Hungarian Goulash Soup
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
I’ve noticed that all the recipes I’ve posted thus far have been deserts, and since I’ve made soup today to counter the chilly weather streak, I thought I’d post it. This is a recipe for Goulash Soup that I originally got off another website years ago, but have changed to suit our tastes. There seem to be quite a few versions of Hungarian Goulash soup and a few disputes as to what goes into Hungarian Goulash. Either way, this recipe works great for us.
Mostly, as I’ve played with the recipe over the years, I took out some stuff – like noodles. For all the many times I’ve enjoyed some Goulash at a little, mom and pop restaurant in Germany (and once in Austria), I don’t ever remember there being any type of noodle in the soup. So even though I’ve seen recipes with noodles or dumplings, I leave them out because that’s not how I like it. Some had green peppers, but I don’t really like peppers, so I leave them out, too. And I adjusted the amounts of veggies and meat a little.
Everything in the soup, from the meat to potatoes to veggies, I cut into tiny, bit-sized pieces, so you get a little of everything in each spoonful, and also so everything is cooked through and tender. Chunks about a half inch for the meat and potatoes, and for the veggies even a little smaller.
Incidentally, if you’re interested, even though this recipe calls for beef, I have also made the soup with venison. I don’t really like venison, but when you have a freezer full of it, well, you adjust. Anyway, because the soup cooks for awhile and any meat you use gets tender, you could probably use whatever you’ve got on hand.
I find that the most labor intensive part of the preparation is cutting up the meat, since you can put most of the veggies in a food processor to save time, but you can also cut up the meat ahead of time if you want to throw the soup together more quickly.
It goes well with some cold German beer and I usually serve it with a salad.
Goulash Soup
Prep Time: about 30 mins.
Total Time: 2 1/2 to 3 hours
Olive Oil
2 to 3 pounds chuck beef, cubed
1 large onion (I prefer a sweet onion), diced
3 to 4 garlic cloves, finely diced (I actually use a garlic press)
3 to 4 carrots, diced
3 to 4 stalks celery, diced
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, with juice (I use petite diced)
3 to 4 potatoes, diced
3 to 4 tablespoons paprika
4 beef bouillon cubes
Salt
Pepper
1/2 to 1 cup sour cream
In a large pot, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil and cook onions over medium or medium low heat until they are translucent and just starting to brown, at least five minutes. Stir in the paprika; if it’s too dry, add more oil – the mixture should be very red. Then add the meat and garlic to the pot. Sprinkle a little salt (not more than a teaspoon as there’s salt in the bouillon) and a couple teaspoons pepper over the meat. Brown the meat on all sides. Then cover the meat mixture with water, about 6 to 8 cups and add the bouillon cubes. Let simmer on low for an hour.
Add the carrots, celery and tomatoes and let cook for a half hour. Then add the potatoes and allow to simmer on low for another half hour. Check to make sure things are tender – for example, if you can smoosh a potato piece with the spoon, things are probably done. At this point stir in the sour cream. Start with a half cup of sour cream, but add more if you like, and don’t worry if the top of the soup looks a little red as some of the paprika floats to the top. Once the sour cream is stirred in, allow to heat for a few more minutes before serving. It makes about 8 to 10 servings.
