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Authentic Hungarian Goulash

A hearty stew of beef, onions, mushrooms, and paprika simmered in wine and broth, finished with sour cream and served over buttered noodles.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Authentic Hungarian Goulash

Time1-1/2 to 2 hours

Ingredients

Directions

Brown the beef

  1. Place beef chunks in a large bowl and sprinkle liberally with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.

  2. Toss with flour.

  3. Heat a heavy Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan.

  4. Place beef chunks in a single layer and brown on two sides. Do not crowd the meat or it will boil instead of brown.

  5. Remove browned beef chunks to a bowl.

Build the sauce

  1. Reduce heat to medium-low.

  2. To the drippings in the Dutch oven, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, sweet onion rings, mushrooms, and garlic, and toss to coat with the olive oil.

  3. Cover tightly and sweat the vegetables, stirring occasionally, until onions are limp but not browned and mushrooms are releasing their liquid, about 10 minutes.

  4. Add red wine to the vegetables and cook 2 minutes, scraping up browned bits from the bottom.

  5. Add beef broth, roasted red peppers, and paprika.

  6. Return beef and any accumulated juices to the pan and stir until well-combined.

Simmer and serve

  1. Cover tightly, reduce heat, and simmer on low heat for 1-1/2 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until beef is fork tender.

  2. Remove Dutch oven from heat and wait for boiling to subside.

  3. Taste and add additional salt if necessary.

  4. Stir in sour cream until completely incorporated into the gravy.

  5. Serve Hungarian goulash over hot buttered noodles with chopped parsley.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1032Calories
60 gProtein
31 gFat
120 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 13 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Beef100g cooked250
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Yogurt170g plain Greek100
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Mushroom1/2 cup sliced (35g)15
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  3. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Mushroom + garlictop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,700 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  5. Olive + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,571 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Boneless chuck roast
Long, gentle simmering breaks down its connective tissue, making the beef fork tender.
All-purpose flour
Coats the beef so it browns well and helps thicken the gravy.
Sweet onions
Soften into sweetness and give the gravy body as they cook down.
Sweet hungarian paprika
Gives the goulash its color and its warm, sweet pepper flavor.
Sweet red wine
Adds acidity and depth, and lifts browned bits from the pan into the sauce.
Sour cream
Adds richness and a mild tang that rounds out the gravy.

The step that matters

Stir in the sour cream off the heat. Sour cream is a dairy product whose proteins can curdle or separate in very hot, boiling liquid. Letting the boiling subside before stirring it in keeps the gravy smooth and creamy.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, flour, olive, mushroom, garlic, clove, red wine):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Spinachfits better
  3. Tomatofits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, flour, olive, mushroom, garlic, clove, red wine. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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