Authentic Polish Beef Goulash Recipe - Polish Foodies (2024)

FAQs

What is Polish goulash made of? ›

The meat used is usually beef. You need a cut with a good fat content such as stewing steak, and it needs to be cooked slow and long in order that the meet is as tender as butter. The fat content will help that. Two other ingredients which set goulash apart from regular stew are tomato paste, and paprika.

In Poland, goulash (Polish: gulasz) is eaten in most parts of the country. A variant dish exists that is similar to Hungarian pörkölt. It came to being around the 9th century. It is usually served with mashed potatoes or various forms of noodles and dumplings, such as pyzy.

There are two kinds of goulash: Hungarian goulash, which calls for the slow-simmered beef to be served alongside egg noodles, and American goulash, which pulls in ground beef and cooks the noodles in the pot alongside the sauce.

Like many of our favorite dishes, goulash started as a humble peasant food, a rustic rural dish that originated with the hard working cow herders of the fertile central Hungarian plains, who spent long days out in the field working up an appetite.

Hungarian goulash and American goulash. Hungarian goulash is a thick soup with meat and vegetables, usually seasoned with paprika. American goulash is very different. It generally has tomato sauce, macaroni and beef.

Traditional goulash is a stew/soup, usually using a cheaper cut of meat suited to slow cooking. It usually contains potatoes and other vegetables, as well as noodles. A true stroganoff consists of paprika-dusted fillet steak quickly pan fried with mushrooms and onions in a sour cream and brandy sauce.

Pierogi are filled dumplings containing either meat, vegetables, cheese, fruit or chocolate. Pierogi is undoubtedly Poland's most famous and simple comfort food.

Bigos stew is the national dish of Poland. It can be made with any kind of meat from pork to rabbit or venison, but should always have spicy Polish sausage.

Goulash is the most famous Hungarian dish in the world. It's one of Hungary's national dishes -- the symbol of their country. And it is for a good reason. It's a dish made with basic ingredients like meat, peppers and root vegetables elevated to perfection by the use of Hungary's most famous spice: paprika.

While a typical stew consists of slow braising chunks of meat with root vegetables in a seasoned broth, goulash uses spices such as caraway, cumin, paprika, and peppers which really enhance and alter the flavor from a classic beef stew.

What to serve with beef goulash? ›

Searching for the perfect accompaniment? Try mashed potato, dumplings or your favourite veg.

American goulash, sometimes called slumgullion, is an American comfort food dish, similar to American chop suey. American goulash is usually referred to in the midwestern and southern United States as simply "goulash".

Both paprikash and goulash are paprika-based stews, but goulash is made with beef and vegetables, while paprikash is most typically made with chicken. Recipes vary, but goulash is usually not thickened with flour like paprikash is, and goulash typically isn't enriched with cream or sour cream.

While the mixture of ground beef, macaroni, and tomato sauce seems simple enough, thousands of users responded with a slew of different names. Beefaroni, goulash, slumgullion, Johnny Marzetti, American Chop Suey—the list goes on.

While a typical stew consists of slow braising chunks of meat with root vegetables in a seasoned broth, goulash uses spices such as caraway, cumin, paprika, and peppers which really enhance and alter the flavor from a classic beef stew.

American goulash, sometimes called slumgullion, is an American comfort food dish, similar to American chop suey.

Irish stew is made of lamb, potatoes and carrots and is very simply flavored with perhaps parsley or thyme and salt and pepper. In contrast, Hungarian goulash is made of beef and flavored very strongly with paprika.