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Hungarian

Gulyásleves (Hungarian goulash soup)

Non-vegetarian

Gulyásleves

Hungary's original goulash: a brothy soup of beef, onions, sweet paprika, caraway, root vegetables and potatoes, rich and warming rather than thick.

Gulyásleves (Hungarian goulash soup) is a Hungarian soup from Hungary, ready in about 2 hours 20 minutes and made with beef chuck and paprika. It serves 6 and is rated easy to cook.

Start cooking
A serving of Gulyásleves
Photo: Wei-Te Wong / Wikimedia Commons · CC-BY-SA-2.0
Prep
20 min
Cook
2 h
Total
2 h 20 min
Serves
6
Level
Easy
Calories
309

Ingredients

6 servings

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Melt the lard (opens in a new tab) in a large pot and cook the onions (opens in a new tab) slowly until soft and golden.

    Onions frying golden in a pan
    How it looks · Photo: Magda Ehlers on Pexels

  2. Step 2

    Add the beef and stir until it loses its raw colour. Take the pot off the heat, stir in the paprika (opens in a new tab), caraway (opens in a new tab) and garlic (opens in a new tab), then immediately add a splash of the water.

    • 6 min
    • medium heat

    Food safety: Paprika burns and turns bitter in seconds over direct heat.

  3. Step 3

    Add about a litre of the water and the salt, cover and simmer gently for an hour.

    • 60 min
    • low heat

  4. Step 4

    Add the tomato (opens in a new tab), pepper (opens in a new tab), carrots (opens in a new tab), parsnip (opens in a new tab), potatoes (opens in a new tab) and the remaining water. Simmer until the vegetables and beef are tender.

    • 40 min
    • low heat
    A sauce simmering in a pan
    How it looks · Photo: Nanda Mends on Pexels

  5. Step 5

    Season with pepper (opens in a new tab) and serve hot, with sliced chilli for those who want it.

    • 1 min
    A finished dish being plated
    How it looks · Photo: Willians Huerta on Pexels

About this dish

Origin
Hungary · Well documentedHistorically a herdsmen's (gulyás) dish of the Hungarian plains.Also popular in Austria, Germany, CzechiaMore food from Hungary
Dish
Lunch · Dinner · Soups · Main courses
Cooking method
Simmered, Stewed
Taste
savoury, smoky, aromatic / warmly spiced, earthy
Diet
No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · No nut ingredients · High-protein
All labelsNon-vegetarian · Whole-food focused · Paleo-style · No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · High-protein · Low-fat · Carb-conscious · Calorie-conscious
With the listed swaps: Pork-freeWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
One-pot · Freezer-friendly · Batch cooking
Cook more with
Beef chuck · Paprika · Lard · Onion · Caraway seeds · Garlic
Techniques
Simmering · Stewing

Allergens

None of the 14 major allergens appear in the listed ingredients.

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

309 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 579 g · recipe makes 6

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 36%
  • Carbohydrate 35%
  • Fat 29%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy309 kcal53 kcal
Protein28.8 g5 g
Carbohydrate27.6 g4.8 g
Net carbohydrate22.1 g3.8 g
Sugars5.5 g0.9 g
Added sugars0 g0 g
Fibre5.6 g1 g
Fat10.2 g1.8 g
Saturated fat4 g0.7 g
Trans fat0.3 g0 g
Cholesterol79 mg14 mg
Sodium901 mg156 mg
Salt equivalent2.3 g0.4 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
1127 mg
Calcium
88 mg
Iron
4.1 mg
Magnesium
71 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
237 µg
Vitamin C
43 mg
Vitamin D
0.2 µg
Vitamin B12
2.7 µg
Folate (DFE)
47 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
  • Optional ingredients are not included: fresh red chilli.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • Tiny pinched pasta dumplings called csipetke are traditionally added for the last few minutes.

Common mistakes

  • Calling the thick paprika stew 'goulash' — in Hungary that is pörkölt; gulyás is a soup.

Serve with

  • Serve with fresh crusty bread.

Storage

  • Refrigerate for 3 days or freeze for 3 months.

Reheating

  • Reheat until piping hot.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Used in steps 2, 4, 5

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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