Oh my goulash, you guys. It’s not often that I use wine in my cooking because it can be pretty pricey, but something magical happens when you add red wine to beef, and it’s something that I just can not resist. Luckily I live near an Aldi store now so I can get a bottle of wine for about $5 that is not only good enough to cook with, but good enough that I’ll happily drink the rest of the bottle with my meal. This One Pot American Goulash is the ultimate comfort food with the richest, most yummiest red sauce ever, thanks to a splash of red wine. Seriously, you’ve got to try this one.
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Do I Need Red Wine in my Goulash?
If you want this dish to be as scrumptious as humanly possible, yes. But if you can’t use red wine, you can substitute beef broth in its place. You’ll still have a pretty rockin’ red sauce, but it just won’t be like “make me weak in the knees” good.
Where’s the Paprika?
This is American Goulash, which is basically just beef, macaroni, and red sauce. It’s totally different than Hungarian Goulash. So if you’re looking for chunks of beef that have been slow simmered in a delicious paprika sauce, this is not it. This is just straight up American comfort food.
Can You Freeze Goulash?
Yes! This One Pot American Goulash recipe is very freezer-friendly. Just make sure to cool the goulash completely in the refrigerator first, then transfer to the freezer for long term storage. I suggest freezing goulash for three months maximum. And remember, label and date everything that goes in your freezer!
What Do You Eat with Goulash?
I would consider this a “one pot meal” which means this one dish covers everything you need in a meal: carbs, proteins, and vegetables. If anything you might want some crusty bread to sop up that delicious gravy, or maybe a green salad on the side for extra vegetables.
Can I Add Cheese?
Yes! A common twist on this recipe is American Goulash with cheese. I would choose medium or sharp cheddar, and simply sprinkle it over top of each bowl, or stir it into the pot to give an overall cheesy flavor, similar to my Cheesy Vegetarian Chili Mac.
What Kind of Pot Should I Use?
Any large, heavy duty soup pot will work well for this recipe. For “one pot pastas” you really need cookware that is thick and heavy, so the contents heat evenly. Thin cookware will create hot spots and cold spots, and cause the pasta to cook unevenly. I used an enamel coated cast iron Dutch Oven, which can be found in my Amazon Shop.
Want more One Pot answers to dinner? Check out our archive of over 50 One Pot Meals!
Easy American Goulash
Servings 6 About 1.5 cups eachIngredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.32)
- 4 cloves garlic ($0.32)
- 2 bell peppers ($1.58)
- 1 lb ground beef ($5.29)
- 1/2 cup red wine* ($0.72)
- 1 28oz. can diced tomatoes ($0.89)
- 1 15oz. can tomato sauce ($0.59)
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce ($0.12)
- 2 whole bay leaves (optional) ($0.30)
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp dried basil ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper ($0.02)
- 1/2 cup water ($0.00)
- 2 cups elbow macaroni (about 1/2 lb.) ($0.50)
- salt to taste ($0.05)
Instructions
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Sauté both in a large soup pot with the olive oil over medium heat until the onions are translucent. While the onion and garlic are sautéing, dice the bell peppers, then add them to the pot and continue to sauté for about two minutes more.
- Add the ground beef to the pot with the vegetables and continue to sauté over medium until the beef is cooked through. Add the red wine to the pot and stir to dissolve any browned bits off the bottom of the pot.
- Add the diced tomatoes (with juices), tomato sauce, soy sauce, bay leaves, oregano, basil, crushed red pepper, and water to the pot. Stir to combine, place a lid on the pot, and allow it to come up to a boil. Once boiling, turn it down to low, and let the sauce simmer for 30 minutes with the lid on, stirring occasionally.
- After the sauce has simmered for 30 minutes, add the macaroni and stir to combine. Continue to let the macaroni simmer in the sauce, with the lid on, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender (about 10-12 minutes).
- Once the pasta is tender, taste the goulash and add salt to taste. Remove the bay leaves, then serve.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
- Dutch Oven
- Measuring Cups Spoons
Notes
Nutrition
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Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make American Goulash – Step By Step Photos
Begin by dicing one yellow onion and mincing four cloves of garlic. Add them to a soup pot along with 1 Tbsp olive oil and sauté over medium heat until the onion are translucent. While the onion and garlic are sautéing, dice two bell peppers, then add them to the pot and continue to sauté for about two minutes more.
Add one pound ground beef to the pot and continue to sauté over medium heat until the beef is no longer pink, then add 1/2 cup red wine to the pot and stir to dissolve any browned bits off the bottom of the pot.
Add one 28oz. can diced tomatoes (with the juices), one 15oz. can tomato sauce, 2 Tbsp soy sauce, 2 bay leaves, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp basil, 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper, and 1/2 cup water. Stir everything to combine, place a lid on the pot, and allow it to come up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low, and let it simmer for 30 minutes. Keep the lid on as it simmers, lifting it only occasionally to stir.
Once the sauce has simmered for 30 minutes (OMG it’s already smelling good), add 2 cups macaroni (that’s about 1/2 lb.). Stir to combine the macaroni with the sauce, place the lid back on top, and let it continue to simmer to cook the noodles for about 10-12 minutes, or until the macaroni is tender. Stir occasionally as the pasta simmers to keep it from sticking, returning the lid after each stir.
Once the macaroni is tender, give the American Goulash a taste and add salt if needed. Remove the pot from the heat, fish out the bay leaves, then serve that one pot goodness!
I’mma eat that goulash!!
Walking home from school as a kid I loved the aroma of this dish wafting from my friends’ homes. Now at age 77 I relived that memory as I dined on this delish goulash and a glass of the red wine. I substituted 6 ounces campanelle for the elbow pasta. Fantastico!!!
What we in English call a “bell pepper” is in Hungarian (and a lot of other languages) just called “paprika”, so technically we are adding paprika, just not the dried spice kind! c:
Despite that, this is a delicious and simple recipe that everyone should give a go.
Delicious! I made a lot of adaptations, used chicken broth instead of tomato sauce, added kidney beans, and used cumin paprika onion and garlic powder garlic salt and oregano, Worcestershire sauce instead of soy sauce. Red wine was fantastic in this dish. Thank you!!
Made this tonight with ground turkey and beef broth, and I added half a cup of green lentils. Soooooooo goooood.
This was really good!! Me and my boyfriend both loved it. I used a different type of pasta but it still worked wonderfully.
This recipe is fantastic! I made it for dinner and cooked it for ten minutes in my Tefal Cook4Me which is a pressure cooker…the taste was amazing! I added mushrooms, peppers and zucchini to mine because they were lingering in the crisper and everyone loved it! So easy and tasty. Next time I’ll add a can of brown lentils for added fibre and I doubt the family will notice. Another fabulous recipe, love your work!
PERFECT!!!!Easy and delicioussssssssssssssss.I Wouldn’t change a thing.
Has anyone converted this to an Instant Pot recipe? Curious about the timing! Thank you
Doubled all the ingredients except ground beef. Used one pound of ground beef, and one pound of cooked brown lentils (one cup uncooked equals, one pound of ground beef when cooked). It was delicious, hubby loved it, even after he found out it wasn’t all ground beef! Leftovers froze well, great for lunch! I will definitely make again, but will triple recipe!!
This was the first recipe I tried from this site and it was so good! My husband (super picky eater) even liked it. I will definitely be looking for others!
This was so yummy! Made a few adjustments; no garlic or onions, and I added a bit of cayanne pepper. Delicious!
Okay so I’ve never had American goulash before so I was intrigued when I saw this recipe. I did not, however, expect it to be THIS good. It’s not at all the type of food I would make normally. But it was SO good. And so easy to make!
(When I had already started making it I searched for the wine only to realize that I didn’t have red wine at home! But then in the deepest corner of my freezer I found a small container of frozen red wine from god knows when, literally precisely the amount I needed for this recipe. Fate?)
Anyway instant hit! I will make this recipe again and again. Only thing I did different was replacing the beef with soya mince – it’s similar enough that my meat-eating brothers didn’t even realize that it was vegetarian :)
Haha! I love finding hidden gems in the freezer! Way to go! :)
Great stuff. Boyfriend devoured it all in one day! Can confirm with Aldi wine – only $2! Now… what to do with the other 95% of the bottle? LOL
This is my first recipe from BudgetBytes. I doubled it so that we’d have dinners on hand for the whole week. I was convinced that we’d love it and that it would be foolproof. I followed the recipe exactly, other than doubling it. Would it have been the amount of hot food in my Dutch Oven that caused the pasta to overcook and become more like glue? So disappointed!
This recipe is a definite keeper. It was easy to make it vegan by using 1 & 1/2 Cups of kidney beans (lentils would also work well) and 1 & 1/4 Cups of textured vegetable protein. It makes a generous amount; enough to stash a meal or two in the freezer and yes, it freezes perfectly. What more could one ask?