Name: Traditional Czech Beef Goulash
Prep time: 30 min
Ingredients: 800 g beef (cheaper cuts); 2 onions (finely chopped); 2 cloves garlic (crushed); 2 tbsp tomato puree; 1 cube beef stock; 1/2 tsp sweet paprika; 1/4 tsp caraway seeds/marjoram/chilli; 1/4 tsp salt & black pepper (mixed ); 2 tbsp plain flour

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Easy to make traditional Czech beef goulash recipe and the ultimate comfort food to eat. This is a versatile recipe, that you can adapt to suit your taste. Great for a quick mid week dinner or a Sunday family gathering. Serve with traditional Czech flour or potato dumplings, boiled potatoes, potato pancakes (bramboraky) or a slice of rustic bread.

This is the most versatile recipe for traditional Czech beef goulash that you could possibly wish for. It can be a quick mid week dinner or a posh Sunday meal, depending on what you use and how you serve this traditional goulash recipe.

Goulash Recipe History

O.K, so first things first! Like many other traditional Czech recipes, this goulash recipe is not strictly speaking a traditional Czech recipe.

It’s probably a take on Hungarian version, but over the centuries this beef goulash recipe become a staple dinner recipe in many Czech pubs, restaurants and of course at home.

There is really no right or wrong with this recipe. You can make this recipe with any type of beef meat, but traditionally you would use cheaper cuts of beef. For Sunday or a special treat, you can easily elevate this recipe by using game meat.

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There are so many versions of this recipe and every family has their favourite, using secret proportions of various ingredients and flavouring.

My grandfather used to make his homemade goulash with the same amount of volume of cut up onion as meat (not by weight, but volume),which was based on one of the older version of this beef goulash. It’s probably way too much onion for most people, which is why I used a lot less in my own recipe.

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If you like your beef goulash bit spicier, add chilli or smoked paprika. You can use fresh tomatoes instead of tomato puree, if you like.

Time saving tip

This beef goulash recipe will give you more than enough quantity for 4 people. I usually make the whole recipe (even when I’m cooking for 1-2 people) and then freeze a few portions for later.

Once you make this recipe a couple of times and you adjust it to suit your own taste, you can easily double the recipe ingredients and make more to freeze for later.

How to make your goulash perfect the first time round

To achieve nice thick sauce, don’t skip the first step with coating the meat with flour and frying it to a golden colour. The flour will help to thicken the sauce.

Top tip

To make sure that your goulash meat is nice and tender, fry the meat on medium heat and don’t overload the frying pan, leaving gaps between the meat cubes.

This is very important as if you pile the meat too close together the temperature of the frying pan drops too quickly and instead of sealing the meat in with the flour and the heat of the frying pan, you’ll end up with all the meat juices running out, leaving the meat really tough.

Pro tip

Don’t brown the onions too much. The onions should only change their colour to ‘see through’ opague colour. The onion (and the garlic) will continue to cook as you add the rest of the ingredients and you really don’t want the onions to be burned.

Any specialist equipment needed?

One large heavy pot or a very large saucepan or soup pot is best for this recipe. I found that the goulash splatters a bit when it’s simmering, so having a bigger pot is much better than trying to make this recipe in a small one.

Allergies & dietary requirements

As it is, this beef goulash recipe is not suitable for vegans, vegetarians and gluten-free diets.

Ingredients list

800 g beef cheaper cuts
2 onions finely chopped

2 cloves garlic crushed
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 cube beef stock

1/2 tsp sweet paprika
1/4 tsp caraway seeds/marjoram/chilli
1/4 tsp salt & black pepper mixed

2 tbsp plain flour

How to make traditional Czech beef goulash recipe at home – Step by step

Cut up the beef in to bigger chunks

Mix together the plain flour, pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper and put it in a deeper plate or bowl

Coat the beef pieces in the flour mix

Heat a large frying pan with some oil and leave until it’s medium hot

Fry the beef from both sides until it’s golden brown and the meat is ‘sealed’ and place on a new plate. Do this in several batches if your pan is small.

Next fry the onions until see-through and flavour them with carraway seeds, a pinch of chilli, some marjoram and also add the garlic.

Put the beef back to the frying pan (or swap it for a large stock pan or soup pot).

Add the beef stock cube and about 500 ml hot water

Add the tomatoe puree

Reduce the heat to medium low, cover with a lid and let the whole thing to simmer for about 2 hrs.

Check regularly to make sure that the stock doesn’t evaporate too much and check the beef. Depending on what cut of beef you buy, the dish might be ready sooner or longer than the recipe.

Serve with traditional Czech dumplings or with thickly cut sourdough bread.

Recipe size

This is a big pot meal made for the whole family of four with extras for second helpings! If you find this recipe size too big, half all the ingredients and make this recipe smaller.

Can I scale up or down this recipe?

Yes, absolutely. It’s easy to half the ingredients to make a smaller amount (2 people plus extra for second helpings or to freeze).

If you wanted to double up this beef goulash recipe for a large family occasion, you’d probably need to cook it in very large saucepan or big casserole dish.

Can this recipe be made in advance?

Like with other types of goulash, the flavour develops with time. The second day the flavour is even better, so make a whole pot and save some for later!

You can make this recipe a day in advance, leave it to cool down and then store it the fridge overnight. The next day, just heat up the goulash on a low heat on a hob or in a microwave.

If you want to make the goulash even more in advance (than 1-2 days), I’d recommend freezing the goulash and then defrosting it/heating it up on the day when you needed it.

Keeping & storing your goulash

Once the goulash has cooled down, stored it in a suitable container with a lid in a fridge for 2-3 days maximum or freeze it for up to 6 months.

This beef goulash freezes really well too, so it’s worth buying more meat at your local farmers market when you see a good deal and make it up few batches for later.

Whilst goulash is a dinner, supper or a lunch meal, I’ve known people eating leftover goulash with bread for breakfast. It’s fast, it’s filling and definitely more nutritious than a sugary bowl of cornflakes!

Can I freeze the goulash

Yes, you can freeze the beef goulash as long as you’ve used fresh ingredients and not frozen (for example the meat or vegetables).

Leave the dish to cool down completely and then put it into a suitable freezer container, such as a sturdy plastic container with a lid. I prefer to divide mine into 1 portion size, as it makes it easier to take out just what I need (and I don’t have to defrost large portions, which take longer to do).

How to re-heat this recipe

You can either gently re-heat the goulash it on the hob or use a microwave.

If re-heating on the hob, I usually use a little bit of water at the bottom of the saucepan, to make sure the goulash doesn’t dry out too much. Keep the heat on low and gently warm up the dish until pipping hot.

If using a microwave, make sure that you use a lid (or a plate as a lid) as goulash has a habit of splattering everywhere as it bubbles and heats up.

Side dishes to serve with your goulash

Traditionally you would serve beef goulash with large flour dumplings (knedliky), potato dumplings or freshly baked dark rye bread with caraway seeds.

Fried savoury potato pancakes (bramboraky) are also a great side dish that will go well with your goulash.

Boiled potatoes as also often served with goulash, but not new potatoes, mashed potatoes or chips.

You might see a few garnishes (like fresh herbs, grated onion, parsley or pepper) served on top of goulash, but other than that, there are no other vegetable side dishes normally served with traditional goulash.

Either way, I hope you enjoy making this recipe!

Magdalena