I can say with a great deal of confidence that something is fundamentally wrong with my sister, the better half of this blog. I say this for one single reason: she hates goulash. What is wrong with her? No one in their right mind hates goulash-it’s America’s favorite casserole. I’m not sure where she would get such distaste for this dish, we were both raised on it. Luckily for me and you, she’s still willing to let me post the recipe on our blog.
‘Gun to your head, what’s your all-time favorite food?!’ I would say goulash. It has so much comfort and nostalgia combined with the tomato-y, pickle-y goodness-I LOVE it (now that I think about it, it’s probably the pickle my sister doesn’t like). Like I said, the whole family grew up eating it; I think every family in Minnesota has their own version of goulash. Apparently, goulash is traditionally a Hungarian dish, more of a soup than a casserole, but the basic elements of meat, noodles, and vegetables are there ( I guess that goes for all casseroles though…) Tomatoes somehow weaseled their way into American goualsh recipes, and into my Grandma’s recipe which I used to believe was Slovenian, but realistically is pretty American. Goulash is the perfect meal for a chilly fall day, especially if you’re feeling nostalgic, home-sick, or just need some comfort food. Unless of course you’re my sister, then I’m not sure what you eat in a situation like that-Dana?
Grandma’s recipe really calls for ground hamburger, but I used ground turkey instead just to be a little bit healthier. Here’s what you need:
Also, please take note of the adorable child pictured on the recipe book in the back of the photo; yes, that is a baby Tory. Dana made me that book when I moved into my house, I love it. Surprisingly, she included goulash as one of the recipes, a solidly selfless move.
Start by cooking the macaroni according to package directions (boil for ~8 minutes), drain and rinse with cold water, set it aside.
While the water is boiling, chop up the onion and brown it with the ground meat, in a large skillet over medium heat. This takes about 10 minutes. When the meat is browned, I like to drain out the grease, there usually isn’t too much if you use lean ground meat like I do.
Now comes the trickiest part: combining all the ingredients. I always struggle with what to mix them in, if your careful you can fold them all together right in the pan you used to brown the meat like I did here. I’ve also poured everything into a really big bowl before and mixed it that way.
However you manage to do it, once its done pour it into a casserole dish, cover and cook for 50 min at 325. After those long 50 minutes, scoop some out on to your plate and top with hamburger pickle chips-delish!
and voila: Goulash -AKA- American Chop Suey- AKA- comfort in a casserole dish.
Acting on a tip from my Mom, I put half of the goulash in a tinfoil freezer container and stuck it in the freezer for an easy meal later. When that day comes when you want to eat your freezer goulash, all you have to do is stick it in oven like above, but it will probably take more like 60-90 minutes if it is frozen- just check on it periodically until its warmed all the way through.
- 1 lb lean ground meat (I used turkey)
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 cans (14.5 oz) cans tomato soup
- 1 can (14.5 oz) can whole kernel corn (drained)
- 3 cups elbow macaroni
- 2 t soy sauce
- 1 T dill pickle juice
- ½ t celery salt
- Pepper
- Hamburger pickle slices on top (not pictured)
- Cook the macaroni according to package directions, drain, and rinse with cold water
- Meanwhile, brown the ground meat with the chopped onion in a large skillet over medium heat
- Combine all ingredients in the skillet, pour into casserole dish, cover and bake for 50 min at 325 degrees.
