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
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 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.
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 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.
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 wonder if this recipe Could be made in a crock pot by simply reducing the broth by one cup??
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!
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!
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!!!
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!
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!
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!
Can this dish be frozen ?
Hi Debra, I’ve never tried freezing it, but sure it would be fine. I freeze soups and sauces all the time and they are great reheated!
Absolutely love this dish. Done it five times now 🙂
I’m so very happy to hear that Peter, thank you!!
Good solid recipe. I added a dried Thai chile (because I toss them in everything) and 2 TBSP of tomato paste because it had to be used up. Also, because I had on hand, I added zucchini and portobello mushrooms. I had some memory of caraway so ground 1/4 tsp with the black pepper (very happy about that). I forgot the wine (not happy about that). In spite of the warning I used russets. It took a while to get them tender but I think the dish benefited from the long simmer time. I didn’t love goulash as a kid, funny how our tastes change. Now I’m looking for a cheaper source of Hungarian paprika. Two dollars for a single spice in a singe recipe is a bit steep. But that wont stop me, this goulash will be a regular in the rotation!
Hi Kate! Ok, that’s really odd. Did you follow the correct method of covering it with the lid to cook over medium-low?? Because something is not right, 2 hours is REALLY long to have raw potatoes. 1/2 inch is not very thick at all so something doesn’t add up. It wouldn’t make since to parboil potatoes when you are simmering them anyways until tender. I’ve made this recipe countless times and all the reviews above, everybody has had awesome results, so I’m not sure what went wrong on your end or if you cut them small enough and covered them with all the broth. Potatoes cook relatively fast when covered and in enough liquid and within 20 minutes every time for me.
To add some extra flavor…and it’s absolutely delicious,i add carrots and caraway seeds….at least 1 teaspoonful. My grand mother used to do it this way and i would not have it any other way…and yes…she was Hungarian. I guess just a family thing….
Your recipe is delicious. Thank you. I was loking for a vegetarian version
Wonderful Pam, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Sounds like a lovely addition!
This is such a lovely recipe, Brandi! I love that you used original Hungarian ‘fűszerpaprika’ here 😛
I was recently in Hungary and had both goulash and goulash soup. I’m a soup fan so made this with a little extra water. I also added mushrooms and then served with quinoa in the bowl instead of rice ( protein and added nutrients).
Wonderful!
Delish!
I was recently in Hungary and had both goulash and goulash soup. I’m a soup fan so made this with a little extra water. I also added mushrooms and then served with quinoa in the bowl instead of rice ( protein and added nutrients).
Wonderful!
This is a wonderful recipe…. so much of what passes for vegan consists of trying to emulate meat flavors, with faux meats, gobs of nutritional yeast. This recipe is true to the idea of a plant based diet… The rich, full flavor of the paprika mixed beautifully with the potatoes…. This was warm comforting and delicious.
Thank you so much for such a lovely review Ruth! I’m so happy to hear how much you enjoyed this stew, thank you.
Tried this recipe last night for some non-vegan friends. I added mushrooms and seitan pieces as the “meat”. I used to love eating some tasty Goulash in Germany and went plant based in the past year. Came across this recipe and decided to try it. What a HIT. Everyone loved it. I also added some cayenne pepper as I used regular paprika and there wasn’t much kick to it. Funny that the previous post to mine was from someone named Hans! Prost Hans! And thanks for the great and easy recipe.
Hi Hans! So awesome it was such a hit with everybody! That is wonderful! Classic Hungarian Goulash isn’t spicy so I don’t add heat to it, but that is certainly a nice addition if you want a kick to it. Thank you for the awesome review! Haha, yes, lots of Hans coming over to the goulash!
Just letting you know to be very glad I found your website. This recipe looks superb and I am going to prepare it today. But there is so much more here for me to explore! I really want to transfer to plant based nutrition but don’t have the patience to cook a meal with 75 ingredients. This site is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you so much !
So glad you found me Hans! Thank you for your kind words!
Oh my, I haven’t had such a great home-cooked meal for a very long time. I’m always on the run and I don’t have much time for cooking. But today I found this recipe and I must say it has become one of my favourites right away! I added canned red kidney beans and it was THE BOMB! Thank you!
Oh, that is so wonderful to heear Tereza! Thank you so much for the amazing feedback!
I guess I like the American version, my mother-in-law used to make it with sour cream added in at the end. Wondering if a can of coconut milk would create the same creamy effect.
Oh wow, never heard of that with the classic version! I’ve seen Hungarian soups with that though. I wouldn’t add milk at the end because it will make it too runny. You could try some vegan sour cream or vegan cream cheese though 🙂
Hi Brandi,
I just made your goulash tonight and it was amazing! Do you have a recipe for the vegan gumbo you mentioned above? I would love to try that.
Thanks!
Hi Rachel, so very sorry I’m just seeing this! I have been working nonstop on my book and must admit, miss some comments time to time. I apologize. I’m so happy you loved the goulash! I actually do have a recipe for it but it is wayyy more than 8 ingredients, haha. I created it, winged it for Thanksgiving last year but wrote down rough ingredient amounts. However, since I only post 8 ingredient recipes, I haven’t posted it here. I have been thinking about having a “special occasion type recipe” every now and then for certain amazing hits that I create in my kitchen that are more than 8….hmmmm, will have to think on that because I received a lot of messages about that gumbo last year when I posted about it on Facebook 🙂
Brandi, Thank you for posting this recipe! I lived in Hungary for 2 and a half years and would judge restaurants by their goulash (gulyás – pronounced gooey-yash). The recipe you listed is very good, quick and easy to make. One suggestion when it comes to Hungarian paprika powder, if you want flavor, use the Édes (sweet) Paprika powder at the amounts you listed, however if you want some heat, look for Hot (Erős – strong) Paprika powder. I used 2.5 tablespoons of the hot stuff and the goulash was spicy, but flavorful. You can mix both the sweet and hot paprika power to your taste and heat level. I use the Pride of Szeged brand paprika powders which can be found at many stores in the U.S, the hot stuff might be a little harder to find though. I now look forward trying to veganize other Hungarian favorites!
Hi Cary! So glad you enjoyed it! Yes, I used sweet paprika! Doing half sweet and hot sounds like a great idea, will try that next time!