American goulash
The old-school pot of macaroni, beef and tomato that feeds a crowd for very little and tastes even better the next day.
- 45 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 6
- About $2.16 a serving
- 430 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 6 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb 85/15 ground beef
- 2 cans tomato sauce
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 8 oz elbow macaroni
- 1 cup shredded cheddar
From your pantry
- 1½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2½ cups water
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 bay leaves
Each serving has about 430 calories, 26 g protein, 41 g carbs and 19 g fat, and costs about $2.16 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No green bell peppers? Red bell peppers or yellow bell peppers work.
- No 85/15 ground beef? 90/10 ground beef works.
- No tomato sauce? Crushed tomatoes work.
- No diced tomatoes? Crushed tomatoes work.
- No elbow macaroni? Penne works.
- No shredded cheddar? Cheddar cheese or Mexican blend cheese or Monterey Jack cheese works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion and green pepper into small pieces, and the garlic.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Dolly’s tip: Cut the pepper skin side down. The knife grips the soft inside instead of skidding on the shiny skin.Heat a large pot over medium-high, add the beef, and press it into a flat layer. Leave it 3 minutes, until underneath.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium-high heatTimer: 3 min
Dolly’s tip: No oil needed. The beef lets out plenty of fat as it cooks.Break the beef into , add the onion and pepper, and cook 5 to 6 minutes, stirring, until no pink is left and the vegetables .
Crumble. Crumbling means breaking food into small, rough bits with your fingers or a spoon, like feta or ground meat in the pan. Small bits spread through the dish, so there’s some in every bite.
How you’ll know: The pieces are small and uneven, about pea-size, with no big clumps left.
Softened. For vegetables it means cooked until they bend and lose their crunch; for butter, left out until it dents easily. Soft onions taste sweet, and soft butter mixes in smoothly.
How you’ll know: Onions squash easily against the pan with your spoon, and butter dents under a finger without looking greasy.
Medium-high heatTimer: 5 min 30 sec
Food safety: Ground beef, pork and lamb are done at 160°F. When it’s cooked through there’s no pink left anywhere in the pan.
Spoon any pool of fat into a heatproof mug. Turn the heat to medium and stir in the garlic, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and paprika for 1 minute, .
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heat
Dolly’s tip: Let the fat cool and harden, then throw it in the trash. Down the sink, it clogs the pipes.Pour in the tomato sauce, the diced tomatoes with their juice, the water and soy sauce, drop in the bay leaves, and .
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Stir in the macaroni, turn the heat to low, cover, and 15 to 18 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until the pasta is tender.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 16 min
Dolly’s tip: Scrape the bottom each time you stir. That’s where macaroni likes to stick.Fish out the bay leaves, taste, and add more salt if it needs it.
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
Scatter the cheddar over the top, cover, and let it sit off the heat for 3 minutes, until . Serve in bowls.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Timer: 3 min
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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