Old-Fashioned Goulash
Every granny had a pound of mince, a can of tomatoes and six mouths to feed — and this is what she did about it. Old-fashioned goulash (your family might have called it American chop suey, or slumgullion if they were feeling fancy) is the one-pot supper that stretched a little meat into a lot of dinner, and somehow everyone still fights over the leftovers.
The old trick that makes it work: the macaroni cooks right in the sauce. No separate pot, no draining — the dry pasta drinks up the tomato and beef as it simmers, which seasons every tube from the inside and thickens the sauce to a perfect cling. Just keep the heat gentle and pull it while the pasta still has a bite; it finishes in the residual heat.
One pot, 45 minutes, better tomorrow. That's granny economics.
Old-Fashioned Goulash
Ground beef, tomatoes and macaroni simmered together in one pot — cheap, hearty, unbeatable.
Ingredients
- 500 g ground beef & 1 tbsp oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 green pepper, chopped (traditional)
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 tbsp sweet paprika & 1 tsp Italian herbs
- 2 tbsp tomato purée & 1 tbsp Worcestershire
- 800 g canned chopped tomatoes
- 400 ml passata
- 500 ml beef stock & 2 bay leaves
- 250 g elbow macaroni, uncooked
- 100 g grated cheddar, to finish (optional)
Method
- Brown. Brown the beef well in the oil, breaking it up. Add the onion and pepper for 5 minutes, then the garlic for one more.
- Season. Stir in the paprika, herbs, purée and Worcestershire; cook 1 minute until fragrant.
- Simmer. Add tomatoes, passata, stock and bay. Simmer uncovered 10 minutes; season well.
- Macaroni in the pot. Stir in the dry macaroni, cover, and simmer gently 12–15 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until just tender.
- Rest. Off the heat, bay leaves out, 5 minutes' rest — the sauce thickens to a perfect cling. Cheddar over the top if your granny was that kind of granny (ours was).
Stir along the bottom of the pot, not round the top — that's where the macaroni wants to stick, and one scorched patch flavours the whole pot.
Tips for proper goulash
Pull the pasta early
Check at 12 minutes; stop while it still has a bite. It keeps cooking in the hot sauce.
Gentle simmer
A hard boil bursts the macaroni and scorches the bottom. Small bubbles, lid on.
Better tomorrow
Like all granny pots, the flavour rounds out overnight. Leftovers are the prize.
Questions, answered
American goulash vs Hungarian goulash?
Hungarian gulyás is a slow-simmered beef and paprika soup-stew. American goulash — this one — is the thrifty mid-century cousin: ground beef, tomatoes and macaroni in one pot. Some houses called it slumgullion or American chop suey.
Why is my goulash mushy?
The macaroni overcooked. Simmer gently, start checking at 12 minutes, and pull it with a slight bite — it finishes in the residual heat.
Does it freeze well?
Yes, 3 months — though the pasta softens a little. For best texture, freeze the meat sauce alone and cook fresh macaroni into it when reheating.