Grandma’s goulash
Photo by Lindsey Nair l The Roanoke Times.
Nasty weather days call for belly-warming meals, such as my Grandma Nair’s goulash.
Although goulash is a Hungarian dish described in food dictionaries as a “stew,” my grandmother wasn’t Hungarian, nor did she ever claim to make Hungarian goulash. Authentic goulash is often made with stew beef and Hungarian paprika and is served over buttered noodles. Grandma’s goulash was Southern-lady goulash made with ground beef and elbow macaroni.
Nevertheless, it was delicious. So when I knew the cold air and wind were coming to hang out for a couple of days, I thought I’d try making goulash the way my grandmother did. My aunt put together a book of Grandma’s recipes for all of us for Christmas last year, but I hadn’t gotten around to making the goulash yet.
This is an extremely basic recipe, but it’s the kind of recipe that shows you how much flavor ingredients like celery and green peppers can impart. It smells like stuffed peppers while it’s cooking. I will admit that I tweaked this recipe (Grandma, if you are reading this on a computer in heaven, I want you to forgive me for tweaking your goulash recipe because it is a habit I cannot break. I also want to know why there are computers in heaven).
Anyway, I added an extra can of tomatoes, which you will NEED for additional liquid, as well as a teaspoon of Hungarian paprika. That really makes the dish. Feel free to use home-canned tomatoes and fresh mushrooms if you want to class this up a bit. I used some nice grass-fed local beef.
Grandma’s Goulash
Serves 4
1/2 box elbow macaroni
1 lb. ground beef
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 green pepper, finely chopped
2 to 3 stalks celery
2 cans (about 14 oz. each) diced tomatoes
1 small can of mushrooms
1 tsp. Hungarian paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Cook macaroni in boiling water until al dente. Drain and set aside.
2. Cook ground beef until just browned. If you used a fatty blend that released a lot of grease, drain most of that off.
3. Stir in green pepper, onion and celery and saute until vegetables start to get tender.
4. Add tomatoes, mushrooms, paprika and macaroni. Stir to combine, then cover and reduce heat to simmer. Simmer for 25 minutes.
5. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
October 30, 2012 - 6:25 AM
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Yum! I will have to give it a try.
That might not be a traditional goulash, but it looks GOOD! Quite basic to make, and just as tasty, I bet. I might have to try that this evening. Nothing like bad weather for comfort food to kick in…
Why does it look like Beef-a-roni?
I don’t know, maybe because it contains ground beef and macaroni?
I know what I’m making this week…
That’s how my mom used to make goulash too. Very tasty.
My mom makes something like this and I love it! I think you’ve just given me an idea for dinner tonight!
this is the way I was taught to make goulash but without the mushrooms and peppers and sometimes add ketchup
That’s why Lindsey writes the column!
Such an appetizing picture, Lindsey! I will be giving this a try… thanks for sharing the recipe!
I’m so happy to provide an easy meal idea. I hope you all enjoy this. I forgot to mention that Grandma put oregano in hers, but I skipped that for the Hungarian paprika. Maybe it would be good with both.
I bet that some gooey cheddar cheese would be good in this.
A long lost former girlfriend’s mother used to make a goulash like this and I’ve been looking for a recipe since. Thanks!
Yep, this is very similar, but no green peppers or celery, and sometimes mushrooms if I have them on hand. I haven’t made this in a while. Thanks for the reminder.
I always made this for my family. I did not add mushrooms or celery but added a can of drained corn. There were 4 daughters in the family. My husband always said ” I love this and you never make it ” The girls called it that stuff Mom never makes for Dad. Mine had chili powder and tomato sauce and a little ketsup.
Love goulash! Mom made it all the time when I was growing up. Really good with shredded cheese melted on top!
You say it’s a very basic recipe as though that’s a bad thing – they’re my fave! (I have two small kids and anything that is tasty, reasonably healthy and quick gets the vote in my kitchen!)
You are right, Norman, that’s never a bad thing
@Brenda, I laughed out loud at your comment because it reminds me of something my dad used to say about a meatloaf my mother made that was stuffed with ham and cheese. My sister and I were always baffled because we’d never seen Mom make that. Finally she said that she’d made it once when they were first married and that was it. I guess it left an impression on Dad! Haha!
I made this last night, omitting the green pepper (didn’t have any), and adding some tomato paste after the veggies had softened. I also added 1/2 cup of water with 1/2 tsp beef bouillon. I also added another tsp of Hungarian paprika. Very tasty on a cold night and I’ve got leftovers for lunch!
I love recipes like this, where you just throw together things you have on hand for a comforting meal.
I had leftovers for dinner last night. I usually don’t like pasta overcooked but that’s one dish where I like the macaroni very soft.
I’m making this tomorrow night…I’ll probably include cheese and leave out celery, because celery gets on my nerves because it takes 10x longer than everything else to cook through.
I usually don’t cook during the week, but last night I got a wild hair to kick out a meal and made some pork picatta accompanied by a Bittman wild-rice and winter squash risotto recipe. The share has us rolling in squash and I felt some pressure to start working through it. Anyway, to finish it off, instead of adding parmesan (which he doesn’t do), I broke up a wedge of blue cheese and melted it into the rice. It’s probably not even considered risotto after that, but it was killer.
Hi Lindsay/all,
Just wanted to add that my grandmother made similar “leftover goulash” which is fondly remembered.
Also, I had to grin when I was reading/skimming the main blog page and I initially missed the delineation between the Metro! blog and this one.
The last paragraph of the main-page portion of the blog on Metro!:
“To celebrate the anniversary, Metro! owner and executive chef Andrew Schlosser is offering nightly entree specials for $20 each. He said these specials will probably run through the end of the year. They are:”
The next thing on the page? GRANDMA’S GOULASH, complete with photograph of the dish.
My initial reaction? “Huh, that looks good, but I’m not sure I’d pay $20 a plate for it…”
Thanks for blogging!
*sigh*
Lindsey/Lindsay, oops.