Excuse the bad picture, but this was delicious. While I was in Budapest a couple weeks ago, a new friend I met through Couchsurfing invited me over to attempt a vegan goulash. Everyone was skeptical, but I think we pulled it off! There was a lot of paprika involved.

I’ve seen a lot of goulash after living and traveling through Central and Eastern Europe for several years, but I’ve never once been able to partake since it’s always been a very meaty affair.

Until now! I will for sure be making this again as I like the sheer excitement of using large amounts of paprika and it’s easy to make, not too many ingredients and makes a great cozy winter comfort food.

Vegan Hungarian Goulash

Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients
  

  • one bag dried TVP
  • 2-3 carrots
  • 2-3 large potatoes
  • 2-3 medium onions
  • 1-2 kohlrabi optional
  • 1-2 cloves garlic
  • splash olive oil
  • splash red dry wine
  • 4-5 Tablespoons sweet paprika to taste
  • 3-4 cups water
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
 

  • Put the dried TVP in a bowl and pour boiling water over it until covered. Let soak, then drain with cold water and squeeze the excess water out. set aside.
  • Chop the carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic and kohlrabi if using.
  • In a big saucepan, add a splash of olive oil and saute the onions over medium-high heat until soft, be careful not to burn.
  • Once soft add the garlic and saute for another 30 seconds
  • Add the now rehydrated and squeezed out TVP and stir for another couple of minutes
  • Add in a big splash of red wine, turn the heat down to medium and let cook down for a few minutes
  • Add the paprika, water and all veggies, stir and let simmer for 15 or so minutes until veggies are soft.
  • Add salt and pepper to taste
  • Ladle into bowls and eat! Yum!

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These are little pasta bits we added to ours. It’s mainly rye flour, a little bit of water and a pinch of baking powder to keep the dough together, all mixed then broken off into tiny pieces (Thanks Zsófi!). We added these about 10 or so minutes before it was done simmering.

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Almost ready! By this time we were snacking on homemade hummus and veggies in preparation.

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So red! There really is a lot of paprika in there!

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Huge bag of paprika. Proof that they really do cook with paprika a lot in Hungary? I might have to go back and do further research…

IMG_0535Final product

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