The land of paprika and its "red gold"
Budapest's Central Market. From the ceiling of the vast two-story hall, bundles of red paprika hang in bright strings. Beneath them, an older woman stirs a pot brimming with a red stew. The rich smell of paprika drifts across the whole market, and passing tourists stop in their tracks. This is gulyás (goulash), the dish Hungarians say you can't talk about Hungarian cooking without, and something close to the soul of the country.
Gulyás is a soup of beef, onions and potatoes simmered in Hungarian paprika. Outside Hungary it is often described as "goulash" or "beef stew," but the real thing is not a stew. It is a soup. The Hungarian word gulyás means "herdsman," and the dish began as a plain pot cooked at camp by cattle herders on the great plain (the puszta).
Many dishes around the world called goulash, such as Germany's Gulasch, Austria's Wiener Gulasch and the Czech guláš, are said to derive from Hungarian gulyás, but they are different dishes. Just as borscht (in Japanese) differs between Ukraine and Russia, goulash looks completely different in Hungary and in its neighboring countries.
In Hungarian, "herdsman's soup." It traces back to the nomadic life of the Magyars in the 9th century and took its present form after paprika arrived in the 16th century. In Hungary it is a "soup." A stew-like dish with little liquid is called pörkölt, and one finished with sour cream is called paprikás. The quality and quantity of the paprika decide the flavor.
Ingredients (serves 4)
Paprika and spices
| Spice | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hungarian sweet paprika | 3 tbsp | Don't skimp. It is the star |
| Caraway seeds | 1 tsp | Lightly crush in a mortar. Cumin can substitute |
| Black pepper | A little | — |
| Lard (or vegetable oil) | 2 tbsp | Lard is traditional. Butter also works |
In goulash, paprika matters more than curry powder does in curry. 3 tbsp is the minimum.
Ordinary supermarket paprika powder will work, but Hungarian édes (sweet) paprika is on another level for aroma and color. Look for it at import food shops or online.
How to make csipetke (pinched dumplings)
Authentic goulash is traditionally served with small pinched dumplings called csipetke. They are nearly the same as Japanese suiton, and they add body and substance to the soup.
Ingredients
- 100 g cake flour or all-purpose flour
- 1 egg
- A pinch of salt
Method
- Put the flour, egg and salt in a bowl and knead for about 3 minutes into a dough firmer than an earlobe.
- Rest the dough for 5 minutes.
- Ten minutes before the goulash is done, pinch the dough with your fingertips into 1 cm (1/2 in) pieces and drop them into the gently bubbling pot.
- Simmer on low heat for 4–5 minutes, until the csipetke float and no floury taste remains at the center.
If dumplings feel like too much work, you can substitute:
- Dried pasta (penne or fusilli): add it at the end of the simmering and boil it in the pot
- Extra potatoes: more potatoes give a similar satisfying feel
- Bread: serve Hungarian white bread alongside and dip it in the soup
Serving and eating
Serve goulash in deep soup bowls and scatter chopped parsley on top. Rakott krumpli (in Japanese), a baked dish of layered potato, egg and sour cream, is another Hungarian home-style dish that works well the next day at lunch or as a side.
- Bread: Hungarian white bread (fehér kenyér) is the standard. A baguette can substitute
- Sour cream: put it on the table and let everyone add as much as they like. The tang sets off the sweetness of the paprika
- Pickled hot green peppers: an essential accompaniment in Hungarian cooking. If you can't find them, any tangy pickled pepper will give a similar feel
Variations
Paprikás csirke (chicken paprikash)
Use bone-in chicken thighs instead of beef and finish by stirring sour cream into the sauce. In Hungary "paprikás" often means the chicken version, and it is classically paired with small egg dumplings called nokedli. Creamier than goulash, and popular with children.
Pörkölt (the dish with less liquid)
The goulash in this article (called gulyásleves, "goulash soup," in Hungarian) is a soup, but if you reduce the potatoes and water, use more onion and simmer until little liquid is left, you get something close to pörkölt. Serve it with nokedli or boiled potatoes.
Székely goulash (with sauerkraut)
A Transylvanian variation made with pork simmered with sauerkraut. The sour cabbage contrasts with the sweetness of the paprika, and like burek (in Japanese), it shows how differently Balkan and Central European dishes can look from region to region.
Goulash pasta
Reduce the goulash sauce until thick and toss it with fusilli or penne. It makes an excellent pasta sauce, and with plenty of cheese on top it becomes a fusion of Italian and Hungarian. Chopping the pasta and stir-frying it in goulash sauce, like kottu, is an interesting combination too.
Japanese-style goulash (nikujaga-style)
"Paprika nikujaga," seasoned with 2 tbsp paprika powder, 1 tbsp mirin and 1 tbsp soy sauce. Use more potatoes and carrots and cook off most of the liquid for a nikujaga-like result. It fits naturally on a Japanese table.
Culture and history
From the Magyars' nomadic food to a dish that represents Europe
The history of goulash goes back to the nomadic life of the Magyars on the great plain (the puszta) in the 9th century. The herdsmen (gulyás) stewed dried meat and onions in a pot and carried it as portable food. This original goulash contained no paprika.
Paprika was brought to Hungary in the 16th century, during Ottoman rule. At first it was treated as an ornamental plant; it began to be used in cooking in the late 18th century, and when large-scale cultivation started around Szeged in the 19th century, goulash turned into today's "red stew." Goulash later spread across Central Europe, but while it was turned into a stew in other countries, Hungary has kept the tradition of eating it as a soup.
In Hungarian homes, the size of the pot, the cut of meat, whether potatoes go in and whether csipetke float in it all differ from household to household, and it is often made in a big pot for the weekend table. In a home kitchen, if you get two things right, beef shank and Hungarian paprika, an ordinary pot can get you quite close to the real flavor.
Paprika, Hungary's "red gold"
Hungarian paprika production centers on two cities, Szeged and Kalocsa. Every autumn, bundles of paprika are hung up to dry all over town, and the sight is an iconic seasonal scene in Hungary.
Hungarian paprika is graded into eight levels from sweet (édes) to hot (erős), and the grades are used differently depending on the dish. For goulash, use sweet (édes) as the base and add a little hot (erős) is the usual approach.
Storing and making ahead
Like zigni (in Japanese), goulash is a classic example of a dish that tastes better the next day. The paprika flavor spreads through the whole pot, and the potatoes soak up the sauce for a more unified taste.
| Storage | How long | Tips |
|---|---|---|
| Refrigerator | 2–3 days | Let it cool a little and store in an airtight container. Reheat in a pot until it boils all the way through |
| Freezer | About 1 month | Potatoes change texture when frozen, so remove them or mash them before freezing |
| Make-ahead uses | — | Can be turned into pasta sauce, risotto stock or pie filling |
Potatoes tend to turn spongy when frozen. The best approach is to mash them with a masher and melt them into the sauce before freezing, or to freeze the goulash without potatoes and add fresh potatoes when you reheat it.
Common mistakes and fixes
Because the steps are simple, how you handle the paprika changes the flavor enormously.
The paprika scorches and turns bitter
The most fatal mistake. Always add the paprika off the heat. Scorched paprika is bitter and the color goes dark. There's no fixing it afterward, so this is the one rule to follow without exception.
The flavor is flat
Most likely there isn't enough paprika. 3 tbsp is the minimum. Going up to 4 tbsp is fine if you want a stronger flavor. Also, without enough salt the sweetness of the paprika doesn't come forward, so taste as you season.
The soup is cloudy
The cause is potatoes breaking down. Use a waxy variety and add them for the last 20 minutes of simmering. Also, boiling hard clouds the soup, so the rule is slow, gentle simmering on low heat.
The beef is tough
The simmering time was too short. For shank, simmer at least 90 minutes. In a pressure cooker, 25 minutes under pressure makes it tender. As with tagine (in Japanese), low heat and patience is the rule.
Dishes to make next
- Carbonnade (in Japanese): shares ingredients and aromas with this region's cooking.
- Waterzooi (in Japanese): shares ingredients and aromas with this region's cooking.
- Pašticada (in Japanese): shares ingredients and aromas with this region's cooking.
- Kūčiukai (in Japanese): after a stew, a light baked sweet gives you another angle on an Eastern European winter table.
Frequently asked questions
Answers to the questions people ask most about goulash.
Q1. What is the difference between goulash and beef stew?
Goulash is a "soup" in which paprika is the star, and it is not thickened with flour. Beef stew is a "stew" thickened with roux or demi-glace. Hungarian goulash contains no ketchup, flour or wine. Paprika, onions, meat and water: that simplicity is the essence of it.
Q2. Which paprika powder should I buy?
Ideally Hungarian édes (sweet) paprika. Look for it at import food shops or online. Ordinary supermarket paprika powder will work too, but the impact of color and aroma is weaker.
Q3. Can I leave out the caraway seeds?
You can, but a lot of the characteristic "Hungarian" flavor is lost. If you can't find them, substitute 1 tsp cumin seeds.
Q4. Is sour cream required?
It doesn't go into the goulash itself; the Hungarian way is for each person to spoon some on at the table. The tang sets off the sweetness of the paprika. Plain yogurt can substitute. As with moussaka (in Japanese), this is a case where dairy raises the finished dish.
Q5. Can I save time with a pressure cooker?
Yes. Do the onion and paprika steps as usual, then add the meat and water and cook for 25 minutes under pressure followed by a natural release. Release the pressure before adding the potatoes and vegetables, and simmer them without the lid for 20 minutes. It's ready in about 1 hour in total.
Q6. Can I serve it with pierogi (in Japanese)?
Pierogi are Polish, so this is not a standard pairing in Hungary. But potato-and-cheese pierogi on the side make a filling menu that doubles as the starch.
Nutrition (per serving, from the 4-serving recipe)
| Nutrient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | About 440 kcal |
| Protein | About 29 g |
| Fat | About 14 g |
| Carbohydrate | About 41 g |
| Fiber | About 6 g |
| Salt equivalent | About 3.0 g |
A single dish that gives you the protein and iron of beef and the potassium of potatoes and vegetables. The figures are estimates calculated from the amounts in the ingredient table, and the salt equivalent varies greatly with how much salt you use.
Wrap-up
Goulash is a soup Hungary is proud to offer the world, built on nothing but the aroma of paprika and the sweetness of onions.
No complicated spice blends and no roux are needed. Just paprika, onions, beef and water, cooked in the right order and at the right heat, produce a surprisingly deep flavor. The one iron rule is "add the paprika off the heat." Follow that, and you can make in your own kitchen a soup that connects back to the scene of Magyar herdsmen gathered around a pot in the 9th century.
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Goulash" https://www.britannica.com/topic/goulash (accessed 22 October 2026): origin as a herdsmen's stew, when paprika was added, Székely goulash
- Wikipedia, "Goulash" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goulash (accessed 22 October 2026): origin of the name, differences from pörkölt and paprikás
- Wikipedia, "Gulyásleves" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guly%C3%A1sleves (accessed 22 October 2026): goulash as a soup
- Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Japan), Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan 2020 (Eighth Revised Edition), 2023 Supplement https://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/syokuhinseibun/mext_00001.html (accessed 22 October 2026): estimated nutrition values
