Real Hungarian Goulash Recipe

Hungarian goulash was one of my mother's recipes, but since she made it so often, she never wrote it down. When I looked for a recipe for Hungarian goulash that was as much like my mother's recipe as possible, I wanted to find a good authentic Hungarian goulash soup recipe.

I've made a few changes to the authentic Hungarian goulash soup recipe to make it more nutritious, including substituting homemade broth for the salted potato water that is called for in the recipe, and replacing lard with butter or organic margarine.

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HUNGARIAN GOULASH RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:

1-1/2 pounds of boneless beef shank meat, trim off the white parts and cut into 2-inch cubes (should make 1 pound of cubed meat)

1 medium white onion, diced very small

3-4 medium russet potatoes, peeled and quartered

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon organic margarine or butter

2 tablespoons Hungarian sweet red paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt

Prep time: 20-25 minutes
Cooking time: About 1.5 hours

Have ready:
2 quarts prepared vegetable or meat soup stock to boil potatoes in
Salt (add to soup stock to taste)

To save time or if you don't have homemade broth, you may substitute boxed or canned broth.

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INSTRUCTIONS:

Lay the beef shank flat on a cutting board and use a sharp knife to cut horizontally (with the grain) through the meat. This should give you a nice flat piece of meat. Be sure to trim the boneless beef shank well to remove all tendon and casings. Discard the white parts. Now, cut the flat piece of beef shank longways into about 2-inch wide slices, and then finally, cut ACROSS the grain into cubes. Set aside.

Next, dice one medium onion into small pieces (about 1/2 inch). Add the olive oil and margarine OR butter and melt on low heat in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot. Add onions and stir continuously until they become clear and golden in color.

Stir in the paprika, and then immediately add the beef cubes and continue stirring as you allow the beef to brown along with the onions and paprika. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cover the pot with a lid.

Important! Resist the temptation to add liquid while the beef is cooking. If the beef seems to be sticking to the pot, stir in a tablespoon of broth occasionally throughout the cooking cycle. A rich brown soup base will be formed from the meat juices, onions, and paprika if you follow these instructions.

After the beef has been cooking for about 1 hour, start heating the soup stock. Add the quartered and peeled potatoes and boil until slightly soft. When the potatoes are cooked, remove them to a separate bowl and pour the liquid from the potatoes into the meat mixture. 

I chose to add just three-fourths of the broth to the goulash and reserved the rest to boil the dumplings in. The soup may seem thin, but if you add dumplings, it will be very thick, especially the next day when reheated.

Add the potatoes into the soup and heat a little longer. 

Lastly, add the boiled egg dumplings and serve with a dollop of sour cream in each bowl. Do not add sour cream to the pot.

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