Goulash was a popular school lunchroom meal and home kitchen meal back in my day. Ground beef was cheap, very cheap. So we ate a lot of it.
One day in 5th grade, a classmate innocently mentioned something about eating goulash and how much he liked it. Unknowingly, he struck a nerve with the substitute teacher who felt compelled to hammer into our little 10-year-old brains the difference between American Goulash and Hungarian Goulash. Perhaps she was of Hungarian heritage. Perhaps she had just learned about both versions and longed for a chance to share her knowledge. Whatever the reason, she seemed to drone on and on. As you might imagine, the subject matter wasn’t considered riveting by those of us who were still awake to hear the entire diatribe.
Fast forward 48 years. The substitute teacher’s speech still rings in my ears. Let me make this perfectly clear. The version I’m sharing with you today is American Goulash and doesn’t resemble, imitate, mock or replace Hungarian Goulash.
Dear Mrs. Whachamacallit,
I listened to you.
Love,
Jackie
Y’all come see us!
American Goulash – Syrup and Biscuits
American Goulash
yield: 10 to 12 servings
A one pot meal that’s easy to put together and is great as leftovers.
I substituted a gluten-free pasta for wheat pasta and had good results. If you want this dish totally gluten-free, read the label of your soy sauce. Most of it contains wheat, however, gluten-free soy sauce is available. The acidity of tomatoes in sauce tastes somewhat bitter. To offset, I included a tablespoon of sugar.
2 large sweet onions, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 pounds ground beef (85/15)
2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced or crushed tomatoes (I used crushed because I had it on hand)
2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
2 cups water
1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon seasoned salt (I used Morton Season-All)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire
1 tablespoon sugar
2 cups macaroni pasta, dry (I used a gluten- free corn elbow pasta. Wheat flour elbow pasta can be substituted.)
Add onions, garlic and ground beef to a large soup pot. Stir and cook until all the pink is gone from the meat and the onions are tender and translucent.
Add next 8 ingredients. Stir well.
Cover and let sauce simmer 30 minutes.
Add macaroni pasta. Cook until pasta is done.
Taste for seasoning and adjust.
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American Goulash
Ingredients
- American Goulash
- yield: 10 to 12 servings
- A one pot meal that’s easy to put together and is great as leftovers.
- I substituted a gluten-free pasta for wheat pasta and had good results. If you want this dish totally gluten-free read the label of your soy sauce. Most of it contains wheat, however, gluten-free soy sauce is available. The acidity of tomatoes in sauce tastes somewhat bitter. To offset, I included a tablespoon of sugar.
- 2 large sweet onions diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 pounds ground beef 85/15
- 2 14.5 ounce cans diced or crushed tomatoes (I used crushed because I had it on hand)
- 2 15 ounce cans tomato sauce
- 2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1 tablespoon seasoned salt I used Morton Season-All
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 cups macaroni pasta dry (I used a gluten- free corn elbow pasta. Wheat flour elbow pasta can be substituted.)
Instructions
- Add onions, garlic and ground beef to a large soup pot. Stir and cook until all the pink is gone from the meat and the onions are tender and translucent.
- Add next 8 ingredients. Stir well.
- Cover and let sauce simmer 30 minutes.
- Add macaroni pasta. Cook until pasta is done.
- Taste for seasoning and adjust.
Mike says
That’s too funny! We used to eat a lot of “American goulash” when I was a kid, too, both at home and at school…and I loved it. In fact, earlier today I was thinking about it and thought about dipping into my “iron rations” and opening up a can of Beefaroni – not the same thing, of course, but at least a pale imitation. (I’m a old bachelor, just to explain having something like that in my pantry)
I read a LOT of recipe blogs (enjoy yours, BTW, subscribe in my reader) and outside of the chili= beans/no beans arguments, what constitutes goulash is probably one of the next highly & hotly debated recipes I’ve seen. “American goulash” is what I will call it from now on!
Jackie Garvin says
Mike,
There’s a lot of discussion about the use of bell peppers in American Goulash. Some people consider it almost treasonous to even consider it. We do have definite ideas about foods! Thanks for reading, Mike.
heyjude195430Jude says
We had this when I was growing up as well. It was one of my favorite meals. My Mother also made a version with stew beef that was delicious. Since we lived in a rural area where all the relatives shared in communal gardens, we ate mostly vegetables. Goulash was a nice treat for us.
Jackie Garvin says
Jude,
Nothing than better than fresh picked vegetables. We still have lots of vegetable only meals at my house. As long as I have peas in my freezer, we’ll eat peas, okra and cornbread about once a week.
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef says
I used to love this at school. I don’t think I’ve had it since. 🙂
Jackie Garvin says
Maureen,
It’s still good! 🙂
Martha says
My mom called this Homemade Hamburger Helper. I was an adult before I heard it referred to as goulash. But by whatever name it’s still one of my favorite meals.
Jackie Garvin says
It really is a Hamburger Helper sort of a dish. Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
Cynthia Rose says
Love American goulash. My Mother also was Hungarian. So when we had this it was a real treat. Thank-you so very much for this recipe. 🙂
Jackie Garvin says
Cynthia,
God bless your mother’s Hungarian heart for being kind enough to even try American Goulash.
omniista says
I just wanted to share that my daughter and I are on the HCG diet and on phase 3 (rest/maintenance period) and my daughter is craving some comfort food. She loves pasta and all we can have is shirataki noodles, so I am making this with shirataki ziti noodles, stevia for the sweetener and liquid aminos instead of soy sauce. The Italian dressing mix subbed out for Italian seasoning too (sugar in that). I just wanted to say there are options for others if need be. Thanks!
Jackie Garvin says
There’s lots of modifications for specific diets that are easily made with this recipe. The Italian seasoning that I use has no sugar. It’s simply dried herbs.
Carolyn Slover says
My mom made this a lot and I still love it but she made it simple. Hamburger, onion, salt, pepper, macaroni, tomatoes, sugar and butter, it is so good but you have to use enough butter and sugar. Yum
Jackie Garvin says
Mom’s is always the best!
Cheryl says
We had “goulash” when we were growing up, but in our Mom’s version we had potatoes rather than macaroni…
Jackie Garvin says
Cheryl,
Potatoes would be a great option for people who are sensitive to wheat flour, also. I’m going to remember that if someone contacts me for a gluten free variety. Thanks for sharing!
Taryn says
Do you think this could be made in a crockpot if the meat etc is browned first…thoughts? If so any thoughts on time in crockpot and when to add the noodles?
Jackie Garvin says
Taryn,
I haven’t made this in the crockpot so I can’t give you a lot of guidance except to say that the ground beef probably should be browned first. As far as when to add pasta, you might have good luck googling other crockpot recipes that call for a similar size pasta and see how long they require it to be cooked.
Emily says
Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe! I featured it in a recent blog post about goulash recipes: http://www.recipechatter.com/gratifying-goulash-recipes-every-taste/
Jackie Garvin says
Emily,
Thank you muchly!
Merry Christmas!
Rhonda says
This was one of my school meal that I loved in try to make in it just did not taste like it did at school so I,m going to try this one in see what happens
Jackie Garvin says
I hope you enjoy, Rhonda!
LindY G Sherrod says
Hello Jackie, for some reason I’m not getting your eletters, so I resubscribed. I love Goulash any kind, at least the ones I’ve tried.
Hope you’re enjoying mountain-life.
LindY
Jackie Garvin says
Hi Southern Sistah! Moving set me back a little bit…..ok, a lot. I’m back in the saddle again and a newsletter is publishing tomorrow.
Happy Thanksgiving!
PS…We absolutely love the mountains. We’re so grateful.