Best Hungarian Stew Recipes

HUNGARIAN LECSO - PEPPER, SAUSAGE AND TOMATO STEW

Steps:

• METHOD: In a heavy, straight-sided sauté pan or a casserole (like a Dutch Oven), melt three generous tablespoons of delicious lard.
• Prepare all peppers, core, devein and cut into 4-6 long narrow wedges.
• Cut onions into ½ moon slices. Place onions and peppers into the lard on high heat. Stir-fry until it becomes like a stew, cooked, but still firm; only about 6-8 minutes - no longer, you want the integrity of the peppers to remain in tact and the bright colours to stay. Then, add all seasonings, stewed tomatoes and paste.
• Adding the Hungarian Sausage: Take 1 pair of Hungarian Kolbász (Sausage) and slice it on the "diagonal" - the visual effect is important. You can add the slices right into the pepper stew and let it stew together if it's not too dry. Other sausage variations like Debrecen are ideal, but the drier ones, like the Gyulai sausage are exceptionally delicious. Note: if the sausage is too dry - stew beforehand in ½ cup water in a shallow saucepan for 10-15 minutes before adding it to the peppers. (Add both stewing liquid and sausage to the peppers).
• Let simmer until all flavours are melded; about 4-6 minutes. Warning - when you are stirring, use a wooden slotted spoon so as not to break up the peppers - you are not going for baby food!
• Serving Suggestions: Serve with fluffy white jasmine rice and/or fresh Hungarian white bread. You can jazz it up or play it down. However you use, it you will find it to be very complimentary with a variety of your favourite dishes.

HUNGARIAN BEEF STEW "GOULASH"

Steps:

• In the bottom of a heavy casserole saute the chopped bacon to render the fat. Add the onion to the bacon fat and brown until golden. Stir in the garlic but do not burn. Quickly add the beef in one layer, season with salt and pepper and brown all sides well.
• Sprinkle the paprika, marjoram and lemon zest in and quickly stir to coat the meat evenly.
• Add vinegar and wine and cook until nearly dry.
• Add the tomato and broth, bring to a boil quickly before lowering the heat to a simmer and cook gently for 45 minutes. Add the potatoes. Continue to cook for an additional 20 minutes before serving with buttered noodles.

HUNGARIAN VEAL STEW

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
• Slowly saute bacon, onion, butter and mushrooms until the onions and bacon are lightly browned.
• Remove the bacon, onion and mushrooms with a slotted spoon and place in a baking dish.
• Add the veal to the bacon fat/butter left in the frying pan.
• Brown meat on all sides.
• Remove meat from the frying pan and mix with mixture in the baking dish.
• Add the chicken broth, salt, pepper, paprika and sour cream to the bacon fat in the frying pan.
• Mix well and bring to almost boiling (do not boil).
• When hot pour over meat in baking dish.
• Cover dish with lid or tin foil and bake for 1 hour or until veal is tender.

HUNGARIAN STEW

Steps:

• Place potatoes and onions in a 3-qt. slow cooker. In a large skillet, brown meat in oil on all sides. Place over potato mixture., Pour off excess fat from skillet. Add water to the drippings, stirring to loosen browned bits from pan; heat through. Stir in the paprika, salt, caraway seeds, tomato paste and garlic. Pour into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. , Add green peppers and tomatoes; cover and cook 1 hour longer or until meat and vegetables are tender. With a slotted spoon, transfer meat and vegetables to a large serving bowl; cover and keep warm. , Pour cooking juices into a small saucepan. Combine flour and cold water until smooth; gradually whisk into the pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; whisk in sour cream. Stir into meat mixture.

HUNGARIAN GOULASH STEW

Steps:

• Cut beef into 1 inch squares, add 1/2 tsp. salt and lightly dust with plain flour.
• Chop onions and brown in oil, add beef and paprika. Add garlic and chopped tomato.
• Let beef simmer in its own juice along with salt and paprika for 1 hr on very low heat.
• Add water, diced potatoes and remaining salt. Cover and simmer until potatoes are done and meat is tender.
• Add more paprika if required towards the end, sauce should be thick and flavorsome. You can also add a tablespoon of flour at end to thicken slightly.
• Prepare the nokedli to accompany the goulash:
• Hand-beat eggs with fork for 30 secs and add water. Add flour to beaten eggs and add salt.
• Mix well until it forms a ball. Let it stand for 1/2 hour for flour to mellow.
• Take a teaspoonful of the mix and drop into boiling water. Repeat until mix is finished. Once dumplings rise to surface they are ready (normally takes about 1 min).
• Once you have removed all the nokedli, mix it in with a bit of salted butter and chopped parley.
• Mix the sourcream and horseradish cream. Top the goulash with the cream. Garnish with parsley and serve it with the nokedli.

HUNGARIAN BEEF STEW WITH DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Cut steak into 2-inch cubes, removing fat and any tough sinews. In a large skillet, heat oil. Add meat and brown thoroughly on all sides. Remove meat to plate with slotted spoon and set aside. To oil in skillet, add onions, garlic, paprika, salt and pepper. Cook until onions are translucent. Return meat and plate juices to pan and sprinkle mixture with flour.
• Cook, stirring frequently, over low heat until flour is browned. Add green pepper, celery and carrots. Add enough beef stock to cover mixture and simmer 1 hour or until meat is tender. Ten minutes before stew is done, add dumplings (recipe follows) and cover skillet. (If desired, peeled and quartered potatoes may be added halfway through cooking time instead of dumplings.).
• To make dumplings, in a large bowl, combine all dumpling ingredients and blend thoroughly. Drop by spoonfuls into large pot of boiling salted water. When dumplings double in size and rise to the surface, remove with slotted spoon and cool in colander. Add to stew during the last 10 minutes. The dumplings can be made ahead, refrigerated and reheated.

HUNGARIAN LENTIL STEW

Steps:

• If desired, place lentils in a bowl with water to cover, and soak overnight; this step may be skipped, but makes lentils more digestible.
• Place a large (5- to 6-quart) saucepan over medium-low heat, and add oil and onion. Sauté until tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Add garlic and paprika, and sauté until garlic is fragrant, 1 minute more. Add lentils, 8 cups water and bay leaves. Increase heat to bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until lentils are tender, about 50 minutes; add water as needed if mixture seems too thick.
• When lentils are tender, in a small bowl stir together sour cream, flour and milk. Add to lentils and simmer 2 to 3 minutes. Add salt, brown sugar, mustard and lemon juice, adjusting amounts as needed for a slightly piquant flavor. If desired, remove and discard bay leaves. Serve hot.

TRADITIONAL HUNGARIAN BEEF GOULASH STEW

Steps:

• Heat oil in a deep frypan and cook onions on a medium heat until soft and translucent. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
• Add paprika to onion and stir through.
• Add diced meat to mixture and coat and marinade the mixture whilst you prepare the tomato and capsicum. Make sure you keep the juice from the tomato to add to the dish.
• Stir in the tomato and capsicum and return to a medium/high heat and allow to cook for a few minutes on this heat before reducing the heat to medium/low. Cover with a lid for this to cook.
• After 15 minutes, add the wine and salt, stir and simmer for 1 hour at least with a cover/lid, stirring occasionally.
• NOTE: do not brown the meat before adding to the onions -- it must marinade and cook with the vegetables so the juices create a nice flavorsome gravy.
• Serve with mashed potato or boiled rice and a simple side salad of lettuce and vinegar.

HUNGARIAN VEAL STEW (BORJUPöRKöLT)

Steps:

• Heat the oil in large saucepan and fry the onion and garlic gently until onion is golden;.
• add tomato juice and 1 cup stock.
• Sprinkle on the paprika and when this is bubbling add the meat and stir to coat it.
• Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and braise slowly for about 45 minutes to 1 hour or until very tender.
• When everything else is cooked through, add potatoes, salt, pepper, remaining stock, and taste for seasonings; cook 25-30 minutes more.
• Serve with nokedli or csipetke.

HUNGARIAN LAMB STEW

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Using a slotted spoon, remove to paper towels, reserving drippings. Cook onions in drippings until tender. Remove onions. Brown meat in drippings on all sides over medium-high heat. , Return bacon and onions to pan along with the paprika, salt, caraway, garlic and half the peppers. Add water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1-1/2 hours. Add additional water, if necessary. , Stir in potatoes and remaining peppers. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer for 20 minutes. Add tomatoes; simmer 10 minutes longer or until meat and vegetables are tender. Adjust seasoning, if necessary.

HUNGARIAN SWEET (OR SOUR) CABBAGE STEW

Steps:

• 1. Sauté the onion in the oil on medium heat till soft and jammy looking. You can add some water now and then if you feel it is going to brown too much.
• 2. Add the garlic and the meat. If you are using raw meat it will take time to cook through till it is falling apart and oh so tender and falling off the bones. If you are using just the salami/sausage or a mix of both add them and cook till tender.
• 3. Add the potato, the cabbage (and if you are making the sour version add the sauerkraut too), parsley and stir till the cabbage starts to wilt... add enough water to cover it and salt to taste.
• 4. In another pot put the flour and enough oil to make a toothpaste thick roux and cook till it changes colour to a lighter shade. Then add paprika and stir till spice is toasted and fragrant. Pour roux over the cabbage soup and stir through, bring to a boil and this should thicken it and add a nice Hungarian taste to it via the paprika
• 5. Serve with a dash of sour cream if you like... Or as is and have crusty bread with it.

SLOW-COOKER HUNGARIAN BEEF STEW

Steps:

• Spray 3- to 4-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Toss beef, potatoes, onions, flour, paprika, peppered seasoned salt and caraway seed in cooker until well mixed. Stir in broth.
• Cover and cook on Low heat setting 7 to 8 hours.
• Stir in peas and sour cream. Cover and cook on Low heat setting about 15 minutes or until peas are tender.

HUNGARIAN GREEN PEPPER STEW (AKA: LETCHO)

Steps:

• Cut bacon slices into smaller pieces and fry them in the same pot you're going to use for cooking the stew.
• Add and heat oil.
• Add diced onions. Cook onions on medium high heat until caramelized. Stir frequently, don't let them burn.
• As soon as the onions are done, add the peppers.
• Add salt, black pepper, garlic, caraway seeds and paprika.
• Stirring constantly, cook for a couple of minutes.
• Add tomatoes.
• Add a cup of water.
• Cover pot and simmer until peppers are done to your taste, 10-20 minutes.
• Add more salt and black pepper if needed.
• You might also have to add more water during the cooking process or evaporate extra liquid at the end. This depends on how juicy the tomato was and on the way you're going to serve the dish.
• If you like sausages, add about 1 lb. of sliced Polish Sausages or mini-smokes to the browned onions. Do not use uncooked sausages.
• Stir and fry sausages for 5 minutes before adding the peppers. Add less salt to the dish.
• You can thicken the stew with one or two eggs (scramble them first) at the end of the cooking process. Mix well.

SLOW-COOKER HUNGARIAN BEEF STEW

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients except sour cream and egg noodles in a 3 1/2 quart or larger slow-cooker. (Can be done the night before. Refrigerate in removable crock or, if crock can't be removed, in a covered bowl, then transferred to slow-cooker to cook.).
• Cover and cook on low 8 to 10 hours until tender. Turn off cooker and stir in sour cream until well blended.
• Serve over Egg Noodles.

HUNGARIAN PORK AND LENTIL STEW

Steps:

• In a large, deep saucepan, heat the olive oil over the high heat. Add in the onion, pork, hot and Hungarian paprika. Stir until browned. It should take about 4 minutes.
• Add in the lentils, thyme, tomato paste, sugar, stock. Season to taste. Bring the mixture to a boil.
• Lower the heat to very minimal. Cover with lid and cook, for approximately 18 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Uncover and cook for further 25 minutes. Make sure it becomes thick. Remove from the heat, then set aside for about 8 minutes.
• Meanwhile, prepare the tomato. By using a sharp knife, cut the tomato in half, then remove the seeds. Slice the flesh into thin strips.
• To serve, stir in the yoghurt to the stew. Scatter with tomato. To better fill your stomach, serve with some rice.

HUNGARIAN HOT STEW "HUNKY STEW"

Steps:

• Cut meat into 2-3" chunks and put into a large pot or Dutch oven. Sprinkle with hot pepper seeds-to taste.
• Layer all of the ingredients in the order given, just make sure the the tomato juice and sauce cover the veggies but not so much it becomes a soup. Wiggle the pan so the sauce distributes throughout.
• Cook on medium to medium-low heat for 1 hour, skimming when needed and stirring occasionally (at this point you want to stir carefully so as not to disrupt the layering too much).
• Cook an additional hour or so on medium-low or until the carrots are done.
• Serve with crusty bread (for sopping-very important!) and salad.

HUNGARIAN MUSHROOM STEW

Steps:

• Melt butter in frying pan, add onions, and saute until tender.
• Add mushrooms and saute for a few more minutes, adding more butter if needed.
• Add peppers and saute 5 minutes, until mushrooms are soft and brown.
• Add garlic and saute another 2 minutes.
• Add spices, sugar, tomatoes and red wine and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Serve over dumplings or noodles.

PORKOLT (HUNGARIAN STEW) MADE WITH PORK

Steps:

• Place the bacon in a large, deep skillet, and cook over medium-high heat until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Drain, and reserve the drippings. Add the onions to the bacon and cook together until the onion is translucent. Remove skillet from heat and stir the paprika, garlic powder, and pepper into the bacon mixture. Transfer the mixture into a large stockpot.
• Heat a small amount of the reserved bacon drippings in the skillet again over medium-high heat. Cook the pork chops in batches in the hot drippings until evenly browned on both sides. Use additional bacon drippings for each batch as needed. Remove the pork chops to a cutting board and blot excess fat off the surface of the chops with a paper towel; cut into bite-sized cubes and stir into the bacon mixture.
• Heat a small amount of the bacon drippings in the skillet; cook and stir the bell pepper in the hot drippings until softened and fragrant; drain on a plate lined with paper towels. Stir the cooked pepper into the bacon mixture.
• Pour the tomatoes with liquid and beef broth into a stockpot and place the pot over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook until the stew begins to thicken, stirring occasionally, about 90 minutes.
• Bring a pot with lightly-salted water and bring to a rolling boil; add the egg noodles to the water and return to a boil. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pasta has cooked through, but is still firm to the bite, about 5 minutes. Drain well in a colander set in the sink.
• Stir the sour cream into the stew just before serving. Ladle the stew over the drained noodles.

HUNGARIAN MEATBALL STEW

Steps:

• 1. In a large bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, beef, egg, 1 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper. Mix well and form into 1-1/2-inch meatballs.
• 2. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs in batches and cook, turning often, until lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain on paper towels.
• 3. Pour off all but 1 Tbsp. of the oil in the skillet and add the carrots, onion and celery. Cook, stirring constantly, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the flour and paprika and cook for 1 minute. Pour in the beef broth and bring to a boil over high heat, scraping up any browned bits. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the reserved meatballs and caraway seeds. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes.
• 4. Serve with buttered noodles.

HUNGARIAN STEW

Steps:

• In 3 1/2 to 4- quart cooker, combine beef, carrots, onion and bell pepper. Add flour, paprika, salt, thyme and pepper; toss to coat. Add chili sauce and broth; mix well.
• Cover; cook on low setting for 7 to 8 hours.
• Allow 35 minutes before serving, stir mushrooms into stew. Cover; cook on low setting an additional 20 to 30 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Meanwhile, cook noodles to desired doneness as directed on the package. Drain.
• At serving time, stir sour cram into stew until well mixed. Spoon noodles into individual shallow bowls. Top each with stew. Sprinkle with parsley.