Czech Beef Goulash Potato (Printable)

Tender beef in spiced paprika sauce paired with crispy fried potato strips for a rich meal.

# What You’ll Need:

→ Goulash

01 - 1.75 lbs beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes
02 - 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
03 - 2 large onions, finely chopped
04 - 3 cloves garlic, minced
05 - 2 tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika
06 - 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
07 - 1 teaspoon marjoram
08 - 1 teaspoon salt
09 - ½ teaspoon black pepper
10 - 2 tablespoons tomato paste
11 - 3 cups beef broth
12 - 1 bell pepper, diced
13 - 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour or gluten-free flour
14 - 1 bay leaf

→ Potato Strips

15 - 4 large potatoes, peeled
16 - 2 cups vegetable oil, for frying
17 - Salt, to taste

# How To Make It:

01 - Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add finely chopped onions and cook until golden, about 8 minutes.
02 - Stir in minced garlic, caraway seeds, and Hungarian paprika. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly to prevent paprika from burning.
03 - Add beef cubes and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes.
04 - Stir in tomato paste, marjoram, salt, black pepper, and bay leaf evenly.
05 - Sprinkle flour over the meat and stir thoroughly. Add diced bell pepper.
06 - Pour in beef broth and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer gently for 1.5 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally until beef is tender and sauce thickens.
07 - While goulash simmers, cut peeled potatoes into thin matchsticks using a mandoline or sharp knife.
08 - Rinse potato strips under cold water and pat dry thoroughly with a clean towel.
09 - Heat 2 cups vegetable oil in a deep pan to 350°F (180°C). Fry potato strips in batches until golden and crispy, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Drain on paper towels and season with salt.
10 - Remove bay leaf from goulash, adjust seasoning as needed, and ladle hot goulash into bowls. Top with crispy potato strips and serve immediately.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • The paprika-spiced sauce develops a rich, almost velvety depth as it simmers, making the beef impossibly tender without any fussy techniques.
  • Those crispy potato strips give you texture contrast in every spoonful—a textural surprise that makes the whole dish feel more substantial than it actually is.
  • It's the kind of meal that tastes like you've been cooking all day, but most of that time is hands-off simmering while you do other things.
02 -
  • Don't skip the gentle toasting of the paprika and caraway—this is where the dish's character lives, and rushing through it leaves you with a flat-tasting pot of stew instead of the real thing.
  • The potatoes must be dried thoroughly before frying, and your oil temperature must be exact; I learned this the hard way after a spluttering incident that singed my forearm and gave me limp potatoes to boot.
  • The sauce will seem thin partway through cooking—trust the process, keep the lid on, and resist the urge to add more flour, because by the end it develops the right consistency naturally.
03 -
  • If your sauce seems too thin after cooking, mix a teaspoon of cornstarch with a little cold water, stir it in, and simmer for another minute or two—but usually patience is the real answer.
  • Brown the beef well before braising; those caramelized edges give you depth that nothing else can replicate, and it's worth taking the extra 5 minutes to do it properly.
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