Hungarian Goulash Soup-Gulyásleves
A wonderful Hungarian Goulash Soup (Gulyásleves) that is true comfort food. It is a simple soup delicious beef soup with a rich paprika seasoned broth. The most perfect soup to enjoy on a cold winter's day.
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 140kcal
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons of vegetable oil sunflower
- 1 large onion
- 1 clove of garlic minced
- ¼ cup of sweet Hungarian paprika powder
- 1 medium fresh tomato chopped
- 1 sweet yellow pepper or bell pepper, wax or banana pepper – cut into small pieces
- 1 pound beef shoulder fat trimmed, cut into 1 inch cubes
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 medium carrots peeled and cut into small pieces
- 2 medium potatoes peeled and cut into medium size cubes
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 teaspoons chopped parsley to serve
Instructions
- In a large soup pot, sauté the onions in vegetable oil over low heat, stirring frequently, until translucent. Do not let them burn. Salt lightly to help tenderize them. If they begin to stick, add a bit of water to the pot. Towards the end of the cooking of the onions, add in the garlic (it will brown pretty quickly, so keep an eye on the garlic and keep stirring).
- Remove the pot from the heat, add the sweet Hungarian paprika, stir. Add the tomatoes, meat and pepper; stir again. Add a little bit of water (about 2 Tablespoons). Be sure to not burn the paprika, as it will get bitter.
- Add 6 cups of water. Toss in the bay leaves and crack in some fresh pepper (to taste). Add some salt (I start with less, about 1 teaspoon. I add more as it’s cooking if I feel it needs it). If it seems too thick, add another 1-2 cups of water.
- Reduce heat, add the carrots and potatoes. Cover and simmer until meat is tender, adding water as necessary. It takes about 1.5-2 hours or until tender. If while simmering the soup seems too thick, add a little bit more water so it's the consistency you like.
Notes
- Use the best sweet Hungarian paprika you can find — it is the single most important ingredient in this recipe and cheap paprika will not give you the same depth of flavor.
- Always add a splash of water when you add the paprika and stir immediately. Burned paprika turns bitter and cannot be saved — you would have to start the oil and onion step over again.
- Cook the onion slowly over low heat. Rushing this step and letting the onion brown will change the flavor of the whole soup.
- Start with 1 teaspoon of salt and taste as the soup cooks. The flavor concentrates during the long simmer, so hold back on salt early.
- Leftovers are even better the next day. Store in the fridge for up to 4 days, or freeze (without potatoes) for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Calories: 140kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 61mg | Sodium: 52mg | Potassium: 323mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Vitamin A: 45IU | Vitamin C: 36mg | Calcium: 12mg | Iron: 2mg