Slow-simmered beef cubes are cooked tender soft in a velvety, rich paprika-based sauce.
Bring the timeless Central European classic beef goulash to your dinner table.
Global Food Recipes
with Spices and Herbs
Free E-Book available for a limited time. Grab yours now and get instantly inspired!
You missed out!
TL;DR
We traditionally prepare beef goulash in Austria, where it is known as Rindergulasch or Rindsgulasch. This is my take on the creamy version of a classic beef goulash.
Unlike the hearty Hungarian goulash soup, the beef goulash isn't a soup, but rather stewed meat cooked and served with a paprika and caraway infused sauce. It's a main course meal.
I spare you the whole history, but know that the Austro-Hungarian Empire helped make the Goulash a beloved staple and variations and types exist across central, Eastern Europe, as well as the Balkan.
Initially, I had shared this recipe over 12 years ago with you guys, but over time, I simplified my preparation method and I switched some ingredients.
This recipe doesn't use vinegar or wine anymore, instead I make it creamier now.
I cook it now in the Dutch oven and the result is always a super tender and creamy beef goulash that you will absolutely love. I wouldn't do it any other way in 2025, and therefore I have updated it.
Ingredient Notes
- Beef Cubed — beef chuck (shoulder) or top round cuts (behind) are most suitable because they remain juicy and come with fewer fats. Your cubes should be about the same size, traditionally in Austria each cube tends to be 1.1 inches to 1.6 inches (3-4 centimeter) in diameter.
- Onion — white or yellow onion or shallots work too.
- Butter — salted or unsalted.
- Bay Leaf
- Juniper Berries — optional, but I honestly don't recommend skipping it as it adds a lot of flavor.
- Paprika — sweet or smoked paprika, or a mix of the two.
- Caraway Seeds — Do not substitute with cumin, they don't taste the same! This is a main ingredient that can't be skipped.
- Beef Broth — or beef bouillon with water.
- Garlic — fresh.
- Tomato Sauce — unflavored.
- Cream — table cream or heavy cream. You can use sour cream too or the French Crème fraîche. For a creamy beef goulash, we usually use a cream that contains at least 30% fat.
- Salt & Black Pepper
- Parsley — fresh, Italian or curly parsley.
Process Overview
Step 1
Sauté onion slices soft in butter. Stir in the chopped garlic and sauté briefly.
Step 2
Stir in your beef cubes and brown them a bit.
Step 3
Pour in cream, tomato sauce and broth.
Step 4
Add in the seasoning, bay leaf, juniper berries, paprika, and caraway seeds as well as salt and pepper.
Step 5
Mix it all well, keep on a medium-low heat setting and cover your Dutch oven.
Step 6
Cook the meat for about 1 to 2 hours, or until it is completely tender and falls easily off. The cooking time depends a lot on the meat quality.
Step 7
When the beef is tender, uncover and simmer down the sauce to the desired thickness. Take out the whole spices and discard, the bay leaf and juniper berries, before serving.
Serve hot with chopped fresh parsley as a topping.
📖 Recipe
Dutch Oven Beef Goulash Recipe
Ingredients
For the Goulash:
- 2 Tablespoon Butter
- 1 Onion large, sliced
- 1-2 Garlic Cloves fresh, chopped
- 1 Pound Beef cubed
- 1 Cup Table Cream or heavy cream
- ¼ Cup Tomato Sauce
- 1 Cup Beef Broth
- 1 medium Bay Leaf
- 5 Juniper Berries Optional but adds a lot of flavor!
- 1 Tablespoon Paprika sweet or smoked
- ½ Teaspoon Caraway Seeds Whole not cumin - its not the same!
- Salt to taste
- ¼ Teaspoon Black Pepper Ground
- Parsley to garnish
Instructions
- Heat up your Dutch oven and stir in your butter and onion slices. Sauté onion slices in the butter until they soften a bit over a medium heat setting.2 Tablespoon Butter, 1 Onion
- Add the chopped garlic and briefly cook along.1-2 Garlic Cloves
- Stir in the beef cubes and brown them a bit all over while controlling the heat setting.1 Pound Beef
- Reduce the heat a bit and pour in the cream, tomato sauce and beef broth.1 Cup Table Cream, ¼ Cup Tomato Sauce, 1 Cup Beef Broth
- Add to that all the seasoning. The bay leaf, juniper berries, paprika, and caraway seeds. Also season with salt and black pepper.1 medium Bay Leaf, 5 Juniper Berries, 1 Tablespoon Paprika, ½ Teaspoon Caraway Seeds Whole, Salt, ¼ Teaspoon Black Pepper Ground
- Mix everything well in the Dutch oven.
- Keep the heat on a medium to low setting and cover the dish.
- Cook the beef until it's completely cooked through and tender. Check once in a while the progress of the meat. It can take 1–2 hours until the meat is tender cooked. The cooking time depends on the meat quality. The beef goulash in the pictures took about 1 ½ hours to cook tender.
- Once the meat is soft and falling off, uncover the dish and continue to cook down the sauce to the desired consistency.
- Take from the heat. Remove the bay leaf and juniper berries and discard.
- Serve your beef goulash hot with freshly chopped parsley as a garnish.Parsley
Equipment
- 8" Chef Knife
- Dutch Oven 5 quart/ 4,7 liter oval or round
Nutrition
Serving Ideas
In Austria, we tend to serve our beef goulash with a flour-based side dish or potatoes.
This can be butter coated Spätzle noodles, butter parsley potatoes, potato Knödel dumplings or even Semmerknödel. You might like butter coated pasta or steamed rice with your portion.
Braised red cabbage goes really well with beef goulash too, and you can add a side salad to your meal, such as a coleslaw or shredded radish.
Don't forget some condiments such as shredded horseradish and pickles.
Generally, at home we enjoy our beef goulash simply with bread, as in wholewheat bread or buns.
Storing
Keep leftovers in an airtight container in your fridge for up to 4 days. Gradually warm it up again in a pan, in the oven or microwave.
Rectangular glass containers are useful, as you can store your beef goulash in batches stacked over each other in your fridge or freezer. The same containers are oven and microwave save.
Frozen batches can be left to thaw in the fridge overnight.
This came out delicious! The meat was tender, and the sauce was perfect! I will be making this again. I served it over egg noodles! Thank you for another amazing recipe!
Awesome! 🙂 I have this one on my bucket list to redo for better pictures and a video.
Hello, the goulash recipe is great!! Anyway, I could not help noticing that most if not all metric recipes use milliliters and grams as measures. When I lived in Europe where I was born and brought up we used more people friendly and logical measures that everyone could visualize such as liters, meters, and kilograms. Only pharmacies and scientific institutions used milliliters and grams. What happened? I just think that ordering 3500 grams of beef at your local butcher makes no sense. So, who is behind this silliness? I bet you it's the pinko Frenchies. Who else would do this to the proletariat?
Ciao George from Prague
Hi George! Thanks for your comment. Everbody prefers a different measurement type. In austria it's mostly all in dag and kg, which many don't like to use including myself. I always preferd grams and milliter because of the simplicity and it seems to be more common in the world too. Most scales show grams and measurement glasses are in ml so it's a standart. I am still waiting for one international common measurement to become custom in the world. It woukd simplify our work. =)
Anything below a kg is commonly mentioned in gram anything above naturaly in kg.
What do you mean with pinko frenchies?
Greetings to prague!
This was a great post, and really interesting! It is funny, all this time of making my moms version of goulash, I thought that was the way it is always made. But love learning where it really originates, and the spices commonly used in the dish! Your recipe sounds wonderful, and I can only imagine the spatzle is a perfect compliment! Hugs, Terra
Greetings!
We have visited Austria, and LOVED it! My husband is from the former Yugoslavia, so this is also a favourite dish, there - and I have made it many times. Love to see the little differences... but it is much the same. The quality of meat and paprika makes all the difference!
What an adventure you are on living in India! It is on my bucket list! 🙂 Valerie
I love this spice combination Helene, my grandfather used to love this dish, but I never knew how it was seasoned. I bet my boys would love this 🙂
I thought I had had Goulash before but after looking at the recipe, I don't think I have. I would remember a dish with paprika, caraway and a healthy supply of marjoram. What a rich and spicy looking dish!. Thanks for the history and all of the information about goulash. Very interesting. Your spaztle noodles look like a wonderful accompaniment!
Dear Helene I cannot picture you in GOA eating Gulasch! By the way, I am so happy that you posted this recipe because I've tried several times to cook this dish and it always tastes a little bit bland or chilli con carne style thanks to the cumin seeds. I must by the caraway seeds! Thanks for sharing
Absolutely scrumptious! What a great recipe, Helene! 🙂
Gosh, I love goulash (and if you don't serve spätzle with it, it's not really goulash!). My recipe is pretty close to yours, and I usually - though don't always - use caraway seeds. They really add quite a bit of flavor, don't they? Excellent post - thanks so much.
So comforting!! I love the technique required to make spatzle's 🙂
I am so pleased I have stumbled on to your site. I had a Hungarian friend when I was in my early 20's and here kitchen always smelled of goulash, I can't wait to make it! Also my new sister in law is Slovak and she has given me the noodle sieve but I didn't know what to do with it until know!
The first time I tried Goulash, it was with a Hungarian Boss. The flavors had blown me away. I am not too fond of beef, so I had huge reservations. But truly, it was amazing. This looks equally mind blowing. Beautiful dish Helene.
I love the yellow nail paint 😀
Coming Barbara, I just need to find a beamer. =P I didnt know ti was your favorite dish, what a pleasant surprise! =D
I'll have a little Goulash with my Spätzle please:) Just kidding.. you've got my two favorite dishes here, I love Spätzle and the sauce from the Goulash would be heaven!!
I haven't this since I lived at home. My mom would make this for us. It's been ages. I should make this and see if Miss A and Mr. N like it. 🙂
I am curious how your kids will react to it. You have to know that I never liked it as a kid and that was only because my mum would use meat with fats on it ( I dont like that), back then I preferes the potato version but nowadays I d always favor this recipe first. =D
it looks absolutely delicious
thank you =)
Your photos are incredible my friend this is such hearty meal 🙂
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
yes I know its a bit too hearty for the land down under where summer is coming up. Uru it tastes best for the soul when its cool outside =)
My way of doing this would be to first dust the beef in seasoned flour then stir fry until it was starting to brown. Then add a tablespoon of soy sauce and stir till absorbed. Then the tomato paste. Then a glass of red wine and stir until that is absorbed. Then add an Oxo or Kallo cube plus water and heat for at least an hour so the meat gets tender.
Putting flour in when the cooking is finished as step 5 says will just make the food taste of flour
You are suggesting to add soy sauce, an ingredient that isn't European at all, to a Beef goulash? Your recipe sounds delicious, but it isn't a goulash, that is sure! When the cooking time is over and you add flour, it will bind because the stew cooked well for 50 minutes covered, so the heat remains and you don't require to keep it any longer on the flame, but if you feel your stove isn't heating enough, then you can keep it 1-2 min. longer. 😉
I totally agree. His recipe does sound yummy but it is definitely not goulash! I was born in Australia but have an Austrian mum and Danish dad. My mother's parents were Hungarian and Czech so we had many many "strange" dishes when I was growing up. Back then all I wanted was to have food like all the other Aussie kids but now I really appreciate my heritage!! Though I still don't like the liptaeur spread hahaha.
P.S. I tried to print your recipe but it doesn't stay in the print page long enough to choose which printer etc, it flicks back to the recipe within like 1-2pm seconds 🙁
It is Goulash, just from a different region in Austria. 🙂
I am sorry that you have been struggling with the print window. Did you try using another browser as it might be a browser problem?
Here is the link again to print the recipe. Please let me know if it's still giving you problems, then I will try to send it to you via email.
I've never tried Goulash before but this definitely looks delicious! And it was so interesting and fun to see how the Spätzle noodles were made!
Oh wow nami you will love it! remember the oxtail soup, well it goes into that direction, yet of course oxtail gives a different flavor and here you have the addition of caraway seeds and paprika. =D
I would love to eat this right now. I love goulash and your recipe sounds incredible!
The photos are making me ravenous!
hehe, I realized already a while back that we had similar taste preferences Asmita. How much I wished I could prepare some for you and your husband to try. You really need to come to goa! 😉