Chef John's Beef Goulash

The formula

Every ingredient resolved to grams, expressed against the recipe's own base — next to the median of all 109.

	this recipe	typical
liquid	85%	63%
fat	3%	1%
aromatics	33%	33%
acid	3%	0%
sweetener	0%	0%
salt	1%	1%
vegetables and beans	0%	107%
collagen idx	0.8	0.8
marbling idx	0.8	0.6

Adapts cleanly: dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, nut-free (documented swaps, applied on the dish page)

Ingredients

Weights computed by us.

1134 g	2.5 pounds boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 2-inch cubes
	salt and ground black pepper to taste
27 g	2 tablespoons vegetable oil
300 g	2 onions, chopped
9 g	2 teaspoons olive oil
3 g	0.5 teaspoon salt
14 g	2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika
	2 teaspoons caraway seeds, crushed
2 g	1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 g	1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 g	0.5 teaspoon ground thyme
1 g	0.5 teaspoon cayenne pepper
960 g	4 cups chicken broth, divided
66 g	0.25 cup tomato paste
9 g	3 cloves garlic, crushed
30 g	2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4 g	1 teaspoon white sugar
3 g	0.5 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 g	1 bay leaf

Method: 9 steps, published by www.allrecipes.com — open the original ↗ or use bake mode for a follow-along with a screen that stays on.

“Boy is this a great recipe! I had the front window open and a neighbor and the UPS man stopped by to ask what was cooking! A couple of things that are not mentioned in the recipe but are in the video - first Chef John used a mortar and pestle to grin the caraw” — a cook, 5★

“Very good recipe. A couple suggestions if you're trying this: paprikas vary greatly. If your paprika is spicy that might be enough heat. If it's sweeter or you're concerned about spice - start with 1/4 tsp cayenne and add more before reducing the liquid if you” — a cook, 4★