Spaghetti Goulash — A Big-Pot Sunday for the Cooling Apartment

Early October. The Memorial Drive apartment’s south-facing windows have started letting in less heat now that the angle of the September sun has shifted. The AC has been running less since the second week of September. The radiator under the kitchen window has not been on yet but will be by the end of the month. The transition to cool weather is happening in slow increments.

Sunday I made spaghetti goulash because the dish is one of those Hungarian-leaning American adaptations that has been on my Carol-box rotation since 2018 and that I had not made since the move. The dish runs on ground beef, peppers, paprika, onion, garlic, tomato, and pasta — the midwestern-American interpretation of Hungarian goulash, with the chuck-stew swapped for ground beef and the egg-noodle-base swapped for elbow macaroni or spaghetti.

The procedure: brown a pound of ground beef in a Dutch oven. Add diced onion, diced green and red bell pepper, four cloves of minced garlic, sweat eight minutes. Add two tablespoons of sweet Hungarian paprika and a teaspoon of caraway seeds, bloom for two minutes. Add a can of crushed tomatoes, a can of tomato sauce, two cups of beef broth, a teaspoon of brown sugar, salt, and pepper. Simmer covered twenty-five minutes. Stir in two cups of cooked spaghetti broken into thirds. Simmer five more minutes. Top with sour cream and chopped fresh parsley. Dustin had three plates. I had two. The dish was the right cooling-weather dish.

Spaghetti Goulash

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef (80/20)
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
• 1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
• 1 cup beef broth
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 8 oz elbow macaroni or spaghetti broken into thirds, uncooked
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, for topping (optional)

Instructions

1. Brown the beef. In a large deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, cook the ground beef, breaking it up as it cooks, until no pink remains, about 7–8 minutes. Drain excess fat.
2. Soften the vegetables. Add the diced onion and bell pepper to the same pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.
3. Build the sauce. Stir in the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, beef broth, and Worcestershire sauce. Add the Italian seasoning, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.
4. Add the pasta. Bring the mixture to a boil, then stir in the uncooked pasta. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 15–18 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until pasta is tender and the sauce has thickened.
5. Taste and adjust. Season with additional salt and pepper as needed. If the mixture is too thick, add a splash of broth or water to loosen it up.
6. Serve. Ladle into bowls and top with shredded cheddar if desired. Serve hot alongside cornbread or crusty bread.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 310 | Protein: 19g | Fat: 11g | Carbs: 34g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 540mg