Goulash — with as Much Onion as Beef, Braised for 2 Hours
To 800 g stewing beef, 800 g onions: sweat the onions slowly for 15 minutes until golden, briefly toast the paprika — do not burn it —, add the beef, tomato purée, caraway, marjoram and stock, and braise covered for 2 hours at 160 °C. The onions collapse and thicken the sauce by themselves. No flour needed.
Goulash is the stew with the simplest secret: as many onions as meat. In two hours they collapse into a thick, sweetish sauce with no flour at all. The rest is paprika, caraway, marjoram and patience. It is the dish you cook on Saturday and eat on Sunday — when it is better — and which, made double, rescues half the winter.
Ingredients
- 800 g Stewing beef (in 3 cm cubes)
- 800 g Onions
- 3 pieces Garlic cloves
- 3 tbsp Clarified butter
- 3 tbsp Paprika (sweet)
- 1 tsp Paprika (hot or smoked)
- 2 tbsp Tomato purée
- 1 tsp Caraway seeds (ground)
- 1 tbsp Marjoram (dried)
- 5 dl Beef stock
- 1 tbsp White wine vinegar
- 1½ tsp Salt
- Pepper
Method
- 1
Sweat the onions
Slice the onions thinly. Sweat in the clarified butter in a casserole over medium heat for 15 minutes until soft and golden. This is the most important step — do not shortcut it.
- 2
Paprika
Preheat the oven to 160 °C. Take the casserole off the heat, stir in the paprika, tomato purée and chopped garlic and let them sit 1 minute in the residual heat. Paprika burns and turns bitter with too much heat — hence off the heat.
- 3
Meat
Add the meat, caraway, marjoram, salt and pepper and mix. Pour in the stock and vinegar — the meat should be just covered. Bring to the boil.
- 4
Braise
Lid on and braise 2 hours in the oven, stirring after an hour. Done when the meat falls apart under a fork and the onions have become the sauce. Too thin? Lid off and reduce 15 minutes on the hob.
- 5
Serve
Season — it usually wants more salt and a pinch of paprika. Serve with Spätzli, mash, noodles or bread and a dollop of soured cream.
Tips
- On day two goulash is better, on day three best. Make double, freeze half — it keeps three months and tastes as fresh when thawed.
- With 2 peppers in strips and 300 g diced potato in the last hour it becomes a stew that needs no side. With pork stewing meat, a Szegedin goulash — then 500 g sauerkraut in the last half hour.
- Good paprika is the difference. Hungarian sweet paprika from a fresh packet, not the shaker that has sat in the cupboard for years — paprika loses its flavour after a year.
What can I substitute?
Pork needs 90 minutes and is milder. Mixed is the tavern version — juicier than beef alone.
Lard is the Hungarian original and gives a rounder flavour. Oil is neutral.
Oregano is the closest relative. Bay leaves take it in a different but fitting direction — remove before serving.
Nutrition per serving
Estimated from the ingredients.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my goulash tough?
Braised too short. Stewing meat only softens after 90 minutes when the connective tissue melts — before that it is tougher than raw. Just keep braising; after 2 to 2.5 hours every piece falls apart. Too much heat dries it: 160 °C is enough.
Do you have to sear the meat for goulash?
No — in the Hungarian original it is not seared, but added raw to the sweated onions. The colour and flavour come from the paprika and the long-cooked onions. Searing does no harm, but adds little here and makes work.
How does the goulash sauce thicken without flour?
Through the onions. 800 g onions collapse completely in two hours and thicken the sauce. If it is still too thin, reduce uncovered — or blend a ladle of sauce and stir it back in.
What goes with goulash?
Spätzli are the classic because they soak up the sauce. Just as good: mash, boiled potatoes, wide noodles, polenta or simply bread. Soured cream and a cucumber salad alongside.
How much does goulash cost per person?
About 4 CHF per person for six portions with Swiss stewing beef. Onions and spices cost almost nothing — it is one of the cheapest beef dishes.
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