Szegedin Goulash (Székely Gulyás)
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One of my most favorite Hungarian dishes, this Szegedin Goulash recipe features slow-simmered, succulent meat, onions and sauerkraut in a wonderfully rich paprika-infused broth. It’s incredibly delicious!
For more authentic Hungarian dishes be sure to also try our Chicken Paprikash, Hungarian Goulash and Pörkolt!
The weather is slowly warming but I figure there’s still time to squeeze in one final cool-weather stew. Especially one as good as this. It’s one of my personal favorites: Szegedin Goulash. I can remember the wonderful smell that filled our home every time my mom made this. I’d walk in and immediately recognize the smell. I already knew dinner would be a guaranteed delight!
The origin of Szeged Goulash isn’t entirely clear though it is believed that the dish originated in the Hungarian town of Szeged, famous for its paprika. But there are also those who argue the dish was named after the Hungarian writer, journalist and poet József Székely. The story goes that he showed up at a restaurant just before closing time and was told that all they had left was some goulash and sauerkraut. He told them to just mix it together and since that time people began requesting “Székely’s Gulyás”. Whatever the origin, one thing is fact: This goulash is delicious and it’s a very popular dish throughout Hungary, Central Europe and Germany.
Key Ingredients
There are two critical ingredients for getting this goulash right: The right paprika and the right sauerkraut. American sauerkraut won’t do. It doesn’t taste anything like real sauerkraut and is frankly downright awful. Get the real German sauerkraut.
Secondly, get quality, real imported Hungarian paprika, like this one on Amazon. There’s no comparison in flavor. It has an extraordinarily rich flavor and an exceptionally vibrant red color. Many of our readers have tried it, written back and agree that quality Hungarian-imported paprika makes ALL the difference.
With these two key ingredients, you’re ready to roll and the end result will be a truly amazing Szegedin Goulash that will make your taste buds sing!
Szegedin Goulash Recipe
Let’s get started!
In a heavy medium stock pot or Dutch oven fry the bacon until done. Add the onions and cook over medium-high heat until golden. Add the bell peppers and garlic and cook for another two minutes.
Add the pork/beef and cook for a minute until some, but not all, of the pink is gone. Stir in the paprika and remove from heat. Add the remaining ingredients except for the sauerkraut and sour cream.
Add just enough water to barely cover the top of the mixture. Return to heat and bring it to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 90 minutes. Stir in the sauerkraut, return to a simmer, cover and simmer for another 20 minutes. Add salt to taste.
Serve with a dollop of sour cream and swirl it in the soup before eating. Serve the goulash alone, with some crusty bread, with homemade Spaetzle and/or a leafy green or cucumber salad.
Enjoy!
For more delicious authentic Hungarian dishes be sure to try my:
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Szegedin Goulash (Székely Gulyás)
Ingredients
- 4 slices thick-cut bacon ,diced
- 1 large yellow onion ,finely chopped
- 1 green bell pepper ,seeded and finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic ,minced
- 1 large tomato ,finely diced
- 1½ pounds pork (e.g. shoulder) and beef (chuck roast) ,trimmed of fat and cut into ½ inch pieces (1 1/2 pounds total, not each)
- 4 tablespoons quality imported sweet Hungarian paprika (yes, that’s TABLEspoons!)
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon caraway seeds ,coarsely crushed
- 1 bay leaf
- water or beef broth (beef broth isn't traditional but it creates even more flavor)
- 1 cup packed drained real German sauerkraut
- How to Make Sauerkraut (click link for recipe tutorial)
- Sour cream for serving
Instructions
- In a medium stock pot or Dutch oven fry the bacon until done. Add the onions and cook over medium-high heat until golden. Add the bell peppers and garlic and cook for another two minutes. Add the pork/beef and cook for a minute until some, but not all, of the pink is gone. Stir in the paprika and remove from heat.
- Add the remaining ingredients except for the sauerkraut and sour cream. Add just enough water to barely cover the mixture. Return to heat and bring it to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 90 minutes. Stir in the sauerkraut, return to a simmer, cover and simmer another 20 minutes. Add salt to taste.
- Serve with a dollop of sour cream and swirl it in the soup before eating. Serve with crusty bread, Homemade Spätzle and/or a leafy green or cucumber salad. This goulash is even better the next day.
Nutrition
Hi, I’m Kimberly Killebrew and welcome to Daring Gourmet where you'll find delicious originals, revitalized classics, and simply downright good eats from around the world! Originally from Germany, later raised in England, world-traveled, and now living in the U.S., from my globally-influenced kitchen I invite you to tour the world through your taste buds!
If you are in or near California, or if they ship, Kruegermann’s Makes real German sauerkraut, no preservatives, simply cabbage salt and water. Delicious, nothing like the canned tinny Sauerkraut you find in most stores. Some stores in Los Angeles carry it. But you can buy directly from them. We also have a full line of pickles but I’m not as partial to German pickles as I am to their sauerkraut. Once I discovered them. I never went back. And don’t even buy the important anymore. I don’t work for them.
Another hit from your site to my table. My 6 year old LOVES your recipes. His favorite is rouladen. I have bought him a kid’s knife set and he is eager to help me out and said next time I make this, he wants to help (he didn’t today as he was in trouble). This was super simple. I will admit to having to use some cherry tomatoes since we didn’t have anything else as well as a roasted pepper since I didn’t have any fresh bells. Turned out amazing. My wife’s family are Danube-Schwabians and she compared this to her Oma’s sarma. Seems I’ll be making it again in March.
Thanks so much, Nick, I’m so happy it was a hit, thank you! And I’m even happier that your 6 year old enjoys my recipes! :) That’s wonderful that he’s eager to help out in the kitchen. And Rouladen…he has excellent taste, that’s one my favorites too :)
This turned out so delicious! I replaced the pork shoulder with beef chuck, because that’s what I had on hand. Served with some egg noodles, bread, and a salad; OMG! Super comforting~ I’ll definitely be making this again
Fantastic, Tiffany, I’m so glad you enjoyed it, thank you!
you forgot to mention where the broth actually comes from …( i mean espcelly for beef goulash recipe ), im a novice. i boiled the beef first and just used that as stock…
it didnt taste like gullash more like an ordinary hot tasting beef stew !
help ! so where to create said broth ?
the virgin hungarian.
You can used canned beef broth or bouillon cubes dissolved in water. If making homemade beef broth it will need to incorporate vegetables and spices in order to have enough flavor to be used as broth.
no broth should be added, just pour water
I am writing this after having stuffed 2 huge bowls of this into my face very happy and very full. first time cooking this dish and I am so happy this came out so well considering I quadrupled the recipe ( all i had in the freezer was an 8lb bone in shoulder ).This is the first authentic Hungarian dish I have ever made and may have ever eaten, and now I’m the real Keyser Söze, and can play piano like Franz Liszt. Can’t wait to try chicken paprikash. Seriously if this is what Hungarian cooking is all about count me in!
Another dish conquered and added to the repertoire. thank you again for blessing my kitchen !
Lol, Michael, that’s so awesome!! This is indeed what Hungarian cooking is all about and I’m in full agreement with you – Hungarian food is fabulous. So glad you enjoyed this and really appreciate the feedback, thank you!
This was delicious. I remember soup like this when I was living in Austria. I did use canned sauerkraut that I rinsed well first to remove some of the salt and substituted 1T smoked paprika for 1 T of the plain since my bacon wasn’t very smokey. Next time I will add a bit more caraway seed because I love that unique flavor.
Wonderful, Julie, I’m so glad you enjoyed it, thank you!
My wife is making it today and It will be delicious, but wondering where the letter n at the end of Szegedi came from?
Do you rinse the sauerkraut?
Hi Frank, no need to rinse it.
One of my very favourite Hungarian dishes along with Rakott Kaposta, or layered sauerkraut. I am Hungarian and live in Canada on the west coast. Your recipe is spot on including the peppers, althoygh in Hungary they would most likely have been Hungarian yellow peppers which are a thin skinned light yellow pepper.
Thank you, Judit. Most definitely the Hungarian sweet yellow wax peppers which are nearly impossible to find outside of Hungary. I’ve never seen them in the U.S. I was actually able to find some heirloom seeds for those peppers that were brought to the U.S. by Hungarian immigrants in the 19th or early 20th century. I’ve grown several Hungarian yellow wax pepper plants from seed – they’re about 12 inches high now in my greenhouse and I’ll be transplanting them out in my garden this summer. My fingers are crossed they yield a successful crop!