Instant Pot European Goulash
Inspired by various Instant Pot goulash recipes including this German goulash, a Hungarian one, and extra spices from The Spruce Eats' American goulash, and anti-named after American goulash (made with ground beef), I came up with this goulash when I ran out of ingredients for berbere for Ethiopian beef stew.
Serves 2–3.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lb. stew beef, cut to bite size
- 1 ½ T olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 3–6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 tsp. caraway seed
- ½ c. chopped tomatoes
- 1 c. beef broth or beer
- 1 T. wine
- 1 T. soy sauce (optional)
- ½ T. Worcestershire sauce (optional)
- 1 T. regular or Hungarian paprika
- oregano
- basil (optional)
- parsley (optional)
- thyme (optional)
- bay (optional)
- 3 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cut to bite size (optional)
- couscous (optional)
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
Directions
- Brown the beef on sauté, in batches if necessary, optionally salted and peppered. Remove from pot.
- Sauté the onions, garlic, and caraway seed in the oil.
- Deglaze pot using liquid ingredients.
- Cancel sauté and return beef to the pot.
- Add all remaining ingredients.
- Pressure-cook on high for 25 minutes, less if your beef is already tender and/or you want the sweet potatoes to retain some shape.
- Release naturally.
- Optionally stir in a handful of couscous to thicken.
- Optionally serve over your choice of starch with a side of vegetables.
Variants
It’s traditional to serve over pasta, but sweet potatoes make it more one-pot and add a nice sweetness when I inevitably omit the traditional carrots, bell peppers, or celery (chopped small with the onions). If you cook them for the full duration you can still use the goulash American chop suey-style over pasta or egg noodles.
Mushrooms would be nice.
You can thicken with flour or almond flour instead of couscous.
Replace the paprika with smoked paprika. You can spice it up with a hot Hungarian paprika, cayenne powder, or a heaping ¼ tsp. red pepper, but I don’t.
One recipe called for beer and wine. Some call for much more broth or tomato.
Substitute ground beef for the stew meat, and you can reduce cooking time significantly. The Spruce claims you can substitute seitan or tofu for the beef.
