Hungarian Goulash with Buttered Spätzle (Authentic, No Potatoes)
If you grew up thinking goulash was elbow macaroni, tomato sauce, and ground beef… welcome to the truth. Hungarian goulash (Gulyás) is a slow-simmered beef stew loaded with sweet paprika, onions, carrots, and aromatics. It’s rich, comforting, and pretty much perfect on a cold night.
And instead of potatoes, this version is designed to be served over buttered Spätzle — soft, pillowy egg noodles that soak up the sauce like a dream.
Why This Version Works
Beef chuck becomes insanely tender when braised.
No potatoes means the goulash stays saucy and perfect for pouring over spätzle.
Slow-cooked onions + paprika create that signature deep red broth.
Caraway seeds give real Hungarian flavor without overwhelming the dish.
Spätzle adds the carb without weighing it down like dumplings or pasta.
What You’ll Need
A Dutch oven (or heavy pot), a spätzle maker (or colander), and time. That’s about it.
Then just follow the recipe above: sauté the onions, add the paprika, simmer the beef, drop in the veggies, make the spätzle, and combine.
The end result?
A bowl of pure, paprika-powered comfort.
Serve it with bread, beer, and people who appreciate real food.
Hungarian Goulash + Buttered Spätzle
Ingredients
Goulash
- 2½ lb beef chuck or chuck roast, 1" cubes
- 2 Tbsp lard or oil
- 2 large onions finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 carrots sliced
- 1 –2 parsnips sliced (optional but traditional)
- 1 green bell pepper diced
- 1 large tomato chopped (or 1 Tbsp tomato paste)
- 3 Tbsp sweet Hungarian paprika
- 1 tsp hot paprika or cayenne optional
- 1 tsp caraway seeds crushed
- 1 tsp salt plus more to taste
- Black pepper
- 6 cups beef broth or enough to cover
- 1 Tbsp flour optional, for thicker sauce
- Parsley for garnish
Spätzle
- 2 cups flour
- 4 large eggs
- ½ cup milk or water
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp butter
- Optional: chopped parsley pinch nutmeg
Instructions
Build the base
- Sauté onions in lard/oil over medium-low until golden (10–12 min).
- Remove pot from heat, stir in paprika + garlic so it doesn’t burn.
Brown the beef
- Return pot to heat. Add beef, toss to coat, lightly brown.
- Add caraway, salt, pepper, tomato. Stir well.
Simmer
- Add just enough broth to cover.
- Simmer on low, partially covered, 1½ hours.
Add veg
- Add carrots, parsnips, bell pepper.
- (Optional) Mix flour into a splash of broth and stir in to thicken.
- Simmer uncovered 30–40 min until tender and saucy.
🍜 Spätzle
- Whisk flour, eggs, milk, salt into a thick batter. Rest 10–15 min.
- Push batter through spaetzle maker/colander into boiling salted water.
- When they float (1–2 min), scoop out and toss with butter.
- Optional: pan-fry in butter for a little browning.
🍽️ Serve
- Butter-spätzle on the plate → ladle goulash over top → parsley.
- Done. Comfort food perfection.
Video
@jefsmk Hungarian goulash with homemade spätzle… absolute heater tonight 🔥 Slow braised beef, real Hungarian paprika, the whole deal. If you’ve never had the real version, you’re missing out. #goulash #hungarianfood #spaetzle #dinnerideas #homecooking
♬ Wanderlust - Degraus