I think of my grandma's goulash when I crave my favorite comfort food. Traditional Hungarian goulash is full of flavor but loaded with fat. However, many variations of Hungarian goulash share similar tastes; most recipes contain meat and cheese. Even in Hungary, chefs create their unique ingredients when crafting goulash. So, being somewhat of a chef, I made a particular version of a vegan goulash recipe.
Even though many recipes differ in ingredient profiles, the sweet, subtly spicy flavors resonate in all goulashes. For instance, Paul and I like it hot, but the spice level is a personal preference. So, this goulash recipe begins spicy but is easily adjusted for personal preference. Remember, always add spice in small amounts, taste, and add more.
However, this goulash recipe mimics my Greek grandmother's recipe, not from Hungary. I've never been to Hungary, so this is an Americanized version.
Veganizing grandma's goulash recipe to make vegan goulash
My vegetarian goulash, for example, is a one-pot, minimal mess, quick recipe that works perfectly for a weeknight dinner. This vegan goulash recipe is so easy; it practically cooks itself.
I started with her base ingredients to mimic my grandmother's Hungarian goulash recipe. I deleted the meat, cheeses, and oil, adding vegan, healthy whole foods. Despite my preference for using a mushroom/lentil combination, you can also use Beyond Meat Crumbles or another soy alternative like Boca Crumbles if you prefer. Also, you can choose gluten-free noodles instead of the whole grain elbow macaroni in the recipe.
If you choose the gluten-free option, please see the cooking notes in the recipe. However, depending on the type of selected gluten-free noodle, you may want to add the noodles at the end of the cooking process to avoid overcooking.
Choose between smoky and spicy or sweet and rich flavors.
The sauce and spices, for instance, are the magic to this recipe. Although the sauce is tomato-based, the adobo sauce (or Hungarian paprika), soy sauce, vegan Worcestershire Sauce, Italian seasoning, and garlic create an incredible combination of flavors.
However, you decide which flavor best suits your palate: Do you want smoky and spicy or sweet and rich?
What is adobo sauce?
Adobo is a tangy, slightly sweet Mexican red sauce often comprised of tomatoes, garlic, vinegar, and spices. Chipotle chiles (dried, smoked jalapeños) are often sold canned in adobo sauce. The chipotles have an intense smoky chile heat, but the sauce on its own has a slightly less fiery smoky heat.
I use adobo chili sauce and its peppers in various recipes because I love the flavor, but remember to add it sparingly.
Whenever a recipe calls for spices, always add slowly and taste before adding more. Everyone's palate is different, and it's impossible to remove too much spice once it's added to a recipe.
What is Hungarian Paprika?
On the other hand, Hungarian-style paprika tastes relatively sweet, not smokey. In addition, it provides a distinct flavor which is a rich sweet pepper flavor.
Vegan Goulash ingredients
- White onions
- garlic
- Red bell pepper
- Mushrooms
- Cooked lentils
- Organic tomato sauce
- Organic fire-roasted tomatoes
- Italian Seasoning
- Adobo chili pepper sauce (or substitute Hungarian paprika)
- Soy or Tamari
- Vegan Worchestershire Sauce ( I used Annie's)
- Organic Vegetable broth
- Elbow Macaroni (Gluten-free or whole-grain)
How to make vegan Hungarian Goulash
The first step, of course, is to saute the onions and garlic until translucent. Then, add the red pepper and mushrooms and cook down the fluid in the pot.
Next, add the rest of the ingredients, except for the dry noodles. Although the mixture may appear watery at first, everything will absorb together to create an incredible Vegetarian Goulash recipe.
Tips
- Once all the ingredients begin to boil, add this dry macaroni.
- Stir to combine, bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, and cover for 20 minutes.
- If using gluten-free noodles, I suggest cooking separately and rinsing the noodles. Then, add the noodles to the mixture right before serving.
Serving Vegan Goulash
- When the time elapses, remove the pan's cover, and ladle it into bowls.
- Though not necessary, I always add a sprinkle of parsley or chopped basil to the top.
Vegan goulash is husband and kid-tested and approved!
Despite my husband's adverse childhood experiences with Hungarian goulash, I figured I could change his mind. Fortunately, he ate two helpings, and I watched as he smeared bread around the bottom of the bowl to sop up the last bit of the sauce. He also took the leftovers to work the next day. My vegan Hungarian goulash changed his mind.
Try this vegetarian goulash recipe if you need a quick dinner with very few ingredients. The kids loved it, and I made it all in one pot. I also served each bowl with a hard-crusted whole grain fresh bread I warmed in the oven. The sauce is so delicious; it begs for some bread for dipping. Unless, of course, you want the kids licking their bowls.
And, if you are all about meal planning, vegetarian goulash packs well for lunches and lasts 5 days refrigerated.
FAQs
If you love vegan pasta dishes, try these easy recipes!
- Oil-Free Vegan 20 Minute One-Pot Wonder Pasta
- Creamy Spicy Vegan Sausage Pasta
- Fettuccine Alfredo
- Vegan Lasagna
- Plant-Based Spaghetti and Meatballs
- Oil-Free Vegan Swedish Lentil Meatballs
- Creamy Vegan Mushroom Stroganoff
- Veggie Stuffed Shells
- Vegan Stuffed Shells Recipe
- Greek Veggie Pasta Salad
- Roasted Vegetable Pesto Pasta Salad
Vegan Hungarian Goulash
Ingredients
GOULASH
- 2 large diced White Onions
- 3 cloves minced Garlic
- 2 14.5 ounce cans [Organic Tomato Sauce]
- 1 14.5 ounces can [Organic Fire Roasted Tomatoes]
- 3 cups [Organic Vegetable Broth]
- 2 cups cooked [brown or green lentils] I used Trader Joe's pre-cooked steamed lentils
- 1 cup finely chopped Baby Bellas or Other Mushrooms of Choice
- 1 diced Red Pepper
- 1 Tablespoon of sauce only [Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce] or 1 Tablespoon Hungarian paprika
- 3 Tablespoons Tamari Liquid Aminos, or [Soy Sauce]
- 1 Tablespoon [Vegan Worcestershire Sauce]
- 2 Tablespoons Italian Seasoning
- 2 teaspoons Garlic Powder
- 2 whole Bay Leaves
- 2 ½ cups uncooked Whole Grain Elbow Macaroni or [Gluten-Free Elbow Macaroni]
Garnish (optional)
- Chopped Basil or chopped parsley
Instructions
Saute Vegetables:
- In a large pot, saute onions and garlic over medium heat until translucent.
- Add red peppers.
- Cook about 4 minutes longer, stirring with onions and garlic.
- Add mushrooms and cooked lentils (if using soy crumbles, add instead of the lentils and mushrooms)
- Stir and cook another 7 minutes.
- Add a little vegetable broth if the mixture sticks to the bottom of the pan, but the mixture from the mushrooms, onions, and peppers should provide ample moisture.
Add Other Ingredients:
- Add tomato sauce, canned roasted diced tomatoes, vegetable broth.
- Add soy sauce, adobo sauce or smoked paprika, garlic powder, the two bay leaves, and stir.
- Make sure the mixture is boiling BEFORE you add the noodles
- Add elbow macaroni and stir.
- Cover and reduce heat to simmer.
- Cook covered for 20 minutes.
- Check noodles to see if they are done. Depending on the noodles, you may need to adjust the time to 5-7 more minutes.
Gluten-Free Noodle Tip:
- If you use gluten-free noodles, they often absorb more fluid than noodles with gluten. Because of this, you want to be sure to keep some additional vegetable broth available.
- While cooking the 20 minutes covered, make sure you add fluid if necessary if the noodles absorb too much liquid.
- Cooking the noodles in a separate pan and rinsing them before adding them to the pan at the last minute of cooking is also an option.
Notes
Nutrition
Hi! My name is Kathy, I am a retired high school English teacher & vegan enthusiast and blogger. My entire blog is fully plant-based vegan. I truly believe what we eat & how we live determines our health & the preservation of our planet! 🙂
Kathy Carmichael
While its brewing. Thanks for the great idea.
Bianca T.
Our family of 6 is newly vegetarian & this was a hit!!! Even my picky 3 year old ate 2 helpings. Thanks for the great recipe 🙂
Kathy Carmichael
I am so glad you liked it. Little ones are hard to bring along on this journey, but once they know what they like, its easy.
Debbie T
I want to make this but I don't know what size cans of tomato sauce or tomatoes to use. I assume the smaller cans but I would like to be sure so I don't ruin this as it looks delish!
David
What sized cans for the tomato sauce and fire roasted tomatoes? My store has two different sizes for each of those.
Kathy Carmichael
14.5 ounce cans is what I used.
steve
OMG..Kathy looks awesome....did u know im Hungarian as well.....wow
looks so good...yum...I want to taste it bad... make for me n my dad ..ha
steve
OMG..Kathy looks awesome....did u know im Hungarian as well.....wow
looks so good...yum...I want to taste it bad... make for me n my dad ..ha
Kathy Carmichael
Steve, I checked and it works. I have asked my tech person to double check. If you can't get it, let me know. I am happy to copy and paste it and send it to your email.
Kat
Excellent recipe. I usually have to modify seasonings and amounts with vegan dishes, but this was nearly perfect. I added 3 cups mushrooms because i love them, and added the adobe with pepper. I also added red pepper flake to build the heat. Meat-eating hubs really liked it. Note: 2 and half cups-ish noodles measured out to a whole 12oz bag.
Kat
Excellent recipe. I usually have to modify seasonings and amounts with vegan dishes, but this was nearly perfect. I added 3 cups mushrooms because i love them, and added the adobe with pepper. I also added red pepper flake to build the heat. Meat-eating hubs really liked it. Note: 2 and half cups-ish noodles measured out to a whole 12oz bag.
Kathy Carmichael
Kat, I'm glad you enjoyed it. My husband and the kids love it to. Mushrooms are a great addition. I will add that next time; more veggies for the kids 🙂
Conniebury
Made this recipe last night exactly following your recipe and it was delish! Will definitely make again, a great fall food. Thanks!
Kathy Carmichael
Connie, I'm glad you liked it! There is nothing like comfort food in the fall. Thank you for the feedback
Amber
Do the lentils and noddles get over cooked? Lentil usually only take 20-30 minutes to cook this has them precooked then cooking for almost another 40 minutes?
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Amber, No. Because everything cooks together it doesn't cook at the same rate if cooking in water at a boiling temperature.
Melissa McTaggart
If you replace the mushroom/lentils with soy crumbles how many cups of meatless meat would you use?
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Melissa, I would use the whole bag if you are making a full recipe. I hope that helps. Let me know if you like it.
Melissa McTaggart
I made this over the weekend. It is great. I used meatless meat in lieu of the lentils-mushrooms & a brown rice elbow noodle. The only issue I had is that the noodles disintegrated while cooking in the sauce for the 1/2 hour but it still tasted wonderful!
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Melissa,
I think if you use gluten-free noodles, you may want to cook the noodles separately, or possibly add them the last 10 minutes. I am glad you liked it. Sorry if I didn't communicate correctly and it didn't turn out as expected. I will put a note on the recipe.
Anonymous
Anonymous
PrincessD
Any other veggie to recommend instead of mushrooms?
Kathy Carmichael
Sure. You could double up on the lentils or add more tomatoes. Diced zucchini would work as well; just don't put it in until right near the end of cooking, so it doesn't overcook. I like broccoli too. Honestly, you could add any veggies you like. The flavors of the sauce will still be the same. Let me know what you try, and if you like it.
Bert
Of course we had to use some Dutch ingredients. But the result was delicious. Thanks for this recipee.
Kathy Carmichael
Bert, I'm so glad you liked it. I would love it if you could share what you added to make it more Dutch.
PrincessD
Amazing! I amped up the chipotle because we love spicy, added carrots and green peppers and some nutritional yeast! Turned out absolutely delicious! Thank you for this recipe :))
Kathy Carmichael
I am so glad you liked it. We love spice too, and great suggestions for adding more veggies. I appreciate your feedback. Please let me know if you try any other recipes and tweak them! Thanks again.
Anonymous
June Siegel
This is the dish I've been looking for my whole life. Going to make it tonight.
Seriously, when I was a kid and ate meat, I had this in camp and told my mother all about it.
Kathy Carmichael
Hi June, I hope you like it. Let me know if it tastes as good as it did at camp 🙂
Scott Carson Ausburn
Just made this turned out delish ; ) I made it pretty much as written but next time i will add more mushrooms as i love them . Mushrooms are like my meat replacement since i went whole food plant based cuz i had a heart attack back in 2014. I'm living and thriving with no meds as food is my medicine . I still find it hard to believe that this BBQ loving Texas has been without meat for 6 years now ; ) Thanks for the great recipe ; )
Kathy Carmichael
Scott, I am so glad you liked it. I love mushrooms as well. I have added chopped zucchini before as well. And, I am even happier to hear you have been healthy and well for 6 years. It's amazing how much food matters. Thank you for your feedback. Let me know if you try any other recipes! It helps me know what people like and how they put their own twist on recipes.
Shanna
Kathy, I made this yesterday on your recommendation for another one pot recipe after we tried and loved your Oil-Free 20 Minute One Pot Pasta. We loved this recipe just as much. I did add a small chipotle chile along with the adobe, and I cooked the pasta separately (16 oz) as I used a brown rice elbow roni. Just delicious. Thanks for another keeper. 🙂
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Shanna, I am so glad you enjoyed it. I really appreciate the feedback, and great idea adding the chipotle pepper! I will definitely do that next time to add a little more heat.
Anonymous
Aria Hall
This Goulash is amazing! I'm making it for the 4th time tonight and my family goes crazy for it!
Amanda A.
Great tasting vegetarian meal even for the meat eaters! I did not feel like I was missing meat at all. I did put a vegetarian protein crumble, but that wasn't even necessary! Again, great dish!
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Amanda! I am so glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for the feedback. I hope you try some other recipes. Let me know how it goes. Stay safe and healthy!
Anonymous
Anonymous
Anonymous
Meri
This was good and easy, and I had all the ingredients on hand. Made a TON of food, lots of leftovers. Used gf penne because that was all i had.
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Meri, I am so glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for the feedback. You might like some of the other one-pot pasta dishes: cajun pasta, tomato basil pasta, enchilada pasta, and pesto and mushroom pasta. Stay healthy and safe 🙂
Anonymous
Anonymous
Jill
If you pre cook the elbow noodles do you reduce the liquid ingredients at all?
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Jill, yes you need to reduce the fluid by half and then add the cooked noodle right before you serve. I hope you enjoy the recipe.
Michelle
Hi Kathy, I use chipotle all the time, but the can lasts forever. I puree the chipotle peppers and then put it into a ice cube tray and freeze it. Then take them out and put in a container and back in the freezer. I take out what I need for recipes. These last quite a while in the freezer.
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Michelle, I do the same or I try to make a bunch of recipes using chipotle peppers. I do the same with the herbs I grow. I make vegan pesto and freeze them in ice cube trays. Thank you for the great tip.
Patricia Fountaine
This was delicious! To quote my omni husband, "This was great! It tasted like it has meat!" I was nervous because it didn't have any paprika, but it was yummy!
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Paricia, thank you so much! My hubby loves it too. I'm sure you could add paprika! Let me know if you do and if you enjoy it. Stay safe and healthy.
Donna
I find chopped eggplant makes for a good mushroom substitute
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Donna, that's a great idea and substitution. Thank you so much for the suggestion. I am sure people who don't like mushrooms can use that option.
Anonymous
Mary Bradford
You make my Kinda food Kathy. This was delicious! I didn't make it out to the store so used what I had, subbing in red lentils, a jar of marinara for the tomato sauce and left the red pepper out (didn't have one) but it turned out amazing! The lentils gave it a creamy rich feel, it was really hard to believe it was low calorie and plant based. The whole family loved it! I will definitely be making more of your recipes!
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Mary, I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe. I love it when I can improvise and find ingredients without having to go to the store. Thank you for the recommended substitutions! It's helpful when someone suggests other ways to make the recipe work. I appreciate your feedback.
Anne M Weisbeck
Hi Kathy,
I’m making this right now and it smells amazing. And I noticed that you have Worcestershire sauce and Italian seasoning on the ingredient list, but not where to add them in the actual instructions (unless I’m just really tired and can’t find them but I looked several times.) I added the Worchester shower with your soy sauce and the Italian seasoning with the garlic, but I thought you might want to update your recipe. Thank you and happy holidays.
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Anne, thank you so much for letting me know. I appreciate it! I hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂 Have a wonderful holiday.
Rosalie Reeves
I made the Vegan Hungarian Goulash, and it was a huge hit with my entire family, who are vegan by default during mealtimes in which I cook! I made it with Impossible Meat and black mushrooms and added carrots, as well during the saute stage. It is definitely a keeper!
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Rosalie, I'm so glad your family enjoyed the recipe. Making dishes like this one is how I got my whole family to transition to a plant-based lifestyle. So, I think you should keep cooking 🙂 Thank you for your feedback. I appreciate it.
Susan Wright
what is a good side dish with it
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Susan, I always serve goulash with crusty bread and a large salad. Or roasted Brussel sprouts or spicy carrots sound good too.
Janet
Warning! This makes a LOT of goulash. However, it’s delicious and can even woo those “meat eaters”. Perfect for a hearty meal on a winter day.