-soft at the end. Technically, you can buy stew meat for this meal, but my experience is that stew meat can be a mix of “leftover” beef pieces and these don’t cook evenly. I prefer buying a piece of chuck roast and cutting it up in cubes myself. The broth and simmered vegetables are then made into a rich gravy.

In my family, goulash is usually served with either boiled or mashed potatoes and sauerkraut or some other type of vegetable. I also know that lots of people make goulash with Spätzle or egg noodles. You can’t really go wrong with any of these variations, IMHO.

You need a little time for this dish (so I usually cook it on weekends), but it’s not very labor-intensive and pretty easy over all.

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs chuck roast
• 1 small onion
• 1 carrot
• 2 stalks of celery
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• pepper, salt
• paprika
• 32 oz beef (or vegetable) broth
• Browning Sauce ( or Worcestershire Sauce, if you don’t have Browning Sauce)
• 1 tbsps flour / 2 tbsps water

Instructions

1. Chop the onion, carrot, and celery and quickly process in a food blender, so that the pieces are fairly small.
2. Sear the meat in a big pot until it’s browned from all sides. (I use a Dutch Oven.)
3. Add 1 tbsps of tomato paste. Season with pepper, salt, and paprika.
4.  Pour in the beef broth. (You can add another 16 oz of water, if needed. The meat should be covered.)
5. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 1.5-2 hours on low heat with a closed lid.
6. When the meat is done (it should be buttery soft), add a little bit of browning sauce (1 tbsp) and thicken the broth with a mixture of flour and water (I mix it separately in a mug and then slowly pour it into the simmering broth. It will slowly thicken into a rich gravy.)
7. Serve with mashed potatoes or noodles, and a side of your favorite vegetables. Or, I recommed trying it with Sauerkraut. It’s goes quite well together.

I hope you make this sometime this winter. It’s comfort food at its best.