This Vegan Hungarian Goulash is similar to traditional, but with a vegan twist. This is a meatless vegetarian goulash, but I promise you won’t miss it. It is hearty, savory and with a touch of red wine to give it a truly delicious deep flavor.
You all should know by now that I’m all about comfort food on this blog….but in a healthier way. You know, Garlic Alfredo, Classic Vegan Noodle Soup, Smoky Sweet Potato Black-Eyed Pea Soup, Chili Cheese Fries, Easy Vegan Mexican Burrito Bowl. Get the idea? One of my passions when creating recipes is to take classics and give them my vegan twist and take away the unhealthy parts of the recipe, while still keeping that amazing flavor.
This Vegan Hungarian Goulash is one of those recipes. It’s all about the paprika.
Now, unfortunately, the classic way of Hungarian Goulash has of course been Americanized like so many dishes. Americans turned Hungarian goulash into a pasta dish and often adding a bunch of cheese. This is not the classic way and honestly I don’t even think a bunch of pasta really goes either. Just my opinion. It’s basically similar to a stew with some richly flavored broth, a very saucy broth. Although it’s not traditional, I like this goulash over white rice, too.
VEGAN HUNGARIAN GOULASH
So, my vegetarian goulash is most like the classic Hungarian version with my own way of cooking and flavor desire, and of course, without the meat. This goulash is so hearty and chunky and filling that you will be happily stuffed. All without any unhealthy ingredients and it’s totally oil-free.
The flavor, omg, the flavor is incredible. It’s very savory and loaded with flavor. Not mild in any way, shape or form. Classic Hungarian goulash is notably all about paprika and lots of it. I used legit Hungarian paprika here. The flavor is fresher and dynamic. You of course can use regular paprika, but the flavor is not going to be the exact same, so do yourself a favor and order the Hungarian. It’s really delicious. Since this goulash is meatless, I wanted to try to add some extra flavoring to give that savory flavor that meat gives, so I added a touch of red wine. Not a ton, but enough to deepen the flavor. I initially tried this with 1/2 cup of red wine and found the wine flavor to be too pronounced, so 1/4 cup was better.
As usual, you will only need 8 ingredients for this vegan goulash recipe (+ salt/pepper) and it’s ready in less than an hour:
- onions
- red bell peppers
- garlic
- red potatoes
- tomatoes
- low-sodium veggie broth
- Hungarian paprika
- red wine
I hope you all really love this vegan goulash recipe! Let me know what you think below in the comments!
OTHER AMAZING VEGAN DINNER RECIPES TO TRY:
- Vegan Pimento Cream Sauce
- Hearty Veggie Potato Stew
- Vegan Cauliflower Curry Soup
- Vegan Stuffed Ricotta Shells with Spinach
- Vegan Scalloped Potatoes
- Best Vegan Garlic Alfredo
- Easy Vegan Meatballs
- BBQ Lentil Loaf
Vegan Hungarian Goulash
Ingredients
- 2 packed cups (320g) finely chopped white onion
- 2 red bell peppers, chopped (270g)
- 6 extra large cloves garlic, minced (18g)
- 2 1/2 - 3 cups (690g) low-sodium broth (amounts added at different times)
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- 3-5 tablespoons Hungarian Paprika (make sure it's not smoked (I used 5, but that may be too strong for some, so start with 3 and add more if desired. It's important to use Hungarian for the best flavor)
- 1/4 cup (60g) dry red wine
- 8 small (560g) red or gold potatoes (do not use russet), chopped into 1/2 inch chunks
- One 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes with juices (mine had added salt)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper (and a good pinch of cayenne if you want a kick)
Eat as a stew or serve over white rice, which I like to do as well
Instructions
- Have all of your vegetables chopped and ready to go before beginning, as the cooking process is fairly quick.
- Add the onion, bell peppers, garlic, JUST 1 cup of the broth and JUST 1/2 teaspoon of the salt to a large pot over medium heat. Once it begins to bubble all over, cook for about 8 minutes until the veggies are tender and all the broth is gone. You want the broth gone before adding the wine, this will keep the sauce thick and not watery at the end.
- Add the paprika and wine and cook for about 3 minutes.
- Add the potatoes, tomatoes, pepper, another 1/2 teaspoon salt and the remaining broth. Start out with 1 1/2 cups and add more if desired or needed to cook the potatoes. I used the full 2 cups because my potatoes needed it and I wanted it a bit saucy. Stir well and turn the heat to high. Once it comes to a boil, cover and lower the heat to medium-low. Cook for about 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are tender, but not mushy. Taste and add any more seasoning if needed. Serve immediately either as is or over white rice.
Hi! I really like your recipes!Usually I make vegan goulash with seitan because it’s a great source of protein. But your version seems to be really intresting! I’ll definitely try it=)
Awesome, enjoy Joshua!
Thanks for this recipe! My husband is vegan but I’m not so I’m always looking for recipes that meet the comfort food cravings for both of us – and this is one of them! I added kale and tofu, just because I had them and they needed to be eaten – but in the last 5 minutes I also added Sauerkraut. We live in Germany and there’s lot of meat dishe with similar flavors to this goulash that include Sauerkraut. Yuummmm, this really hit the spot!
Oops forgot to leave a rating!
Loved this goulash! My family had their chicken goulash and I had this which was DELICIOUS! I let everyone try it too and they loved it. I had hungarian paprika in the house and it must’ve been really fresh, as 3 tbs of it were plenty for me. I made vegan spaetzle to go with it. Thanks for this amazing recipe!
SO happy to hear you loved this Andrea, thank you!
This was AMAZING! I grew up eating and making Chicken Paprikash with my grandmother. I thought when I went vegan I would just have to give up on those flavors. Silly me thought the chicken was flavoring the dish! I followed your recipe almost exact except I didn’t have red wine so I added a splash or 2 of cooking sherry and I used rotel tomatoes with chili’s because we always added a Hungarian hot pepper. This one will be made often!!!
Hi Brandi
Tried this dish yesterday and it turned out amazing. Here in Sweden we have an alcohol free red wine cooking substitute which I used and some tbsps of balsamic vinegar. (Red). Suddenly it dawned on me that I could make a vegetarian version of the meat goulasch by adding quorn chunks. We have had it here in Sweden for many years it’s made of some kind of mushroom and has a meat like (consistency softer). Used to make the meat version many moons ago when my family was growing up. Thanks so much for this ~ just the type of veg recipe I was looking for right now. We have some oriental shops in town so I will also look for the real Hungarian paprika powder – although the one I had plus 2 mls of cayenne worked well. Will make this for my sons and grandchildren some time soon. Love to you and yours from Therese Sweden 🦋✨💓🙏🏽🌈
So very happy to hear this Therese, thank you for the wonderful feedback!
Giving this a go tonight. Goulash is one of my favourite dishes to prepare, keen to try a vegetarian option. I’m going to add sliced Mushroom and thinly sliced carrot as well, which I always add to my Beef version. If it turns out well, I have some family and friends who have plant-based diets who I would love to be able to share my favourite meal with. Thanks for the inspiration!
I wonder if this recipe Could be made in a crock pot by simply reducing the broth by one cup??
I am in the process making this and I just noticed that the canned tomatoes are in the ingredients list but not there under the how to list.
Yes, it is, listed in the first sentence on step 4
I wish, I knew how many servings are in this dish, and how big are the servings?
It’s listed on the recipe card: 4 servings. Since they are bowls of soup, it would be a standard size of a bowl of soup.
Looking to order some Hungarian paprika for this and Penzeys says they have Hungarian sweet and Hungarian half sharp (which has a bite to it). Do you recommend one over the other?
Hi Megan, get the sweet!
I just made this goulash for the first time. I didn’t have white potatoes so I used sweet potatoes. The paprika nicely brought out the sweetness of the sweet potatoes. This was delicious and I will definitely be making it again!
That sounds lovely and delicious!
I tried this recipe last night, I added tofu and carrot and turns out really good! I definitely will making it again.
Luckily I have some red wine that is actually vegan. So I’m going to give this a try!
“It’s all about the paprika.” – yessssssss, you got it! :-))))
Greetings from Hungary <3
Hi Brandi,
Great job on the recipe! I love that you are recommending using Hungarian paprika. It does make a huge difference. I live in the US but grew up in Hungary. I did not know how different the paprika sold here until I ran out of the one my mom sent me from Hungary. Huge difference when you make a Hungarian dish.
The recipe you have here is a recipe we have in Hungary called “Paprikás krumpli” “Potato Paprikash”. I like that you are referring to goulash, which basically is, without the meat. The red wine is a special touch. Sometimes we added mushrooms that we picked in the woods. When you cook this dish over an open fire in a cauldron, oh my, the smoke makes it is more delicious.
Thank you Eva for your kind words! That sounds fabulous over the open fire, oh my goodness, thank you for sharing!!
I’m just curious, why not russet potatoes?
Hi Amy! Russets fall apart very easily and taste mealy in soups.
I made this last night… All I can say is that it is FLIPPING DELICIOUS and 100% a Keeper!!!
I did add some sliced carrot to it and I served it over a bed of roasted garlicy butterbean mash purée that I whipped up, with a side of steamed broccoli!
Meal made in heaven! My dad took half of the leftovers home with him. I swear, if it was anyone else, I don’t think that I would have parted with any of the leftovers! 🤣😜
Have to be honest though, there hasn’t been a recipe on the blog or in the recipe book that I have made, that I haven’t liked. All of Brandi’s recipes are absolute dynamite!
So thrilled it was such a hit, thank you Nadine!
Looks like a great recipe, but needs the addition of some beans. how is the 7.7g of protein calculated? None of the ingredients listed have much protein per 100g.
Feel free to add some beans if you like. I input the recipe on caloriecount and that is what the stats gave me. There is protein in potatoes, bell peppers and onion. Small amounts but they add up.