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Goulash is the perfect weeknight meal. It only dirties one pot and is on the table in about 35 minutes. I try to do all my cooking on the weekends but I'm often needing something simple like this for those weeks when Monday shows up before I'm ready.
I don't think I'd ever tried goulash until I met my husband. It's something he grew up eating. There are many different variations of goulash but I tried to keep this recipe close as possible to the "American goulash" he enjoys by using ground beef, noodles, and a tomato base. This variation is also thicker, kind of like chili mac, but more water can be added if you prefer your goulash thinner like stew.
American goulash is usually made with macaroni noodles but I decided to cut some Cappello's fettuccine noodles into small strips instead. It really wasn't that different from the original recipe at all! If you can't find Cappello's fettuccine, be sure to read the notes at the bottom of the recipe. Depending on what foods you can eat, boiled potatoes, dumplings, and even gluten free macaroni noodles will all make great substitutes.
As I was looking for props for these photos, I remembered I had some gluten free beer in the refrigerator. It's not very good so it had been sitting there for about two years now. However, it did make a great prop! I'm just glad I could at least find a use for it before I dumped it down the sink. Two years of those bottles taking up valuable fridge space! I'll make sure something yummier takes their place.
I'm really excited for all the new recipes and other projects I have coming up. I lost track of my PTO balance at work and had quite a few hours that were going to expire at the end of the year so even though I spent a lot of my time off out of town and doing Christmas stuff, I still got to spend a lot of time doing things for the blog too. I'll be posting new recipes and probably some helpful resources over the next few weeks so keep an eye out for that!
Recipe

Goulash
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 25 mins
Total Time: 35 mins
Yield: 7 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 28oz cans diced tomatoes
- ¼ C coconut aminos
- 3 oz tomato paste
- 1 C water, or more depending on your preference
- 1 tsp whole caraway seeds
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 Tbsp paprika
- 1 package Cappello's fettuccine noodles *see notes for substitutions
Instructions
- Season the ground beef with salt and pepper then brown and crumble the beef in an 8 quart pot over medium-high heat.
- When the beef is almost fully cooked, stir in the garlic and onion. Continue to cook until the onion becomes translucent and the beef is fully cooked.
- Stir in the tomatoes, coconut aminos, tomato paste, and water. Feel free to add extra water until the goulash is thinned out to your liking. I usually make mine thick (think chili mac texture) but some people prefer a thinner, more stew-like consistency.
- Stir in the caraway, thyme, and paprika then lower the heat to a simmer for the next 15 minutes.
- While the goulash is simmering, cut the fettuccine noodles into 1 inch strips. Alternatively, if you are using potatoes or dumplings in place of the noodles, refer to the notes at the end of this recipe.
- Once the goulash has simmered 15 minutes, stir in the noodles. They will only take a minute to cook then you can remove the pot from the heat and serve.
Notes
If you need a substitution for the fettuccine noodles, goulash is sometimes made with potatoes or dumplings instead. Additionally, gluten-free macaroni noodles would be most similar to traditional American goulash if your diet allows it.
If you'd like to use potatoes, peel and dice 3 cups of potatoes. They can be any variety you prefer. Boil them in water until softened then strain off the water and stir the potatoes into the finished goulash.
To make the dumplings, you'll need a batch of multi-purpose dough. Dust a clean worksurface and rolling pin with extra tapioca starch then roll out the dough into a large square. It can be as thick or thin as you like but keep in mind the dumplings will puff up a lot when cooked. Use a plastic spatula or plastic knife to cut the dough into small squares. Use the spatula to lift the dumplings off your worksurface and boil them in your choice of broth for about 15 minutes or until they are cooked thoroughly.(You'll need just enough broth to fit all the dumplings in. If you prefer, you can do half water + half broth to save money.) Once cooked, you can strain off the liquid and stir the dumplings into the finished goulash.
For gluten-free macaroni noodles, cook the noodles according to the package directions. Once they are cooked, you can stir them into the goulash immediately before removing the heat and serving.
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