American Turkey Goulash with Pasta (One Pot)

Easy to make turkey goulash recipe. Made in American style with pasta, turkey and cheese – in one pot. Perfect comfort food for cold evenings and winter days.

Why make this recipe?

• Great comfort food
• Easy to make – one pot recipe
• Swap around ingredients for a different dish every time

What exactly is American style goulash

Until my friends mentioned this American style goulash, I only though there was the traditional beef goulash with potatoes or dumplings.

The difference between the American style goulash and the regular European goulash is mainly the use of pasta instead of dumplings or potatoes. You can find this recipe also labeled as slumgullion and it’s very close to an American chop suey dish.

It looks like this style of goulash was introduced into America by European, probably Hungarian immigrants who arrived there in the 19th Century. By 1914 the dish is already mentioned in cookery books and often being listed as just a ‘goulash’. I mean, if you live in America, you don’t need to call it ‘American goulash’!

Most goulash recipes include ground or minced beef, ground sweet or mildly spicey paprika powder and elbow style pasta.

What makes this recipe work

Going through the recipe in stages does make the flavour much stronger as you brown the onion, garlic, meat and then the mushrooms all separately.

My top tips on making this recipe successfully the first time round

Don’t overcook the pasta in the first stage. If you do the pasta will be too mushy at the end.

Time saving tip

This recipe will give you more than enough quantity for 4-6 people. It’s worth making the whole recipe and then freezing a few portions for later.

Pro tip

Don’t brown the onions until they are too brown – only see through. The onion (and the garlic) will continue to cook as you add the rest of the ingredients and you really don’t want the onions to be burned.

Any specialist equipment needed?

One large pot or a large saucepan or soup pot is all you need.

Allergies & dietary requirements

As it is, this recipe is not suitable for vegans, vegetarians and gluten-free diets.

How else you can make this recipe?

To make this dish vegan & vegetarian, use plant based cheese and soya chunks or similar ‘meat’ replacement.

To make this dish gluten free, use gluten free pasta shapes. Depending on what kind of pasta you use, they might cook slightly shorter or longer time than regular pasta, so adjust your timings accordingly.

Variations on this recipe

You can easily replace the turkey meat with beef or chicken or even leave it out altogether. You can also use any kind of pasta, although smaller sized pasta seems to work best with this recipe.

As for the vegetables, you can add more or less tomatoes or mushrooms and decide on the intensity of the seasoning. I prefer to use sweet paprika instead of very hot or even medium spicy paprika, but again, that’s your choice.

If you don’t have exactly the right ingredients or exactly the right amount, please don’t worry. This recipe is made for improvisation, so have fun with it as you cook!

Ingredients & Possible Substitutions

4 cups elbow macaroni or other smaller sized pasta (1lb)

4 cups water to boil the pasta

5 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cups ground (minced) turkey or minced beef or minced chicken (1lb)

1 onion chopped

3 garlic cloves chopped

2 tablespoons thyme leaves or other fresh herbs – parsley, ciliantro, chives, finely chopped

4 cups mixed mushrooms roughly chopped

3 cups canned tomatoes about 1 whole can or use fresh tomatoes

salt and freshly ground pepper to season

1/3 cup tomato paste

2 teaspoons ground paprika powder (sweet or spicy) add less or more to suit your taste

1 cup grated cheese to top the dish if finishing in the oven or to sprinkle on the dish when serving.

The method – Instructions How to make

Bring water in a large saucepan to boil, add a large pinch of salt and pasta and cook until it’s al dente (about 4-5 minutes) and fairly firm to bite.

Drain the pasta, but keep the pasta water (you might need it later if the mixture is too dry)

Using a very large heavy-bottomed pot, heat up some vegetable oil on medium heat and the ground turkey to brown. Cook for about 6-10 minutes, until the meat is browned over and you can’t see any pink.

Stir in the chopped onion, garlic and your choice of herbs together with salt and pepper and continue to brown until the onion looks a bit more opaque and see through.

Scoop out the browned onion and seasoning onto a plate or other suitable dish and keep for later.

Add more oil and chopped mushrooms and leave them to brown. This might take another 5-10 minutes.

Add the tinned (canned) tomatoes and tomato paste.

Add back the onion and seasoning mix and stir in.

Carry on cooking the mixture for another 15 minutes or until the sauce has thickened a little.

Stir in the cooked pasta and add liquid (if needed) from the reserved pasta water.

Simmer for a further 5-7 minutes or until the pasta is ready.

Season with salt and pepper and serve with grated cheese on the top.

Alternatively, you can also place the pasta goulash into a suitable baking dish, sprinkle with grated cheese and melt under a grill or in the oven for a few minutes.

How to serve this recipe

Serve piping hot with grated cheese on the top and chopped herbs for garnish. You already have pasta in this recipe, so it doesn’t really need any extra side dish or bread. If you wanted to, you could dress it up with a side salad.

Recipe size

This is a big pot meal made for the whole family of four with extras for second helpings! If you find this recipe size too big, half all the ingredients and make this recipe smaller.

Can I scale up or down this recipe?

Yes, absolutely. It’s easy to half the ingredients to make a smaller amount (2 people plus extra for second helpings or to freeze).

If you wanted to double up this recipe – say for a summer camp or very large family occasion, you’d probably need to cook it in two different pots or have industrial size saucepans that would take the volume of this recipe. Other than that it’s not a problem, as this American style turkey goulash is a very versatile recipe.

Can this recipe be made in advance?

Yes, this American style pasta goulash is even better second day as the flavours develop beautifully. It will be fine for 1-2 days, stored in the fridge. If you want to make it even more in advance, I’d recommend freezing the goulash.

How to store this recipe

Best kept in the fridge for 2-3 days or freeze on the same day.

Can I freeze the goulash

Yes, you can freeze it as long as you’ve used fresh ingredients and not frozen (for example the meat or the tomatoes), similarly to how you’d freeze curry dishes or other meat based meals.

Leave to cool down completely and then put into a suitable freezer container. I prefer to divide mine into 1 portion sizes, as it then makes it easier to take just what we need.

How to re-heat this recipe

You can either gently re-heat it on the hob, but you might need an extra bit of water at the bottom of the saucepan, to make sure the goulash doesn’t dry out too much.