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Who grew up with Goulash? I did! It was a meal we had often. I adapted this classic one-pot dish so the next generation can enjoy it, too! Instant Pot American Goulash is a pressure cooker goulash that is a one-pot meal. You can make this on a weeknight in under an hour, and have the gang all fed with a big bowl of comfort food!
Instant Pot American Goulash
Mom made the best goulash, and I wish I had written down her recipe. Over the years I have just winged it, but when a lady from our church shared her recipe with me, I knew this was very close to my mom’s recipe!
I recently decided to try it in my Instant Pot. I like the one-pot simplicity, and not having to cook the macaroni in a separate pot! So now I make Instant Pot American Goulash more often than I made the traditional. It’s so much easier!
This is a pretty versatile goulash. If you want, you can throw in frozen mixed veggies in place of the corn. You can use a can of beans, and can serve it with or without cheese added. We rarely had good cheese, so I’m used to having it without. It’s optional!
Some people grew up with the soy sauce version, while others, like me, had the Worcestershire sauce version. A friend of mine told me the soy sauce version was called American Chop Suey in their house. Pretty much the same thing.
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Instant Pot American Goulash
Ingredients
- 2 tsp Olive Oil (only if using ground turkey)
- 1 lb Ground Beef or Ground Turkey (93% lean)
- 1 Onion, diced
- ½ cup Celery, diced
- 2 Bay Leaves
- ¼ tsp Red Pepper Flakes (optional)
- 2 tsp Italian Seasoning
- ½ tsp Pepper
- 1 tsp Salt (or more to taste)
- 5 cloves Garlic, pressed or minced
- 1 ½ Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce ( or Soy Sauce)
- 1 Green Bell Pepper, chopped
- 4 cups Chicken Broth, low sodium
- 2 cups (9 oz) Small Elbow Macaroni (If you use penne, you will need 3 cups. Weigh your pasta if you can)
- 1 Tbsp Paprika
- (1) 14 oz can Diced Tomatoes (with juice)
- (1) 14 oz can Tomato Sauce (or Marinara Sauce, 2 cups)
To Finish
- 1 ½ cups Corn, frozen or canned
- ¼ cup Fresh Parsley, chopped
Optional
- 1-2 cups Cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Turn on the pressure cooker's Sauté setting. When the pot is hot add oil (if using ground turkey) or add the ground beef. Also add onion, celery, bay leaves. Cook until onion starts to turn translucent.
- Add the red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning, pepper, salt, garlic, Worcestershire (or soy sauce), and green bell pepper. Stir, and sauté for a couple of minutes.
- Pour in the broth and stir. Put a glass lid on the pot and let the broth heat up to barely a simmer. Then add the macaroni and paprika. Stir.
- Add the diced tomatoes and the tomato sauce, but do not stir.
- Put the lid on the pot and lock in place. Set the steam release knob to the Sealing position.
- Cancel the Sauté setting and press the Pressure Cook/Manual button (or dial), Then use the + or - button (or dial) to choose 4 minutes (choose 3 if you like more al dente firm pasta).
- When the cooking cycle is finished, do a controlled Quick Release of the steam/pressure by turning the knob towards the Venting position in bursts, until you feel confident that no sauce will come out of the steam vent with the steam. Then turn the knob all the way to the Venting position to continue venting all of the steam.
- When the pin in the lid drops down, open the lid facing away from you. Then give the goulash a stir. Taste and adjust salt, if desired.
- Add the corn and the parsley. Stir in the cheese, if you are using it.
- Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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How would you convert this into a freezer meal? I would like to do most of the prep work over the weekend and freeze it for later that week/month.
I would make it without the pasta, then cool and freeze it. When you heat it, make some pasta separately and add it to the heated mixture.
Can I use Marinara sauce instead of tomato sauce?
Sure! It’s a little thicker, but should work fine. Don’t stir it, just don’t stir it until after it cooks.
I made this without meat. I used mazarella & fresh herbs. I used too much pasta, but it was fantastic. I’m going to make authentic Hungarian Goulash tomorrow. This is the American edition.
Hi Jan, I’m so glad you liked this goulash! Thank you for your review.
I made this goulash tonight using chicken thighs . It was so good!!! Thanks for this recipe!!
Chicken thighs are a great choice for this recipe! I’m so glad you liked it. Thank you for your review!
Hi Sandy
What is a can of tomato sauce? It’s not ketchup is it? Do I use tomato paste or passata? I’m not from the states.
Thanks,
Yvonne
Hi Yvonne, you can use passata, though you may need to add extra salt or seasoning. Just be sure to taste it before doing so. You can Google the ingredients and learn more about what makes up tomato sauce. Hope this helps.
Hi Sandy,
I made it tonight and I thought it was great! My bf went back for seconds. I used passata and added some onion powder and garlic powder to it. It’s probably not exactly the same as your can of tomato sauce but I enjoyed the outcome nevertheless!
Thanks from Australia,
Yvonne
Oh good! I’m glad it worked for you, Yvonne! Thank you for letting me know!
If I don’t have a pressure cooker, what do you recommend for cook time on the stove top?
Hi Paige, just until the pasta is done to your liking (after cooking the meat and such).
No not ketchup. I’m married to an Aussie and I know it can get confusing. She means tomato purée ?
Flavors were good but it was like soup… Way to much liquid… I had to use a slotted spoon. I followed the recipe exactly except used penne as I didn’t have elbows, do you think that would make that much of a difference?
Hi Heather, I’m sorry that you had that experience. This is a bit of a soupy goulash, but not that much! If you measured the penne in cups, and used 2 cups, it would not have been enough. The small elbows are going to have more per cup due to their shape and size. 2 cups of small elbows weighs 9 oz, and 2 cups of penne weighs only 6 oz. Next time, either try it with elbows, or if you like using penne, add 1 extra cup and see how that works. Thank you for writing this review, as it may help others. I will make a note on the recipe about the weight! Please let me know if you make it again, and how it comes out.
Made this last night. Took about an hour from start to finish, but the simplicity of the one pot dinner makes it worth while. Followed recipe as written, very easy, and turned out great. Even my 15mo old like it! I did do 5min high pressure though because I didn’t want to wait for broth to get to a simmer. Will keep in our cold weather rotation, thanks!
Hi Zarah, I’m so glad that you and your sweet baby liked this recipe! Thank you for your review!
Would the time be the same if I used rotini pasta? I used to make this with rotini
Teena, for pasta, the rule of thumb is to cook for half the amount of time the package directions calls for. So if the directions on the package say to cook for 10 minutes, you would pressure cook for 5 minutes. Hope this helps!
Amazing! The slices blended very well together . I omitted the chili pepper flakes. I forgot to layer the tomatoes and tomato Sauce correctly and it still came out great. I added 2 cups of cheddar cheese to this. I also used dry parsley flakes. Turned out Amazing! This made me feel like a fancy chef
Just finished making this. My quality control test was awesome.
I did add 1can of Rotel and about 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. I will definitely made this again. Thank you.
Hi Suelane, I’m so glad that you liked this Goulash recipe! Rotel will definitely add some spice, yum! Thank you for your review!
Made this last night and it came out perfect!!! It’s a keeper!
Awesome, Jane! Thanks for the review!
Love the flavor and texture of this hot dish. Easy to make Next time maybe less pasta; we used small elbow. the. cheese is a nice add. I give it 5 stars – second time serving this dish – perfect for this cold wet day! I would have posted a photo but can’t figure out how.