Instant Pot Goulash Soup (Video)
Instant Pot Goulash Soup is a delicious and quick low-carb dinner with all the flavors that make Hungarian food so amazing! And this tasty soup uses the ground beef you probably keep in the freezer.
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Today I’m going to urge you to make this Instant Pot Goulash Soup if you’re a fan of Hungarian flavors! I’ve become a huge fan of making soup in the Instant Pot for a dinner that’s quick and easy, but you can make this in any kind of pressure cooker, or use the instructions from stovetop goulash soup and make it on the stove!
This soup is all about the spicy paprika, so if you’re not a fan of that flavor it may not be for you. I use both sweet and hot paprika for this Goulash Soup, but if you don’t have any hot paprika (sometimes called sharp) use a bit more sweet and a tiny pinch of cayenne.
I urge you to use real Hungarian Paprika if you can; the flavor is so different from the paprika you get in the grocery store. I’m a fan of Szeged Paprika (affiliate link), which I’ve been buying for years from Amazon.com, but any brand will be better than the paprika from the grocery store, unless you’re lucky enough to shop at a store that carries Hungarian Paprika.
What ingredients do you need?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- extra lean ground beef
- Olive Oil (affiliate link)
- red bell pepper
- onion
- Minced Garlic (affiliate link)
- Spanish Sweet Paprika (affiliate link)
- Sharp Hungarian Paprika (affiliate link)
- homemade Beef Stock or canned beef broth (affiliate link)
- petite diced tomatoes
- sour cream
What will make Instant Pot Goulash Soup extra good?
Please, definitely serve this Goulash soup with some sour cream to add at the table. Personally I’d never get tired of the Hungarian flavors in this tasty soup!
How to Make Instant Pot Goulash Soup:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- Turn the Instant Pot to saute’, heat 2 tsp. olive oil, and brown the ground beef, breaking apart with a turner as it cooks.
- When the beef is mostly browned, remove to a bowl (or drain on paper towels if you see much fat on the meat.)
- While beef cooks, cut up the onions and red pepper.
- Add the other tsp. olive oil with the onions and peppers and cook 3-4 minutes.
- Then add the minced garlic and the sweet and hot paprika and cook 2-3 minutes more, stirring a few times. (Do not skip that step of cooking the paprika.)
- Put the ground beef back into the Instant Pot (affiliate link) with the beef stock (or canned beef broth) and petite diced tomatoes.
- Lock the lid, choose SOUP (low pressure on my model) and set the time for 15 minutes.
- When it stops cooking, let the pressure release naturally for a few minutes, then quick release the rest.
- Serve hot, with a dollop of sour cream if desired.
- The addition of sour cream at the table is highly recommended by me, but this is dairy-free without the sour cream!
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I use a 6 Quart Instant Pot for all my Instant Pot Recipes. Check out my growing collection of Instant Pot Recipes! You can also find lots more Instant Pot Recipes on my Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker site!
More Soup Recipes with the Instant Pot:
- The BEST Low-Carb Instant Pot Soup Recipes
- Instant Pot Low-Carb Loaded Cauliflower Soup
- Instant Pot Low-Carb Zuppa Toscana Soup
Weekend Food Prep:
This recipe has been added to a new category called Weekend Food Prep to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!
Instant Pot Goulash Soup
This Instant Pot Goulash Soup uses ground beef and peppers and it's a delicious and quick low-carb dinner.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 – 2 lbs. extra lean ground beef (preferably less than 10% fat)
- 2 tsp. + 1 tsp. olive oil
- 1 large red bell pepper, stem and seeds removed and cut into short strips
- 1 large onion, cut into short strips
- 1 T minced garlic (minced garlic from a jar is fine)
- 2 T sweet paprika, preferably Hungarian paprika (I used Szeged Sweet Paprika, see notes.)
- 1/2 tsp. hot paprika, preferably Hungarian paprika (I used Szeged Hot Paprika, see notes. If you don’t have hot paprika, use a little more sweet paprika and a pinch of Cayenne pepper.)
- 4 cups homemade beef stock (or use a little less than 3 cans beef broth – 14 oz. can)
- 2 cans (14.5 oz. can) petite diced tomatoes
- sour cream for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Turn the Instant Pot (affiliate link) to saute’, heat the 2 tsp. olive oil, and cook the ground beef, breaking it apart with your fingers as you put it into the Instant Pot and also with a turner as it cooks.
- When the beef is mostly browned, remove to a bowl (or drain on paper towels on a plate if the meat looks at all greasy.)
- While the meat cooks, cut away the stem and seeds from the red pepper and cut into short strips. Cut onion into short strips, same size as the red pepper.
- Add the other tsp. olive oil to the Instant Pot, add the onions and peppers and cook 3-4 minutes.
- Then add the minced garlic, sweet paprika, and hot paprika and cook 2-3 minutes longer, stirring so the paprika is all cooked. (DO NOT skip the step of cooking the paprika with the onions and peppers.)
- Add the beef stock or broth and petite diced tomatoes, along with the ground beef.
- Lock the lid and use the SOUP setting, changing the time to 15 minutes. (On my Instant Pot SOUP is low pressure. If yours is different use the MANUAL setting and choose LOW PRESSURE – 15 minutes.)
- When the cooking stops, let the pressure release manually for a few minutes, then use quick release to finish releasing.
- Serve hot with a generous dollop of sour cream if desired.
Stovetop
- If you want to make this soup on the stovetop instead of in a pressure cooker, use these ingredients but follow the cooking times and instructions for Low-Carb Goulash Soup with Red Pepper and Cabbage.)
Notes
I used Szeged Paprika, both regular and hot (affiliate link) and homemade beef stock for this soup, but you can still get a good result with regular paprika and canned beef stock from the store.
Recipe created by Kalyn and Jake and inspired by a favorite Low-Carb Goulash Soup with Red Pepper and Cabbage.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 348Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 5gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 152mgSodium: 438mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 2gSugar: 4gProtein: 54g
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
This Instant Pot Goulash Soup is a perfect recipe for low-carb and Keto diets, and it can work for any phase of the original South Beach Diet with low-fat ground beef and dairy.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Instant Pot Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
The Instant Pot Goulash Soup was first posted in 2017. It was last updated with more information in 2023.
13 Comments on “Instant Pot Goulash Soup (Video)”
I just want to say that this recipe is AMAZING! Only thing I added was sea salt. Holy smokes, it’s so good! Thanks for sharing it.
Thanks, so glad you liked it!
Just got my Instant Pot today and decided to make this as my first recipe. Absolutely fantastic, thank you for such an easy introduction to this new gadget I now have!
How fun, glad you enjoyed the soup!
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I give two links after the recipe itself (where it says “Nutritional Information”) for suggestion of how to get that information. I’m not able to provide nutritional information for the recipes for several reason, including the additional time it takes, the difficulty in doing it accurately, and the sheer number of recipes on my site. That’s all I can do at this time. Thanks for understanding.
P.S. I just checked the link for Yummly, which says 6 carbs. They are not always accurate, but that seems about right for this recipe with no tomatoes or other high-carb ingredients.
So excited to see you talking about the Instant Pot! We are among those apparent millions who got one for Christmas, but ours is still in the box because it seemed somehow intimidating to jump into pressure cookers. Been following your fabulous recipes for years, so we will be happy to try this. Also, my husband is Hungarian but traditional Hungarian meals often take hours to make, so will be excited to try a quick version incorporating some of the same flavors. Thank you!
Hi Leslie, so glad you like it. I'm certainly not claiming this recipe is authentically Hungarian, but the flavors are inspired by Hungarian food!
This looks great, but I like the cabbage and jarred roasted red peppers (instead of fresh) from your original recipe. Would those 2 ingredients stand up to the 15 minutes of pressure in the Instant Pot? Or would I have to release pressure during that time to add one or both and bring the pressure back up again to finish (something I'd rather not do)?
I'm afraid I'm not enough of a pressure cooker expert to answer that, but what I would probably do is cook the soup for a slightly shorter time with the cabbage and roasted red peppers, then if it's not done to your liking when you release the pressure, just simmer in the pot for a few minutes until it seems right! Glad to hear you have enjoyed the original version!
Lydia I absolutely LOVE paprika, and even I don't use it all that often.