Hungarian Beef Goulash
Hungarian Beef Goulash is NOT your mother’s goulash.
It is cubed beef chuck roast, seared and slowly stewed with onions, paprika and caraway in this rich crock pot preparation. It is a very elegant take on beef stew, and one that you could serve for any occasion.
If anyone still had their bosses come to dinner, Hungarian Beef Goulash would be the perfect meal to serve.
When my much younger baby brother graduated from college in Boston, we went to his favorite restaurant in the city, Cafe Budapest. There were a lot of us (as was usually the case), and they smartly sat us away from most of the other diners. What I still remember most is the classic style of the restaurant and the attention to detail.
And the food. Good grief, the food.
Until that time, I had no idea that goulash could be made with chunks of beef in a rich sauce instead of with ground beef and elbow macaroni. If you’re the same, you have to try this recipe.
Uh-Oh.
I’ll be the first to admit this recipe breaks one of my first rules of “crockpot-ing”: you need to sear off the meat first. (I really prefer dump it and forget it meals for the slow cooker.) But it is so worth it, and once you spend those few minutes at the beginning, it bubbles away for hours.
I usually make this on the weekend so we can enjoy the fabulous aroma as it cooks.
I start out with a chuck roast that is a bit over 3 pounds so we end up with about 3 pounds of meat to cook after trimming. Stew meat works as well, but it is usually cut too big for this: you need small chunks – 1/2″ to 3/4″. If you are using stew meat, cut it into smaller pieces.
If you are going to cut your own meat, I would strongly suggest sharpening your knife first. This electric knife sharpener (affiliate link) works great and doesn’t take up a ton of room in the cupboard. Every time I use it I think I should use it more than I do.
The longest part of this recipe (besides the time spent in the crock pot, of course) is the searing – and that’s because you really need to cook the beef in at least three batches.
If you crowd the pan, the beef steams instead of searing, defeating the purpose of this initial cooking. I use this huge cast iron skillet to sear the meat. You can use a smaller pan, but I’d recommend cooking in smaller batches.
In addition to keeping the beef spread out over the pan, you want to keep the pan on medium high to high heat. Let the beef cook a bit before stirring. If the meat sticks to the skillet, it’s not ready to be stirred yet. Season lightly with salt as you go.
Remove to the crock pot (affiliate link) when it is nicely browned.
Add the onions to the skillet after you’ve browned off all the beef. The onions will help get some of those tasty bits off the bottom of the pan. Add the paprika and garlic after the onions start to wilt a bit.
Stir everything around and let the paprika cook through before sprinkling the flour on top.
Cook the flour for a few minutes. The mixture in the pan will be pretty dry, but avoid adding more oil.
Pretty ugly, huh?
It looks a little like we’re getting ready for Halloween. Once you add the beef stock or bouillon, it will come together.
Spoon the sauce over the beef in the crock pot (affiliate link) and add the remaining spices. Mix all together and let cook on low for about 4 hours, until the beef is tender and succulent.
Top with sour cream. Traditionally, this is served with buttered, herbed potatoes. Certainly no hardship there.
Hungarian Beef Goulash
Instructions
- Cut chuck roast in small pieces - 1/2" to 3/4" cubes.
- Heat 2 cups of water with the bouillon cubes and stir to combine. I use the microwave and a glass measuring cup.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium high heat in large cast iron skillet. When oil is shimmering, add about 1/3 of beef, spreading it out over the skillet to allow room to sear. Salt and pepper lightly when beef is in skillet.
- Stir beef and allow to sear on all sides. Remove from skillet to a slow cooker sprayed with cooking spray. Repeat two more times until beef is all seared and in the slow cooker.
- Add onions to skillet and allow to cook down for 3 to 5 minutes until softened. Add smashed garlic clove and paprika and stir, combining paprika with the onions and keeping mixture moving for about 3 minutes more.
- Sprinkle flour over the onion mixture and allow to brown slightly, stirring for another few minutes.
- Pour bouillon water over onions and stir until mixture thickens.
- Pour/spoon the gravy over the beef in the crock pot and add the basil, caraway seeds and thyme. Combine well.
- Cover crock pot and cook on low heat for 3 to 4 hours. Serve with sour cream and boiled, herbed potatoes.
I’ve never been able to find any caraway seeds after this is done cooking, but the subtle flavor is there.
Oh is it there. ♥
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