Grandma’s American Goulash
Grandma’s American goulash is a classic comforting meal you can make with a little time on any budget. Featuring cheese, tomato broth, noodles, and beef, this hearty dinner will feed even the biggest appetites anytime.
There are few meals that just instantly take me back to childhood.
This is one of them.
My Grandma would put together American goulash regularly.
It was the go to meal after softball games and busy days spent playing outside.
And now I make a version of it for my sons regularly.
Fortunately they love it just as much as I did growing up and still do now.
What is American Goulash?
American goulash is a staple in midwestern and southern cooking.
Sometimes you’ll hear it called slumgullion or American chop suey.
It’s a comforting combination of pasta, beef, cheese, and soupy sauce.
What’s the difference between American goulash and Hungarian goulash?
Hungarian Goulash is thick stew made with meat and veggies in a sauce seasoned with paprika.
It’s often served over or along side pasta.
American Goulash is a quicker dish.
It features ground beef, tomato sauce, and noodles.
Everything cooked together in a single pot.
Ingredients
To make this you’ll need:
- Beef– Ground beef, lean being recommended but not absolutely necessary
- Aromatics– Minced garlic and diced onion
- Water
- Beef broth– For extra richness
- Olive oil– Don’t substitute this for a different kind of oil
- Tomato products– Both canned tomato sauce and canned diced tomatoes
- Seasoning– Italian seasoning, bay leaves, and salt and pepper
- Pasta– Cavatelli or another smaller pasta like elbows
- Cheese– Both shredded mozzarella and shredded cheddar
How to Make
Making this is very easy and a one pot meal!
To do it, heat a dutch oven over medium high heat.
Once the dutch oven is hot, add the ground beef, olive oil, garlic, and onions.
Stir everything together, breaking the meat up as you go.
Cook the mixture until the meat is browned and cooked through.
Drain the excess fat off and return the mixture to the pot.
Then, stir in the water, broth, tomato sauce and chopped tomatoes, Italian seasoning, and bay leaves.
Turn down the heat, allowing the mixture to just simmer.
Cover, and let cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
After 20 minutes, stir in the pasta, cover, and continue simmering an additional 30 minutes or until the pasta is cooked through.
Remove the bay leaves, and sprinkle on salt and pepper, to taste.
Stir in the mozzarella cheese until evenly combined.
Serve immediately, scooping into bowls, and topping with the shredded cheddar.
Enjoy!
Storing Leftovers
Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the fridge.
Reheat in the microwave until warmed through.
Tips and Tricks
- Use leaner ground beef so there is less fat to drain.
- Don’t sub the beef broth for water. The beef broth adds extra richness and makes it feel slow cooked.
- Stir occasionally throughout the cooking process to make sure everything cooks evenly and doesn’t stick together.
Other Easy Pasta Dishes
American Goulash is a delicious, comforting pasta dish we love. Make it and enjoy!
Looking for other easy pasta dishes? Try these:
- One Pot Pizza Pasta
- Cheeseburger Pasta Casserole
- Creamy Chicken & Vegetable Pasta
- Baked Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese
- One Pot Spaghetti
If you’ve tried AMERICAN GOULASH, or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and whatever else we’ve got going on!
Grandma's American Goulash
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 large white onion, diced
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1/2 cup beef broth
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 15 oz cans tomato sauce
- 2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 1/2 cups cavatelli pasta
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- salt & pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat a dutch oven over medium high heat, add the ground beef, olive oil, garlic, & onions and stir everything together, breaking the meat up as you go- cooking until the meat is browned and cooked through. Drain, and return the mixture to the pot.
- Stir in the water, broth, both tomatoes, Italian seasoning, and bay leaves. Lower the heat, bringing the mixture to a simmer. Cover, and let cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the pasta, cover, and continue simmering an additional 30 minutes- stirring occasionally, until the pasta's cooked through.
- Remove the bay leaves, and salt & pepper, to taste. Stir in the mozzarella cheese until evenly combined.
- Serve immediately, scooping into bowls, and topping with the shredded cheddar.
Notes
- Use leaner ground beef so there is less fat to drain.
- Don't sub the beef broth for water. The beef broth adds extra richness and makes it feel slow cooked.
- Stir occasionally throughout the cooking process to make sure everything cooks evenly and doesn't stick together.
Nutrition
recipe adapted from My Incredible Recipes
recipe originally published September 10, 2018
The ONLY thing missing (IMHO) is diced celery (cooked mushy before stirring in). It just adds that extra bit of taste ☺
I can’t picture it with the celery, but now that you’ve mentioned it- I’m going to have to try it the next time we make it. I think with it being sautéed until mushy, it might be really good!
Sounds great gonna make it ! But how much is a serving watching calorie intake
The recipe as written is for 8 total servings with each serving being roughly 600 calories (info in the recipe card). You can adjust the number of servings in the recipe card and it will update the amount of calories per for you :)
I’ve tried this recipe a couple of times and love it. Making it next week for dinner. Thought I would add green pepper, red pepper flakes I am also thinking of substituting some water for V8 juice.
I make mine,with 1#gr.beef ,diced onion ,cooked pasta and a .can of tomato soup. Mixed together in the fry pan heat thru a Nd serve . Everyone loves it!!!
thank you. I was looking for something to do with the 1lb of beef I had down and this popped up in my search. Tried as is except everything in half and it’s perfect. Definitely a keeper.
I love this recipe!! The leftovers are even better! I use Italian turkey sausage for a healthier version!
It was good. I think it needs a little more spice. It was too soupy for us so I cooked it another 1/2 hr.
Fabulous recipe!!, I especially liked that it was all in one pot, followed the recipe exact, but will probably add a bit of Italian sausage next time…this one is a keeper😋
Could this be done in a crock pot instead of stove top? Besides adding pasta at the end, are there any other adaptations it might need?
Delicious, I made it like the recipe! This was comfort food to me! Thanks Grandma
So glad you enjoyed it, Donna. Yes, this is pure comfort food- takes me back to my younger years seated at Grandma’s table :)
I am a grandma….and I have been making a version of this beef n Mac since the 60’s. For 1 1/2lbs ground chuck or bulk Italian sausage or combo of each, browned and drained,saute chopped onion, garlic and green pepper until soft. Add 2 cans
condensed tomato soup, undiluted, 1 can 15oz tomato sauce and 1 15oz diced or stewed. You can go either Italian or TexMex by using either Italian or Chili seasonings. 1 pound of elbows or pasta shape of choice cooked (2 minutes under)very al dente.
Simmer the meat sauce for about 30 minutes add cooked pasta 20-30 minutes before serving taste for seasoning and keep warm 200 degree oven.
This is sooo yummy the whole family loved it. Thank you
Easy to make and delicious
As delicious as I remember it. My family loved it and I will definitely make it again (and again and again).
I love it. My mom used to make it all the time. Of course moms cooking always taste better but think I did a good job if I should say so myself. Lol. Thank you for recipe
When I was a nanny Marcy Marquart made goulash all the time .😊
Excellent work week meal. Very easy and delicious. I bet it’s even better the next day leftover. Thank you.
Makes the best leftovers that nobody ever complains about having to eat! So happy you enjoyed it, John- thanks for taking time to come back and leave your feed back.
Ive made this a couple of times now when my husband asks for it . We love it ! Thanks
Can this be put in casserole dish and frozen
You should be able to, but you may have to play around with the baking time and temperature since I haven’t done it that way myself.
This meal has become a regular in our rotation but we call it Grandpa’s goulash. My 2 year old grandson is picky about what he likes but will eat his goulash and secounds. Tasty meal and great as a leftover. Thank you.
Yummy, budget friendly meal! We are able to make this stretch into two meals and take some for lunch!
Love this recipe!
This is interesting, where I live they call that pasta cavatappi. Cavatelli is a totally different, straight pasta.
Delicious though!
I have made this several times, and my family loves it just as much as I do! It is the perfect, good ‘ol, grandma’s goulash. I couldn’t get my grandmother’s recipe (because she didn’t use one) but this is spot on! Love it so much! Thank you for sharing
This dish was wonderful! Made it just as directed and I was totally amazed as well as my family. thank you
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for taking the time to leave your review, and I hope you come back to discover many more recipes you love just as much :)