Vegan Hungarian Goulash (wfpb)

A vegan aromatic soup that tastes like Hungarian goulash. With the right spices, we get an authentic goulash, also known as gulyás, that is hearty, warming, and perfect for a weekday dinner.

Especially in the cool fall and winter, this vegetarian goulash recipe is the perfect dish for warming up. This light goulash is oil-free, naturally gluten-free and really super easy to prepare.

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Jump to:

• The recipe is:
• Classic goulash
• American Goulash vs. Hungarian Goulash
• Ingredients
• Substitutions 
• Instruction
• Serving Options
• Storage 
• More Vegan Recipes:
• 📖 Recipe

The recipe is:

• varied with various side dishes.
• the perfect Sunday lunch or Thanksgiving/ Christmas dinner.
• just super delicious.

You can find an herbal version of the classic Hungarian meat stew here. This ragout dish, originating in Hungary, is prepared in a pot and a stew that the whole family will love.

But it's not that easy, I will show you here what the goulash makes so special, how the stew unfolds its full taste.

I promise you, the recipe is totally easy to prepare and once everything is in the pot, it only needs to simmer.

Classic goulash

The basis of classic goulash is made from fresh bell peppers, onions, garlic, pork or beef and goulash-typical spices such as marjoram, thyme, paprika powder, and chipotle powder.

In Hungary, the gulyás is served as a goulash soup.

With coordinated spices and the right meat alternative, we can create a vegan goulash that tastes tasty and hearty.

American Goulash vs. Hungarian Goulash

Have you ever heard of American goulash and maybe asked what the difference is?

I have to say that when I am talking about Hungarian goulash, most Americans with whom I am talking think that it is a ground meat dish.

And this is exactly one of the biggest differences between the two dishes. American goulash is a pasta dish that is traditionally made with ground meat and a tomato sauce and is cooked in one pot.

With the Hungarian goulash, pieces of meat are braised and a kind of gravy is prepared with paprika, which is then eaten as a stew in Hungary.

In Germany e.g. we often serve it with pasta, potatoes or potato dumplings.

The most important part is coming and I would like to explain to you in detail how we prepare the Hungarian goulash.

With a few tips and tricks and alternatives you can conjure up a great hearty vegan goulash.

Ingredients

Are you curious and want to know what's in this delicious stew? Here I show you a brief overview.

You can find the exact quantities of the individual ingredients further down in the recipe card.

Jackfruit in brine

Onion

Garlic Cloves

Peppers

Red Wine

Vegetable Broth

Soy Sauce

Tomato Paste

Onion Powder

Garlic Powder

Caraway Seeds

Lemon Zest, grated organic

Sweet Paprika Powder, Hungarian

Bell Pepper, hot

Nutritional Yeast

Thyme

Marjoram

Rosemary

Lemon Juice

Smoked Paprika

Salt, to season

Potato Starch

Water

Don't be put off by the long list of spices. We need these to get the full flavor experience.

Despite the many spices, the dish does not become more complex. In principle, the spices are all added at once, making it even easier.

Substitutions 

Jackfruit 

Do you not like jackfruit or don't find jackfruit where you live? No problem. Here I also have an alternative for you.

Buy king oyster mushrooms and cut them into rough cubes. You can also shred a few with a fork and get fibers like overcooked goulash, which is soft and falls apart.

King oyster mushrooms have this great feature, because the stem is nice and thick and can be easily torn apart with a fork.

What you can do if you don't have enough jackfruit at home, replace some of the jackfruit with these mushrooms.

Red Wine 

You don't want to use red wine? No problem. I have to say that red wine gives a really great taste and makes this vegan Hungarian goulash so incredibly hearty.

You can also replace the red wine with about 4 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Only add this towards the end. It does not have to extinguish the goulash.

If you don't want to use red wine because of the alcohol, an alcohol-free red wine might be the right thing for you to quench the dish.

By extinguishing with red wine, the jackfruit or the mushroom gets a super great dark color that makes the Hungarian goulash so authentic.

Potato Starch 

The potato starch is used to thicken the goulash sauce. If you don't want to use starch, I recommend finely mash overcooked, floury potatoes, like mashed potatoes and fold them in.

Here I would start with a small potato.

Starchy potatoes have a lot of starch, which bind the sauce and make it thicker.

Soy Sauce 

For example, if you don't want to use soy and some soy sauces contain gluten, you can use tamarind for a gluten-free alternative.

Use coconut aminos for a soy-free alternative. Here you can replace 1:1.

Instruction

Start rinsing the jackfruit and remove the hard core. Cut the jackfruit into bite-sized pieces.

Now cut the onions into fine cubes, as well as the garlic.

Stew the onions and garlic in a pan. Add a sip of water every now and then. When these turn brownish, add the jackfruit. Add the spices and let the jackfruit braise until they get a nice color on the outside.

Now glaze the jackfruit in sips with red wine. Take the red wine and add so much that the bottom of the pan is just covered.

When it is cooked off, add a little red wine again. You do this until the red wine is used up.

In the meantime, cut the peppers into coarse cubes that are bite-sized. Add this to the jackfruit after the red wine has been used up and briefly fold it in and let it simmer for about 2 minutes.

Now add the vegetable broth and soy sauce and let them simmer on medium heat for about 1.5 hours.

Season the sauce again. If necessary, add a few spices.

Stir the potato starch into the 60 ml of water and slowly add it to the sauce. Stir the goulash  constantly. It should thicken immediately.

Pressure Cooker Variant:

Proceed as described in the recipe above. Instead of cooking for 1.5 hours, you can cook the goulash under pressure for 25 minutes and then take it off or turn it off.

Wait until the pressure is gone before opening the pot.

Little anecdote. I once cooked soup in a pressure cooker and opened the pot too early and the whole hot soup came towards me and burned my hands. That was not fun. But I was lucky it wasn’t that deep.

If you use a pressure cooker on the stove, make sure that the valve is down and if the lid does not open easily, wait a little longer.

With the instant pot (electric pressure cooker), you should also make sure that the pressure is gone before you open the lid.

Serving Options

There are various side dishes that you can use to serve your vegan goulash.

Vegetable Side Dish:

• Red Cabbage, German Rotkraut
• Steamed Carrots, Peas and Cauliflower
• Side Salad

Other Sides

• Bread Dumplings
• Potato Dumplings
• Pasta
• Mashed Potatoes
• Boiled Potatoes

As you can see, a goulash can be very varied.

Storage 

I will show you here storage options if you have leftovers or you have cooked in large quantities.

Fridge

The vegan Hungarian goulash is great to store in the fridge, just put the goulash in a closed container and put it in the fridge when it cools down, and the goulash will keep for 4-5 days.

Reheat

You can either slowly reheat your goulash in a saucepan on the stove. Or you can heat it in the microwave.

Freeze

You cooked too much to eat within 4-5 days. Then freeze your vegetarian goulash in portions. To do this, let it cool in small containers and then freeze it.

Thawing and Reheating

Just take the goulash out of the freezer an evening before and let it thaw in the fridge. So you can warm it up as above.

You can also put it frozen in a saucepan and then slowly thaw it on a low heat, then warm it up.

More Vegan Recipes:

Lentil Soup

Whole Roasted Cauliflower

Shepherd's Pie

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