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Hungarian

Sertéspörkölt

Non-vegetarian

Chunks of pork slowly stewed in their own juices with a mountain of onions and sweet Hungarian paprika until thick and glossy. The everyday Hungarian stew — what most outsiders call goulash.

Sertéspörkölt is a Hungarian stew from Hungary, ready in about 2 hours 5 minutes and made with onion, pork shoulder and paprika. It serves 5 and is rated easy to cook.

Start cooking
Pörkölt paprika pork stew with nokedli dumplings, onion and pepper
Photo: Orrling / Wikimedia Commons · CC-BY-SA-3.0
Prep
20 min
Cook
1 h 45 min
Total
2 h 5 min
Serves
5
Level
Easy
Calories
572

Ingredients

5 servings

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Melt the lard (opens in a new tab) in a heavy pot and cook the onions (opens in a new tab) slowly until soft and golden, without letting them catch.

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

  2. Step 2

    Add the pork and stir until it loses its raw colour. Take the pot off the heat and stir in the paprika (opens in a new tab), garlic (opens in a new tab), caraway (opens in a new tab) and salt.

    • 8 min
    • medium heat

    Paprika turns bitter if it scorches — always add it off the heat.

  3. Step 3

    Return to the heat, add the tomato (opens in a new tab) and pepper and a splash of water. Cover and simmer very gently, adding only small splashes of water as needed so the meat stews rather than boils.

    • 80 min
    • low heat
    A curry simmering in a pot
    How it looks · Photo: Bachir Mamud on Pexels

  4. Step 4

    Uncover for the last few minutes so the sauce thickens to a glossy, clinging gravy. Serve with nokedli or boiled potatoes and a pickled cucumber.

    • 5 min
    • low heat

About this dish

Origin
Hungary · Well documentedMore food from Hungary
Dish
Lunch · Dinner · Stews & braises · Main courses
Cooking method
Stewed, Braised
Taste
savoury, smoky, rich, sweet & savoury
Diet
Dairy-free · No nut ingredients · Keto-style · Low-carb · High-protein
All labelsNon-vegetarian · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Beef-free · Keto-style · Low-carb · High-protein
Without the optional extras: Whole-food focused, Paleo-style, No gluten ingredientsWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
One-pot · Freezer-friendly · Make-ahead · Batch cooking
Cook more with
Onion · Pork shoulder · Paprika · Lard · Garlic · Caraway seeds
Techniques
Simmering · Braising · Stewing · Pickling

Allergens

  • May contain: Eggsfrom dried pasta
  • Contains, can be adapted: Wheatfrom dried pasta
  • Contains, can be adapted: Glutenfrom dried pasta

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

572 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 366 g · recipe makes 5

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 25%
  • Carbohydrate 7%
  • Fat 67%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy572 kcal156 kcal
Protein36 g9.8 g
Carbohydrate10.3 g2.8 g
Net carbohydrate7.4 g2 g
Sugars4.3 g1.2 g
Added sugars0 g0 g
Fibre2.9 g0.8 g
Fat42.5 g11.6 g
Saturated fat14.9 g4.1 g
Trans fat——
Cholesterol148 mg40 mg
Sodium837 mg228 mg
Salt equivalent2.1 g0.6 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
871 mg
Calcium
65 mg
Iron
3 mg
Magnesium
54 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
85 µg
Vitamin C
29 mg
Vitamin D
3.6 µg
Vitamin B12
1.5 µg
Folate (DFE)
30 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: dried pasta.
  • “—” 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

  • Use the same weight of onion as you can bear — the onions melt into the sauce and thicken it.

Common mistakes

  • Adding lots of water makes soup (gulyás) rather than pörkölt.

Food safety

  • Stew until the pork is fork-tender.
  • Cool leftovers quickly (shallow containers) and refrigerate within 2 hours; reheat until piping hot (75 °C).

Storage

  • Refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze for 3 months.

Reheating

  • Reheat gently with a splash of water until piping hot.

Variations

  • Marhapörkölt: Made with beef; needs about an hour longer.
  • Paprikás: Finishing a pörkölt with sour cream turns it into a paprikás.

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 1, 2, 3, 4

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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