Vegan Hungarian Goulash is inspired by the traditional favourite Hungarian Goulash.
Hungarian goulash is the national dish of Hungary.
Hungarians have been enjoying goulash since the 9th Century!
The dish was commonly eaten by Medieval Hungarian shepherds, and the word Goulash actually means herdsman.Â
Chunks of meat and onions are traditionally the main ingredients, with other additions added throughout the centuries.
Between the 16-18th Century, Hungarians began sprinkling paprika into their Hungarian Goulash.
If you can source Hungarian paprika then do so! I would absolutely love to try it but I am still looking for it.
Most recipes for goulash call for meat chunks mainly beef or pork.
My plant-based recipe uses soya chunks or Textured vegetable protein. Find out more about soya chunks over on my Vegan Irish Stew recipe.
Soya chunks work well in this recipe as they soak up the tasty, thick, umami, lightly spiced tomato-paprika sauce and become deliciously tender.
I served my goulash with pasta as my kids love those. Vegan Hungarian goulash can also be accompanied with noodles, spaghetti, rice. Or some yummy garlic bread.
Hungarian goulash can be served as a soup or stew.
All you have to do is adjust the thickness of the sauce.
Add more liquid stock if you’d like it thinner or stew the goulash for longer to thicken up a thin stock.
My vegan Hungarian goulash turned out quite thick, which is what I was going for.
But with the leftovers I added a little vegetable stock to thin it into a soupier texture and enjoyed it as a cup-of-soup for lunch the next day. It was delicious.
Vegan Hungarian Goulash
Serves 4 hearty portions.
Or 5-6 smaller meals.
Equipment
- Large sauté pan or non-stick saucepan.
Ingredients
- 1 large onion about 175 grams/ 1 1/2 cups. Chopped.
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 2 medium potatoes about 360 grams/2 3/4 cups. Chopped into rough cubes. I tend to leave the potato peel on if its unblemished and not too thick, just remove the blemished parts. The peel is where the fibre and vitamins are at!
- 2 small carrots about 150 grams/ 1 full cup. Chopped into small pieces.
- 1 red bell pepper about 1 cup. chopped into medium slices. Or other colour depending on what's available. or use frozen peppers.
- 1 yellow bell pepper about 1 cup. chopped into medium slices. Or use a green pepper. Or use frozen peppers.
- 100 grams dried soya chunks (TVP) about 2 cups. Or use dried soya curls.
- 1 tbsp paprika plus an extra tsp, so 1 tbsp and 1 tsp altogether.
- 1 tsp mild chilli powder
- 1 tsp caraway seeds Or fennel seeds.
- 1 vegetable stock cube I used a Marigold vegetable stock cube.
- 1 tbsp Tamari or light soy sauce
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 500 gram carton of tomato passata about 2 cups
Garnish and to serve
- 1 handful parsley, optional for the garnish stocks removed and leaves chopped alittle
- pasta, rice or noodles to serve put on to cook about 15-25 minutes before the goulash is ready, so it will be ready to serve at the same time.
Instructions
- Soak the soya chunks in boiling water. Add 1 tsp of yeast extract and mix.Leave for 20 minutes.Drain but reserve the liquid.
- Pour the soaking liquid into a measuring jug and top up with boiling water (if necessary) to 800 ml/ 2 3/4 cups. Add the stock cube and mix.
- Add the passata, tomato puree, carrots, potatoes, soya chunks, onion, garlic, fennel seeds, paprika, chilli powder, tamari to your pan. Mix well.
- Pour in the vegetable stock.Bring to the boil.
- Lower the heat and simmer for 25 minutes.Meanwhile prepare any accompaniments such as pasta, thick noodles, garlic bread. Rice will depend on the packet instructions as to when you need to start preparing. Add the bell peppers and apple cider vinegar.
- Simmer for 10 minutes with a lid on the pan. Stir a few times to make sure the stew is not sticking. if necessary add a splash of boiling water to loosen up.
- Check that the potatoes are soft.Taste the seasoning and add salt and pepper if liked.
- Serve with a sprinkling of chopped parsley if liked.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional analysis is for guidance only and is not exact as ingredients vary. The calculation is for 1 portion of Vegan Hungarian goulash minus any accompanying sides.
Vegan Hungarian Goulash Recipe Notes
- Soya chunks can be replaced with about 300 grams of fresh or frozen vegan chunks. Or even vegan burgers or sausages chopped up into pieces.
- Alternatively use a meaty precooked bean such as butter beans, kidney beans or borlotti. Its not authentic or traditional but it will still taste pretty good!
- Some cubed tofu or tempeh is a nice substitution for the soya chunks.
- Try subbing out the white potatoes with sweet potatoes. It will taste amazing!
- If you have more time to spare try toast the fennel or caraway seeds before adding to the dish to cook. Just heat a non-stick pan and throw in the seeds and shake them around until they smell delish and get some colour. When your pan is hot enough take off the heat and shake or push the seeds around as they will continue to cook. Toasting your seeds will add another depth of flavour to your goulash!
- If you don’t have caraway or fennel seeds but do have a dried ground variety use a teaspoon of this instead.
- Vegan Hungarian Goulash will keep fresh covered in the fridge for up to 3 days. Just reheat until piping hot before serving.
- Freeze any leftover portions to enjoy a speedy meal during those busy days. Although which days are not busy?!
Looking for more plant-based dinner ideas?
Check out my Vegan Irish Stew recipe. Its so tasty! Especially leftovers!
Looking for a new Fakeaway plant-based idea? My Mongolian Beef and Broccoli is so tasty!
This looks like a delicious meal, I’ve never heard about it before. Your step by step insructions are very helpful for us that we’re not perfect at cooking !
I couldn’t try it if without your detailed instructions 🙂
I really liked they story behind the recipe as well, excellent work!
Thanks! I’m really happy you liked my post. I really appreciate feedback as my blog is just a day old and I’m very new to food blogging! 🙂
Thank you very much for this recipe! I just did it tonight following the instructions step by step. It’s been my very first time using dried soya chunks and the goulash turned out really delicious. However, the soya chunks were quite chewy, which surprised me. Do they generally have that texture?
I had some pearled spelt with the goulash which was a nice accompaniment. All in all, a great recipe!
So glad you enjoyed the goulash! Yes the soya chunks are generally chewy but they can be soaked for longer or stewed longer and they do get a little softer but still have a chewy texture. I was unsure about soya chunks the first initial times I cooked with them but now I wouldn’t be without them as they are so versatile and really convenient to have in the cupboard for a quick meal. And I quite like the chewiness now! Pearled spelt sounds delicious! I will have to try and source a packet to try. Thanks!
I had vegan goulash in Budapest. The city had so many veganized traditional dishes!
That’s amazing that Budapest has lots of vegan traditional dishes, thanks for commenting! I want to go visit now 🙂