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American Goulash

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Our American Goulash is a one-pot meal is known for its simplicity and robust flavors, making it a beloved recipe for busy families.

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This classic American Goulash is easy, home-style, comfort food! Made in one pot, it’s the original one-pot meal. Perfect for feeding a crowd or a hungry family. Loaded with beef, pasta, and lotsa of flavor!

best american goulash recipe, close up

 

Old-Fashioned American Goulash

This recipe has been in my family for 4 generations! Goulash has variations in many cultures, but they all center around bringing families together. My grandmother’s sacred recipe ticks all the must-have boxes for “hug-in-a-bowl” pasta recipes: thick tomato sauce, zesty garlic, rich herbs, and as much cheese as I can stand.

For a quicker version, try my instant pot goulash. Want a chunkier style? You’ll love my beef goulash. Or, for an Eastern European version, German goulash is authentically delish!

If you’re looking for more easy, comforting meals like this, be sure to check out my full collection of ground beef recipes for even more family-friendly dinner ideas.

What is American Goulash

An original American dish of ground beef, pasta cooked in a rich tomato sauce, all in one pot. This has been served on American family dinner tables for 5-6 generations. This is wholesome, hearty, and American food at its best!!

American Goulash vs Hungarian Goulash:

These two dishes are entirely different! Hungarian goulash is an eastern European version of goulash that’s more like a thick, rich stew with chunks of meat and a tomato broth seasoned with paprika. American goulash is generally made with ground beef, elbow pasta,  and doesn’t have much, if any, paprika.

Difference between American Goulash and American Chop Suey?

They’re the same dish with different names. When I got married, I was given my husband’s delicious family recipe for American chop suey. In our house now both are in our regular dinner rotation.

one pot american beef goulash in a while bowl

American Goulash Ingredients

  • Ground Beef: I use 80/20 ground beef.
  • Olive Oil: We don’t add any oil to our recipe. We don’t drain the beef, but rather use the dripping to saute the onions and garlic.
  • Onion: You can use a yellow or white onion. I most often use yellow onion.
  • Garlic: Fresh garlic only!
  • Canned Tomato Sauce:
  • Canned Diced Tomatoes:
  • Soy Sauce: We use soy sauce instead of Worcestershire sauce in our recipe.
  • Dried Oregano: When you read the ingredients, you’ll notice we use a lot of oregano. No, it’s not a typo; that’s how we’ve made it for decades. If you’re concerned about the amount, start with half and add more if you’d like.
  • Dried Basil: Adds a nice herbal sweetness.
  • Bay Leaves: Adds subtle, aromatic flavor.
  • Salt and Pepper: This is our foundational seasoning. We use table salt and fresh ground black pepper.
  • Macaroni Noodles: I use elbow pasta. I like Barilla brand pasta. Ditalini is a great substitute for elbow pasta.
  • Cheddar: We like sharp cheddar cheese. Feel free to use your favorite cheese.

American Goulash Recipe Notes

  • Herbs (Oregano, Basil, Bay Leaves) – Don’t let dried herbs scare you off. If you want your dish to have a bright burst of flavor, use fresh herbs; but if you want a mellow, warm, and cozy build of flavor, use dried herbs. What makes this dish stand out from others is the Mediterranean-inspired spices — the bay leaves, oregano, and basil. If you don’t have all of those, you can swap in 1-2 tablespoons of good ol’, reliable Italian seasoning.
  • Seasoned Salt – My grandma was a master of balancing flavors, and one trick she loved was using seasoned salt. Seasoned salt is a great multi-purpose flavor enhancer, and its versatility is endless! Sprinkle it on French fries, zest up roasted veggies, add a shake or two into sandwiches — it adds spices like paprika, turmeric, onion, and garlic, and even a sweet twist of sugar.
  • Cheddar Cheese – Shredded versus block cheese. I am a bit of a cheese purist. Those bags of pre-shredded cheese available at the grocery store may look tempting and may save time, but there’s something so much creamier about freshly shredded cheese.
    • Obviously, there’s no judgment if you choose to use the pre-shredded cheese for convenience’s sake! To take this goulash pasta recipe over the top,I generally buy a block of cheddar cheese and hand-shred it. American goulash with cheese is totally irresistible!
  • We Use Water: Feel free to switch with beef broth. I think originally, my family was too poor, so we used water!
  • Bell Pepper: Many recipes include bell peppers. My family didn’t use them in our goulash but I think this dish would be delicious with them included.

Storing + Freezing + Make-Ahead

  • How Long Can You Keep This In The Refrigerator? An airtight container in the fridge is the way to go if you’re planning to finish this pasta recipe within one to two days. If you want to store it longer, you’ll need to transfer it to the freezer. 
  • Reheat Leftovers: In the microwave, covered with a damp paper towel. You may need to add some liquid to the leftovers, like chicken broth or beef broth.
  • Can You Freeze This? Yes! Well, sort of. Pasta is notoriously fickle in the freezer (say that five times fast), as the water content in the noodles can affect its quality in unusual ways. And if you store the sauce on top of the pasta, the noodles will continue to absorb the liquid, becoming softer over time, and after you thaw them.
    • After freezing and thawing, this American goulash recipe will be a bit mushy, but that’s one of the beautiful things about comfort food — a little mushiness doesn’t stop it from tasting delicious! But if you only enjoy firm al dente pasta, it’s best to freeze only the sauce and make the pasta fresh when you’re planning to indulge again.
    • As for the American goulash sauce, you can freeze that for up to four months
  • Make-Ahead Tips: Thankfully, this recipe is very “make-ahead” friendly. Generally, what I do is follow the recipe through step #3. Then I let the mixture cool to room temperature, place it in an airtight container, and refrigerate.
    • When it’s time to serve, I bring the tomato-beef mixture to a simmer and continue with the recipe in step #4 below.

Serving Recommendations

Serve this one pot American beef goulash with something fresh and crunchy like KFC coleslaw, broccoli salad, strawberry spinach salad, or carrot salad.

Of course, in my family there always needs to be a side of bread like authentic southern cornbread, or sweet Bisquick cornbread, my favorite crescent rolls, butter swim biscuits, cat head biscuits, or my quick and easy Bisquick biscuits.

Variations, Substitutes, + Additions

  • Add Vegetables: this is great with a can of drained corn stirred in when you add the pasta.
  • Add Beans: A can of drained and rinsed kidney beans or black or pinto makes this an even hardier dish and stretches the recipe to feed more people.
  • Keto-Friendly: You can substitute the pasta for angel hair shredded cabbage like in the recipe low carb goulash by Lindsey at The Little Pine. I’ve tried her recipe and it’s actually, really delicious!

Can I Make This In Crockpot?

If you’d like to make this in the crockpot, check out my crockpot goulash. Basically, the difference in this recipe and my crockpot version is the means of cooking and the amount of liquid used.

american goulash with ground beef in a Blue Pot

Commonly Asked Questions

  • Can you make it with other meats? Yes! This is wonderfully made with ground turkey. For an Italian spin, try Italian sausage!
  • Can the noodles be cooked separately? Yes, but when they’re cooked directly in the beefy tomato sauce they absorb a lot more flavor. Some people like to cook the noodles separately and store them separately so they don’t get too soft.
  • What is another name for American goulash? This dish goes by many names often depending on what region of the country you come from. Slumgullion, in a casserole version, try my Johnny Marzetti casserole, which is essentially a casserole version of this recipe, of just plain goulash are among some of the names.

How To Make American Goulash

How to make american goulash with cheese

  1. In a Dutch oven, brown the meat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as it cooks into small pieces. Continue cooking until the meat is cooked through and no longer pink.
  2. Stir in the onions and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent.
  3. Stir in water, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, soy sauce, oregano, basil, bay leaves, seasoned salt, and black pepper. Bring to a boil, over medium-high heat, cover, and simmer.
  4. Stir in the pasta, cover, and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender, about 25 minutes. Remove from heat, and discard bay leaves.
  5. To serve, ladle into individual bowls and top with cheddar.

*****See full instructions below.

More Comforting Goulash And Stew

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Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today — happy cooking, friends! ❤️ Kathleen

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American Goulash

This classic American Goulash is easy, home-style, comfort food! Made in one pot. Perfect for feeding a crowd or hungry family. Loaded with beef and pasta.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 12 People
Author: Kathleen

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds ground Beef 80/20
  • 1 large yellow onion
  • 4 large cloves garlic minced
  • 3 cups water
  • 2 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce
  • 2 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes juice included
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons dried oregano
  • 2 teaspoons dried basil
  • 2 dried bay leaves
  • 1 tablespoon seasoned salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 cups elbow macaroni uncooked
  • 2 cups cheddar shredded (optional)
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • In a large pot, brown the meat (2 pounds) over medium heat, breaking up the meat as it cooks into small pieces. Continue to cook until the meat is cooked through and there's no longer any pink. 
  • Stir in the onions (1 large) and garlic (4 large cloves). Cook, stirring occasionally until the onions are translucent.
  • Stir in water (3 cups), tomato sauce (2 (15-ounce ) cans), diced tomatoes (2 (14.5-ounce) cans), soy sauce (3 tablespoons), oregano (2 tablespoons), basil (2 teaspoons), bay leaves (2), seasoned salt (1 tablespoon), and black pepper (1/2 teaspoon). Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Stir in the pasta (2 cups), cover, and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally until the pasta is tender about 25 minutes. Remove from heat, discard bay leaves. To serve, ladle into individual bowls and top with cheddar (2 cups). 

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Notes

  1. Herbs (Oregano, Basil, Bay Leaves) - Don’t let dried herbs scare you off. If you want your dish to have a bright burst of flavor, you use fresh herbs; but if you want a mellow, warm-and-cozy build of flavor, you use dried herbs. What makes this dish stand out from others are the Mediterranean-inspired spices — the bay leaves, oregano, and basil. If you don’t have all of those, you can swap in 1-2 tablespoons of good ol’, reliable Italian seasoning.
  2. Seasoned Salt - My grandma was a master of balancing flavors, and one trick she loved was using seasoned salt. Seasoned salt is a great multi-purpose flavor enhancer, and its versatility is endless! Sprinkle it on French fries, zest up roasted veggies, add a shake or two into sandwiches — it adds spices like paprika, turmeric, onion, and garlic, and even a sweet twist of sugar.
  3. Cheddar Cheese - Shredded versus block cheese. I am a bit of a cheese purist. Those bags of pre-shredded cheese available at the grocery store may look tempting and may save time, but there’s something so much creamier about freshly shredded cheese. Obviously, there is NO judgment if you choose to use the pre-shredded cheese for convenience's sake! To take this goulash pasta recipe over the top,I generally buy a block of cheddar cheese and hand shred it. American goulash with cheese is totally irresistible!
  4. Add Vegetables: this is great with a can of drained corn stirred in when you add the pasta.
  5. Add Beans: A can of drained and rinsed kidney beans or black or pinto make this an even hardier dish and stretch the recipe to feed more people.
  6. Keto-Friendly: You can substitute the pasta for angel hair shredded cabbage-like in the recipe Low Carb Goulash by Lindsey at The Little Pine. I’ve tried her recipe and it’s actually, really delicious!

Nutrition

Serving: 1/12 of the recipe | Calories: 392kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 1330mg | Potassium: 519mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 205IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 178mg | Iron: 2.5mg
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Darla says

    Hi Kathleen, I’ve made this for years, with very different ingredients than you seem to use. Your’s sure does sound good though, and I’ll have to try it that way.
    I usually use ground beef, chopped onion, garlic, salt, pepper, chili powder, stewed tomatoes-chopped up, kidney beans, and elbow macaroni. I drain the fat off the meat and onion before adding other ingredients and boil my macaroni and drain it and add it to the meat mixture about 5-10 minutes before serving. Add some bread and butter and a salad, what a great meal. If you need a little more liquid, add some tomato sauce or water to the mixture. A little sugar to it to cut the acidity.

    Reply

    • Kathleen says

      Hi Darla. Thanks for sharing your version of this goulash! I think a lot of people add kidney beans. Funny my family never did!

      Reply

  2. Leanne says

    1 tablespoon of seasoned salt sure sounds like A LOT, considering the soy sauce, canned tomatoes, etc. Is that the correct amount of seasoned salt? I plan to try this recipe soon! Thanks.

    Reply

    • Kathleen says

      Hi Leanne. That’s how much I use when I make this recipe. Remember seasoned salt has other ingredients so it’s not the same as 1 tablespoon of salt. A lot of my readers have made the recipe and no one has said they felt it was too salty. All that said, it’s very easy to cut the salt back and add more if you’d like. Everyone likes food seasoned a bit differently. Hope that helps 🙂

      Reply

  3. Sharon says

    Family favorite! we do add a few more items, corn, green an red peppers, sliced olives, sometimes we add chili {homemade or canned } tomato soup, worcestershire an cheese, this makes it go farther too if you have to feed a lot. I cook macaroni separate an add last an simmer a few minutes an sometimes we use mac an cheese.

    Reply

  4. Bradford says

    I love my mothers Goulash, But one of the best Things was the Fresh bread with butter that we dunked in the tomato sauce, each one of us kids would eat 3-4 slices of Bread…….Yummy

    Reply

  5. Jim says

    Hey Kathleen, this is my 2nd time making this great stuff. My question is.. When I lower the heat to low after coming to a boil and let the goulash simmer for 20 min. it continues to boil the entire time. Is this the way it is supposed to work? I use an electric stove so maybe that is why? Also boils the entire time simmering after adding the elbows. It still tastes great just wondering if this is the norm. Thanks, Jim

    Reply

    • Kathleen says

      Hi Jim. It sounds like your cook top runs a bit hotter than mine. I keep mine at a simmer not a boil. You might need to adjust the length of time simmering and watch for sticking or too much evaporation.

      Reply

  6. rick says

    everyone always list how many it will serve.
    I would like to know many pints/quarts of sauce it makes because I’d like to can the sauce. I cook and can by the 18 quart batch how would I ramp this up

    Reply

  7. Jim says

    Zsuzstyina,

    Semantics Simply the set of associations that a word evokes, is the meaning of a word defined by the images that its users connect to it?

    The images on this page evoke goulash to me. And its very good goulash to boot.

    Reply

  9. Jim says

    Will you marry me? This was very good!! My wife is the type that don’t like onions, just has ketchup on her burgers.
    So I made this big ole batch for basically just me to take to work and chow on for a few days.
    I did get her to try a bowl and she did like it but picked out the tomatoes and said she would drain the fat out of the hamburger cuz its kinda greasy, I told her to make a batch for herself cuz I love this stuff.the way it is. Thanks for the recipe.

    Reply

  10. Kat says

    Hey, Kathleen!

    I made this for my monthly “in-laws” & parents dinner. It was a HIT! My husband raved about this goulash (it was better than his moms!) 🙂
    And they were also delicious leftovers.

    I have added it to my “Dinner rotation” Pinterest board. I make a side dish and a main dish once a week from that board. This is a main dish I will be making at least once a month, a staple in our home! Thanks for the great dish, Kathleen.

    Reply

  11. Proud Mary says

    Tomorrow, Christmas Eve, is my birthday and I’m giving myself a pot of this memory making dish for my present to myself. My mom made a similar version. She would bring the water to a boil and then pinch in the raw hamburger meat and chopped onions. Then as the fat rose to the top, she would skim off the “scum” with a large metal spoon. So we always called it Scum Gullion, or just plain “scum” ! Her secret ingredient was a T. of bacon grease. Happy Birthday to me!

    Reply

  12. Mary says

    This brings me back to H.S. in the 60’s. We had this alot, and they served it with green beans on the side. My mouth just waters thinking of it! I’ve tried making it myself a few times over the past 45 plus years, all efforts bombed! Now reading your recipe, I can see why. In New England, we call it American Chop Suey, and a lot of casual restaurants have this on their menu. Now I’ll be able to have this whenever I want! Thank you for sharing.

    Reply

  13. ladyhawthorne says

    We make it with the addition of kidney beans. Mom always made this over the campfire on campouts. Great, now I’m hungry!

    Reply

  14. Deege says

    Made this tonight, used your recipe as my base, but added corn, mushrooms, diced green peppers, and a couple pinches of salt… So delicious! Rivials that I ate during my childhood. LOL Thanks!

    Reply

  15. Elizabeth says

    Thank you so much for this recipe! I followed it exactly, with the exception of a few fresh green bean, and it was amazing! I was hoping to have leftovers, but as it turned out I ended up sharing with my sister and my son that popped in for a visit. I couldn’t let them miss out! This is the first time I have ever been compelled to share a review. Don’t miss out! It’s so good and easy to make! Thanks again

    Reply

    • Kathleen says

      Thanks so much Elizabeth for sharing your review, I really appreciate it! Hope to see you on the site again soon 🙂

      Reply

  16. Bren says

    My mom also made this for us every halloween eve, and served it to us in individual hollowed out sugar pumpkins before we went trick or treating! It is like a hug from home whenever i make it now. I will try adding the soy sauce this year- the only difference in our recipes! Thanks for sharing the love! Xoxo

    Reply

  17. annie says

    I have made this a few times and we love it… but I wasn’t thinking and I cooked the macaroni today thinking that I would save myself some time later (making supper for a crowd) and now I realized I screwed up. And I am out of macaroni. Should I still add the 3 cups of water? I was thinking if I just added the pasta last and didn’t add any of the extra liquid (drain the tomatoes, don’t add any water, etc.) that I would be ok. Your thoughts? Help!

    Reply

    • Kathleen says

      Hi Annie. Well, hmmm. I would start with 1 1/2 cups water because you want the goulash to have some sauce. You can add more as needed. If you feel it’s too liquidy, simmer it uncovered before adding the pasta so some of the liquid evaporates. Let me know how it works out!

      Reply

  18. Mari says

    I love this recipe. I made it last week, and I’m making it again today. If anyone’s worried about too much oregano, don’t be. It’s perfect. The only things I do differently is 1) the addition of some diced bell peppers – can’t resist – tasty and makes it look a bit more appealing. And 2) I cook the pasta separately (do not add salt to the cooking water if you do this way!) because it absorbs too much of the liquid and when you reheat it, you have mushy pasta, which is not very appetizing. I like to add it about 5 minutes before serving. It’s a keeper! Wish I had this recipe when my kids were growing up.

    Reply

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