Better-than-Mom’s Hamburger Goulash
This Hamburger Goulash may be better than the one your mom used to make, and this recipe will be a hit with the family! And I updated the recipe to use more ground beef and use Fiber Gourmet Light Elbows so it’s not that much of a splurge on carbs!
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Better-than-Mom’s Hamburger Goulash tastes like pure comfort food! And recently I decided to try making it with the Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta I’m so infatuated with. I also increased the ground beef for a version of hamburger goulash that’s relatively low in carbs!
The recipe starts with lean ground beef, onions, tomato sauce, and canned tomatoes. Those are simmered together with the perfect spices; then dry macaroni is added and simmered with the other ingredients. It’s hard to say just what makes this so lick-the-plate delicious, but we kept saying how good it was when we tested it!
And I got a bit obsessed with the new lower-carb version. I made it many times and even served it to my contractor Steve, and he gave it rave reviews. And now I have a few containers in the freezer to eat when I need a quick comfort-food dinner.
I love Hamburger Goulash with a generous dollop of sour cream like you see in the photos. It would also be good with Parmesan cheese, or skip both of those for a recipe that’s dairy free. And if your mom also used to make this kind of dish, I hope you’ll try this lower-carb version and see what you think!
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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.)
- Olive Oil (affiliate link)
- ground beef
- onion
- Minced Garlic (affiliate link)
- water
- tomato sauce
- petite diced tomatoes
- Italian Herb Seasoning (affiliate link)
- Bay Leaves (affiliate link)
- soy sauce or Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (affiliate link)
- Sugar Free Montreal Steak Seasoning, Szeged Steak Rub (affiliate link), or your favorite purchased steak seasoning
- salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
- Fiber Gourmet Light Elbows (affiliate link) or other macaroni of your choice
- sour cream or Parmesan cheese for serving, optional
Why is this recipe called Goulash?
If you’re used to Goulash being a Hungarian specialty with beef, tomatoes, paprika, and sour cream, you might be puzzled by this recipe title. But this dish that’s sometimes called American Goulash is a famous comfort-food meal in the U.S. that’s usually a hit with kids and adults.
How did I make Hamburger Goulash lower in carbs?
When I change a recipe I know there will be fans of the original version, so I try to tell what was changed. In this lower-carb recipe I increased the amount of ground beef from one pound to one-and-one-half pounds and switched the one cup of regular macaroni for Fiber Gourmet Light Elbows (affiliate link)!
More About Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta:
The biggest drawback to Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta for many people will be the price. I haven’t found it in stores, so I buy 6 boxes and get it for about $6.00 per box at Amazon. (affiliate link). It’s such a treat to have real pasta flavor with fewer carbs that don’t mind buying six boxes at once. And in the recipes where I’m using it I use more lower-carb ingredients and less pasta, so that also makes the cost-per-serving less for the pasta.
How low in carbs is this Hamburger Goulash Recipe?
The updated version of this recipe makes eight servings with 13.5 net carbs per serving and 27.5 grams of protein. (Even if you have a larger serving and make this recipe serve six, each serving will only have 17.9 net carbs.)
Why is this called Hamburger Goulash?
People who aren’t native English speakers might used to thinking of the word hamburger meaning a sandwich with ground beef, but in the U. S. the ground beef itself is also commonly called hamburger.
How to make Better-than-Mom’s Hamburger Goulash:
(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.)
- Heat a little olive oil in a large non-stick skillet and brown the ground beef.
- Push the beef to the side of the pan, add onions, and cook until they start to brown. Add garlic and cook a couple minutes more, then stir ground beef, onions, and garlic together..
- Add water, tomato sauce, canned tomatoes, Italian Herb Seasoning, bay leaves, soy sauce, garlic powder, Steak Seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste and cook at a low simmer with the pan covered, about 20 minutes.
- This is the Fiber Gourmet Light Elbows (affiliate link) we used, but even if you use regular macaroni this recipe only uses one cup.
- Add the macaroni, stir it into the sauce, cover the pan, and simmer on low for 30 minutes.
- Let the mixture sit for about 10 minutes before you eat it (if you can manage to wait that long.)
- Serve hot, with a dollop of sour cream or grated Parmesan to add at the table.
- This Hamburger Goulash will keep in the fridge for several days and also freezes well.
Make it a low-carb meal:
This recipe could easily be a one-dish meal with an easy Spring Mix Salad on the side. It would also be delicious with Lemon Parmesan Kale Salad or Kalyn’s Favorite Baby Arugula Salad. If even the lower-carb pasta is a carb splurge for you, I’d be sure to choose side dishes that are extra low in carbs.
More Comfort Food with Ground Beef:
- Ground Beef Stroganoff Casserole
- Ground Beef Chili with Olives (Instant Pot or Stovetop)
- Middle Eastern Ground Beef Bowls
Better-than-Mom's Hamburger Goulash
When you need some homemade comfort food, this Better-than-Mom’s Hamburger Goulash will do the trick! And I've updated the recipe to use more beef and use Fiber Gourmet Light Elbows so now it's much lower in carbs!
Ingredients
- 2 tsp. olive oil
- 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 tsp. minced garlic
- 1 1/2 cups water
- one 15 oz. can tomato sauce
- one 15 oz. petite diced tomatoes with juice
- 1 T Italian Herb Blend
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 T soy sauce
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. Montreal Steak Seasoning (or use your favorite purchased steak seasoning)
- salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
- 1 cup Fiber Gourmet Light Elbows (see notes)
- sour cream or Parmesan cheese for serving, optional
Instructions
- In a large non-stick pan, heat the olive oil, add the ground beef, and cook until it’s well-browned, breaking apart with the turner as it cooks.
- Push the beef to the side of the pan, add the onions and cook until the onions start to brown, about 5 minutes.
- Add the minced garlic and cook about 2 minutes more.
- Add the water, tomato sauce, petite dice tomatoes and juice, Italian Herb Seasoning (affiliate link), bay leaves, soy sauce, garlic powder, Montreal Steak Seasoning, salt, and pepper
- Stir the mixture together, then cover the pan and simmer about 10 minutes
- Add the macaroni, cover the pan again, and simmer 30 minutes
- Remove from the heat, discard the bay leaves, and let the mixture sit for a few minutes before serving. (We only made it about 10 minutes, which was fine.
- Serve hot, with a dollop of sour cream or some Parmesan cheese if desired.
- Hamburger Goulash will keep in the fridge for several days and also freezes well.
Notes
We made this recipe with Fiber Gourmet Light Elbows (affiliate link) to make it lower in carbs, but if you don't care about that use any macaroni you prefer.
This recipe originally adapted slightly from Bobby’s Goulash by Paula Deen.
Nutrition Information
Yield
8Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 330Total Fat 16.5gSaturated Fat 5.8gUnsaturated Fat 8.1gCholesterol 76mgSodium 817mgCarbohydrates 27.8gFiber 14.3gSugar 4.5gProtein 28.5g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
With the increased amount of ground beef and Fiber Gourmet Light Elbows, this Hamburger Goulash has only 13.5 net carbs per serving. If you’re following the original South Beach Diet, I’m not sure if Fiber Gourmet Pasta would be approved for that but you could use whole wheat macaroni and lean ground beef to make a version that was South Beach Diet friendly.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Pasta Recipes or Skillet Meals to find more ideas like this! Use the Diet Type Index to find 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:
This ground beef goulash recipe was first posted in 2013. The recipe was adapted into a lower-carb version in 2024, and it was last updated with more information in 2026.
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57 Comments on “Better-than-Mom’s Hamburger Goulash”
very tasty–I used a jar of my preserved tomatos and omited the tomato sauce—will definitely be cooking this recipe again–thank you
So glad you enjoyed the recipe. This is something I have enjoyed and made many times myself.
Made it tonight for supper. Very easy to put together for starters. The taste was yummy. Family loved it.
I substituted a can of basil tomato soup for some of the required tomato sauce in the recipe above. ❤️
So glad you enjoyed it! This is a favorite for me.
I cannot seem to find the “Print Recipe” button or link?
Disregard… I found it. half way to three quarter way down the page. in the grey box.
If you’re not familiar with it, there is a link that says JUMP TO RECIPE at the top of every post. That will take you directly to the complete recipe where the PRINT button is!
This was a wonderful super tasty recipe. We did add some Tomato Sauce (22ounces) but we wanted to use up lots of fresh garden tomatoes so we added 16 ounces of finely chopped fresh tomatoes and it was a divine dish. And we chopped in 7 sprigs of fresh parsley too.
So glad you loved the recipe and were able to adapt it to use your garden tomatoes too!
Do you cook the pasta first? Or put it in the mixture hard?
You cook the dry pasta in the tomato sauce mixture.
This was very good! I used the fiber gourmet pasta and it cooked perfectly in the sauce. I love that it was all done in one pan. Hubs liked it too! Definitely a make again. Thank you!
I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it Debbie!
I have made this several times! Always get compliments on it. My family likes a lot of meat so I double the Hamburg. Delicious and easy to prepare. Leftovers are amazing too!
So glad you have enjoyed it!
can i add extra tomato sauce and diced tomates
You can, but I haven’t done that so I can’t tell you exactly how it will turn out. I’d say this is not overly saucy, so if you’re wanting a goulash with more sauce that might work out just fine.
This is one of my favorite dishes. I love all your recipes. They are good and easy to make. I will definitely try it. It is very simile and easy to make.
Do you think I could do this in an Instantpot Kalyn? I’ve made your recipe many times and I just bought an Instantpot and saw another goulash recipe online and it only took 4 minuets!
You probably can, but I haven’t ever made it that way so I wouldn’t be able to tell you exactly how to do it. You could look at some Instant Pot Goulash Recipes (or other pasta recipes) for guidance and timing. My only concern is that I know tomato-based sauces can burn in the Instant pot if there is not enough liquid. Maybe compare my amounts with other recipes. Love to hear how it works if you try it.
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This was honestly amazing! I’ll be adding this into my winter rotation for sure! Thank you 🙂
So glad you enjoyed it. Whenever I really need some comfort food, this is one of the first recipes I think of!
I use V-8 juice instead of pasta sauce. I love the additional spices and soy sauce! Great recipe. Can’t wait to try it.
Maryann
Very fun; I love that idea for a little more flavor!
I just made this and man oh man, is it good. I followed the recipe exactly and wouldn't change a thing. Thanks for another great comfort food recipe!
SO glad you enjoyed it!
I bought Montreal Steak Seasoning just for this recipe and am wondering what else I can use it for other than this recipe and on steaks. Any thoughts?
Enter Monteal into the search bar on the site and you'll find any other recipes where I've used it. Could also check with google. Not thinking of anything off the top of my head, sorry.
I hate macaroni! Yes Hate it!! OMG!!! My hubby is going to be so happy I found your recipe!!! It's so tasty!!! I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this recipe!!! Thanks for sharing this!!!!
Fran, so glad you liked it!
I think crushed tomatoes are a good choice. Hope you enjoy!
Decided to sub with crushed asost recipes can use either. Hoping it comes out OK. I just don't like my tomatoes to obviously look like tomatoes lol
Shianne, without experimenting I'm not really sure how that would work. But if you want to try it, you can always add more water while it cooks, so start with less than you might need.
Can I substitute tomato paste for the diced tomatoes and if so do I need to adjust the water ratio?
Rubysmom, so glad you liked it. It's been a hit here when I have made it for family parties several times.
Very good! Perfect amount of seasoning and simple to make for a weeknight. Thanks!
Jen, fun to hear your memories of the recipe!
My grandmother used to make goulash for us growing up. My grandmother's ingredients are: hamburger, tomato sauce, macaroni noodles, onions, celery (at least 5 stalks thinly chopped), celery salt, Lawry's Seasoned Salt and black pepper(to taste). Growing up my family loved this dish and my sister and I still make it. My grandmother's was much better, but then we learned in our 20's that she never drained the grease from the hamburger!! No wonder they had heart conditions. So I drain my grease and live with the fact mine is just a little less flavorful than my Nana's.
You may need to add a more oil when yous saute the meat, but I think it would work just fine.
Would it be possible to use ground turkey or chicken instead of beef, or would it dry out during cooking? Can't wait to try this!
If you're worried about the cooking time, I bet it would taste just as good if you cooked the dreamfields seperately and combined it with the sauce before serving. Just simmer the meat longer, maybe about 40 minutes instead of 20.
I just made a similar recipe, but with kidney beans and peas added. It must be that time of year. I like the idea of cooking the pasta in the same pan–one less dish to wash.
Jeanette, I love the sound of that Asian goulash! I was intrigued that there was a bit of soy sauce in this one.
So funny, I've seen macaroni, tomatoes and ground beef dishes in a few places this week – we must all be craving some comfort food. My mom used to make a macaroni and ground meat dish with peas, soy sauce and oyster sauce – an Asian version of this comfort dish.
Donna, me too, although my mother's goulash was never this well-seasoned.
When shall I be there for dinner??? Just reminds me so much of my childhood!
Elizabeth, in a recipe like this where the pasta is cooked for a long time I'm not sure how that will impact the fiber.
Try it with Fiber Gourmet pasta – cuts the calories in half from most brands, including whole wheat, and bumps up the fiber A LOT!
So glad people are liking this. I agree with Zerrin that cooking the macaroni in the sauce makes it extra flavorful (though less diet friendly, darn.)
Cindy, here is where I first mentioned the move I think. The new house is much bigger so I can have parties with my whole family. Very excited about that.
Kalyn, Back up! How did I miss that you were moving?! Your house is so adorable especially after the remodel. Can you point me to the post where you mention the move? BTW to keep this post-related, my husband will love this recipe!
Kalyn, this sounds so tasty! Love the combination of ground beef, tomato sauce and pasta! It's so much like the one I make often, but I have never thought of adding soy sauce and bay leaves. Also, adding raw pasta right into the the sauce is so new to me. It's a brilliant idea! Why do I have to first boil pasta and them combine with sauce? No need for that! I'm sure it tastes better in this way as the flavors combine better! I would love to enjoy it with yogurt! YUM!
Thank you , it is soooooooo good!
My Mom made this and it is one of my favorite comfort foods too. I add a can of black beans to it to boost the fiber.
That looks soooooo good!!!
Lydia, this was definitely comforting!
There's a reason they call this comfort food, and when you're in the midst of packing, you deserve some comfort! (I wonder if Paula Deen is eating this dish on her new diet?)