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How to Make Hungarian Goulash Soup (Gulyas Soup)

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There are many, many versions of Hungarian Gulyas Soup, which is traditionally made in a kettle. This recipe is a version that I created, to capture the flavor of that soup that I experienced (many years ago) in Hungary– and recently while in Northern Italy. While I don’t cook over a kettle, I used a Dutch oven, and make this hearty soup with red and green bell peppers, potatoes, garlic, and a few other ingredients. It’s a rich and hearty soup with a nice balance of beef, tomato, paprika and a touch of caraway seeds. I served this with potato langos bread (rubbed with fresh garlic). Delicious!

There are many, many versions of Hungarian Gulyas Soup, which is traditionally made in a kettle. This recipe is a version that I created, to capture the flavor of that soup that I experienced (many years ago) in Hungary. While I don't cook over a kettle, I used a Dutch oven to make this hearty soup. It's a rich and hearty soup with a nice balance of beef, tomato, vegetables, paprika and a touch of caraway seeds.

When I was young (and naive), I took a trip to Europe with a native-speaking Hungarian.  He spoke five languages, including my mother’s native tongue (German).  We visited his family in beautiful Budapest, and I experienced some of the wonderful (and familiar) flavors of Hungary.  This was long before digital cameras were even invented, so I don’t have any photos to remember the trip by. It’s a shame, because I got to visit parts of Romania (including “Count Dracula’s Castle”) at a time when the Iron Curtain was still in force.  In other words, as a 19 year old girl, I got to experience first hand what it’s like to live in a Communist Country.  I returned home with a deeper appreciation for my American Citizenship, and I will never forget that.


Once we returned to America, Mr. Hungarian took me to a restaurant in San Francisco, called “Paprikas Fono“.  It was located at Ghirardelli Square, and we loved two of their dishes so much that I continued to make pilgrimages to the restaurant–even after the relationship ended.

Because my mother was born and raised in Bavaria–and her hometown is just a stone’s throw from Salzburg, Austria–  I could detect similarities with a commonly used spice… paprika.  One of the two dishes was a rich and flavorful “Gulyas Soup”, that was served with lángos bread, with fresh cloves of garlic rubbed all over it.  Divine. (My brother, clearly,  remembers coming with me, to find out what I raved so much about.  He ate so much lángos, that he was doubled over with a gluttonous bellyache.) 

The restaurant closed, years ago, I’m sad to say. A few months ago, a friend gave me a cookbook on Hungarian recipes.  I forgot about it, until last week.   Decades later, I found myself longing for that Gulyas soup from a past life.  I decided to make my own version, since it was so similar to one of my most viewed recipes, “Austrian Goulash“.  Instead of researching recipes, I decided to adapt my familiar recipe into a soup. So, I grabbed my camera and started to get creative. 

My favorite cut of beef for stews and soups is “Chuck Eye Roast“.  It’s economical and tender.  I seared two pounds of it, cut-up, in a few batches.

I began with two thinly sliced onion, one red and one green bell pepper.
 
 Three small Yukon Gold potatoes, cut-up, and I needed paprika (of course).
 
I can find Hungarian paprika at my local grocery store. I buy two varieties– sweet and hot.
 
Once the meat had been browned, and removed I had lots of flavor in my Dutch oven. Adding a bit more olive oil, I cooked the bell peppers until slightly tender and set those aside.  Then, I added the onion and cooked them until tender– about 4 minutes.
 
I added a couple cloves of garlic, 2 Tablespoons of tomato paste, 1 1/2 Tablespoons sweet paprika and about 2 teaspoons of hot paprika. NOTE: The reason that the tomato paste is “steaming” is that it’s frozen.  I do that with any leftover tomato paste, once I open a can. Clever, eh?
 
Next, I add the browned beef back and all of the juices and toss everything around…
 
… then I added a quart of Beef Broth.  I suppose you could use beef bouillon cubes and water, but that’s not my favorite way of making soup.   I added the bell peppers back to the soup and a 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes.
 
One tablespoon of caraway seeds, two bay leaves, and then the potatoes. I brought the soup to a simmer.
 
I decided to cut some fresh thyme, from our herb garden, tied it and tossed it in– for more flavor. The soup simmered on low for a couple of hours, allowing for all the flavors to build.
 
I realized, a bit late, that I should have added a couple tablespoons of flour to the onion, as I cooked them. That would have thickened the soup to my liking.  I’m not a fan of thin soup.  My quick fix is to take a couple tablespoons of flour (sometimes potato starch), add some water, while whisking away to prevent lumps.
 
I carefully add it to the simmering soup, while stirring. It thickens right up!
 
There it is.  An American Girl, who-once- knew-a-true-Hungarian’s version of Gulyas Soup.  I say this, because when I later researched recipes, I found that people can get rather “testy” if you don’t make it the way that their grandmother once did.  I believe I captured the flavor, as I remembered it, well.  Now, it was time for my son and husband to taste it:
 
TASTING NOTES:  This is a rich beef soup, with a lovely balance of tomato and sweet paprika. The hot paprika comes through, in a subtle way, because I didn’t add a lot of it.  If you don’t like bell peppers (which my son didn’t, and he picked them out) then leave them out.  My husband likes them, and liked the soup very much.  The beef is so tender. I wish I had cut the potatoes a little larger, but that’s just a personal preference.  
 
 
I served this with my first attempt at lángos bread.  It’s a fried bread, rubbed with fresh garlic while hot.   It was quite an experiment for me to create, and I was happy with the results.  I can see why my brother ate himself sick the first time he ate them.  They are that good, especially if you’re a garlic lover.  I’m happy to say, I wasn’t as gluttonous, tempted as I was.  For a brief moment, I was back at that restaurant in Ghirardelli Square–  but I was sharing the moment with the man I’m lucky to call “My husband”.
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Hungarian Gulyas Soup– My Way

There are many, many versions of Hungarian Gulyas Soup, which is traditionally made in a kettle. This recipe is a version that I created, to capture the flavor of that soup that I experienced (many years ago) in Hungary. While I don't cook over a kettle, I used a Dutch oven, and make this hearty soup with red and green bell peppers, potatoes, garlic, and a few other ingredients. It's a rich and hearty soup with a nice balance of beef, tomato, paprika and a touch of caraway seeds. I served this with potato langos bread (rubbed with fresh garlic). Delicious!
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 30 minutes
Course: main
Cuisine: Hungarian
Keyword: Goulash Soup, Hungarian Gulyas Soup– My Way
Servings: 6
Author: Debby – www.AFeastfortheEyes.net

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds chuck eye roast ask your butcher; otherwise, use stew cut beef
  • 2 small onions thinly sliced
  • 2 cloves fresh garlic minced
  • 1 Tablespoon sweet paprika
  • 2 tsp. hot paprika optional, if not using use all sweet paprika
  • 1 green bell pepper sliced thin; optional, see notes
  • 1 red bell pepper sliced thin; optional, see notes
  • 3 Yukon Gold Potatoes or red, cut-up
  • 2 Bay Leaves
  • 4-5 springs of fresh thyme tied with kitchen string (optional)
  • 1 quart beef stock
  • 1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
  • 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 Tablespoon caraway seeds

Instructions

  • Season the beef with salt & pepper.
  • In a Dutch Oven, add about 1 Tablespoon olive or vegetable oil and heat until shimmering and hot.
  • In batches, sear the meat until golden brown, and set aside.
  • Add another tablespoon of oil, and cook the bell peppers until just tender, 2-3 minutes. Set aside.
  • Add a little more oil, and cook the onion until just tender, scraping up the bits of brown flavor from the meat.
  • Add the garlic, and cook for about 30 seconds, reduce heat.
  • Add the tomato paste and paprika, and cook for 1-2 minutes.
  • (If you prefer a thicker soup, add about 2 Tablespoons of flour and cook with the onion).
  • Add the beef, with the juices back to the vegetables, then add the beef broth.
  • Add the canned tomatoes, caraway seeds, bay leaves. If desired, add the tied fresh thyme.
  • Bring to a simmer and let cook for at least an hour, or two.
  • Remove the thyme and bay leaves.
  • Taste and adjust with more salt, to your liking.
  • If the soup still isn’t thick enough for your liking, start with 2 Tablespoons flour, and whisk in 1/4 cup water and whisk vigorously until smooth and lump-free. Slowly add to the simmering soup, and it should thicken in a minute or two.

Notes

If you don’t like bell peppers, it’s perfectly okay to leave them out.
Tried this recipe?Mention @afeastfortheeyes or tag #afeastfortheeyesblog!
debby

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Comments

  5. bellini says

    Our travelling days of our late teens and early 20's may be done but the food memories are not forgotten….nor are our travelling days.With a cold wintry blast from the mountains today this goulash /gulyas would be the perfect solution.

    Reply

  9. Wave Watcher says

    When we lived in Germany, we ate many bowls of Goulash Zuppe. I don't recall ever seeing goulash on the menu, but almost always there was the soup. I had also adapted a goulash recipe to make soup. I loved your goulash recipe and will try this one soon. Don't recall hearing of the langos though, even when we were in Budapest.

    Reply

  11. Kathryn says

    Beautiful! I'll gladly keep this bookmarked for a lovely Gulyas-soup. I've had it in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Bavaria, and Sweden and loved it every time (even some canned versions over there are tasty), but it's been *far* too long since I've gotten to have it, so I guess it's time to make it! Thanks!
    Kathryn

    Reply

  12. Deb says

    After living in Austria my mom began making Hungarian Goulash, which she served with rice. She always kept both types of Paprika in the pantry, as do I. The soup is a new recipe for me. I can't wait to ask my mom if she remembers it! Lovely post!

    Reply

  14. Joanne says

    I love how food can trigger such intense memories….a smell or a flavor…it's the best. This soup sounds so hearty…just the thing to cure me of this winter ache!

    Reply

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