Easy one-pot American goulash with corn

American goulash is an easy one-pot meal that the whole family will love. Mom will love it because it’s so quick and easy to prepare, Dad will love it because it’s cheap and economical, and the kids will love it because it tastes so good. You’d better make a huge pot of this American goulash – everyone is going to want second helpings!

**As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.**

A family favourite

I’ve been cooking this dish for years. When my children were younger it was the one meal that was absolutely guaranteed to deliver empty plates. Of course, living in South Africa, we didn’t call it American goulash – we just called it ‘That Meaty Pasta’. But it’s truly a dish that has stood the test of time.

When you’re a single mom with three children under the age of 10, and working a full day at the office, the last thing you want to do is spend hours in the kitchen. Yet you still want to make wholesome and healthy meals to fill empty tummies.

That’s where this recipe comes in.

• This goulash is really quick to make, you can have everything prepared in 5 minutes and then it’s just a matter of getting it on the stove and leaving it to cook away until it’s ready.
• It’s healthy – you can hide any vegetables in it, just cut them small enough and no-one will notice.
• It’s really tasty. The rich sauce coats the pasta beautifully, and because the pasta is cooked in the sauce, all the delicious flavours get soaked up.
• If you make a big enough pan full, you can freeze the leftovers for another meal, so it saves even more time in the kitchen.

Now that I’m older and living in the UK, with children having long flown the nest, I say to hubby ‘what would you like for supper tonight?‘. And he often answers ‘I feel like something quick and easy – why don’t you make that meaty pasta?‘ So I do!

This recipe is made with ground beef. If you are looking for a goulash made with chunks of steak, why not take a look at my Hungarian Goulash recipe, served with homemade spaetzle (noodles).

I’ve noticed a spate of recipes for American goulash on the internet recently, and I thought I’d share my version too. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

What you will need

**Get the complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making this American goulash recipe on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**

To make this American goulash, you will need a total of 17 ingredients, which sounds a lot, but isn’t really, because they are all pantry staples that you probably use every day anyway.

Pasta – For this recipe, I’ve used elbow macaroni but you can use whatever small pasta shapes you happen to have in your cupboard. Small shell shapes (conchiglie) work well, as does the twisted fusilli type of noodle as the sauce and ground beef cling to these shapes nicely.

Ground beef (or beef mince) – if possible use ground beef with a low fat content. I normally use 5% fat as you don’t want the dish to be greasy. If you only have meat with higher fat content, just drain the fat away that is leftover from browning the meat.

Vegetables – this is where anything goes, but I would recommend using onions and tomatoes in addition to any other vegetable you want to add. If you don’t have fresh tomatoes, it’s perfectly fine to substitute them with canned tomatoes. I normally add diced mushrooms and a small can of corn kernels. You could use fresh corn kernels cut directly from the cob if you prefer. Sometimes I vary the recipe by substituting the corn with frozen peas.

Cheese – Cheddar cheese is good to use because it melts easily into the dish, but you can use your favourite type of grated cheese.

Flavourings

• Salt and pepper – salt is optional and to your own taste, but I would recommend adding the pepper.
• Sugar – I always add a teaspoon of sugar to my dishes when cooking with tomatoes. I find it cuts through the tartness and helps bring out the flavour, and the small amount used doesn’t make the food taste sweet.
• Paprika and mixed herbs to add flavour.
• Ginger and garlic – you can use fresh garlic (finely minced) and fresh ginger (finely grated), or you can use ready crushed ginger and garlic from jars.
• Finally, the stock. I normally just use 2 beef stock cubes dissolved in 2 cups of boiling water and then mix in tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce. The tomato paste should not be confused with tomato ketchup or tomato sauce. Tomato paste is highly concentrated tomatoes, and is normally sold in tubes or small cans in the supermarket. It is sometimes called tomato puree.

How to make American goulash

Just a few simple steps.

Before you start, chop up the vegetables into fine dice. I normally cut them into approximately 1cm (or just under half an inch) pieces.

• Add the ground beef and the spices (salt, pepper, paprika, herbs, sugar, ginger and garlic) to a frying pan which has been heated along with a splash of sunflower or canola oil. Stir well over a medium heat and break the meat up with a spatula to ensure that it browns all over and turns crumbly. If you are using ground beef with a high fat content, tip away any excess fat that has cooked out.
• Add the onions and let them soften. I find the fastest way to soften the onions is to cover the pan with a lid and let them sweat for about 5 minutes on a low heat.
• Add the mushrooms and tomatoes and let them cook for about 3 minutes until the tomatoes start to break down.

• Dissolve the stock cubes in 2 cups of boiling water and stir in the tomato paste and worcestershire sauce. Pour the stock into the pan, cover with a lid and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer and leave for 10 minutes.
• Tip in the pasta, plus an extra cup of water, cover and leave to simmer for about 12 minutes until the liquid has been absorbed.
• Stir in the cheese and corn, stir well and leave on the low heat until the cheese has melted.

If you’d like to be notified of any new recipes, why not subscribe to my newsletter? As a thank-you gift, you will receive a free recipe e-book containing some of my most popular cakes and desserts.

Tips and FAQ

Pin for later

If you’d like to try this recipe for American goulash, why not pin it to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it later. Just click on the image below.

Other recipes

You may also like these other one-pan meals.

• Garlic chicken tray-bake with rice
• Easy chicken and seafood paella
• Easy Creole jambalaya
• Chicken and vegetable pasta bake
• Quick and easy beef Trinchado
• Ground beef hot pot
• Macaroni cheese deluxe

The recipe

If you made this recipe and enjoyed it, I’d love it if you could give me a star rating in the comments below. And if you’d like to get in touch, you can email me at [email protected]. I’d love to hear from you. And don’t forget to subscribe to my mailing list so you can grab yourself a copy of my FREE COOKBOOK!

If you’d like to continue browsing, just click on this link to all my recipes.