Name: Instant Pot Hungarian Goulash
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 55 min
Cuisine: Hungarian
Ingredients: 2 lbs. stewing beef, in 1 ½-inch chunks; 3 tsp. salt, divided; 1 tsp. pepper; 1 Tbsp. cooking oil; 1 onion, finely chopped; 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped; 2 Tbsp. paprika; 4 cups low or no-sodium beef broth, divided; A pinch red pepper flakes (optional); 4 medium potatoes, in 1 ½-inch chunks; ¼ cup flour

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Instant Pot Hungarian Goulash is a delicious beef stew with onions and potatoes and full of flavor from paprika.

Instant Pot Hungarian Goulash is a wonderful comfort food and full of flavor. We’re making it in a similar way to our Instant Pot Beef Stew. There are some hands-on steps before it gets to your instant pot, but we’re got some advice if you’d like to make it even quicker.

Hungarian Goulash topped with sour cram and green onion in a white bowl.

Hungarian Vs American Goulash

This is a Hungarian Goulash which is a beef stew with onions and potatoes and seasoned with paprika. We’re also adding bell pepper to ours. American Goulash also uses beef but normally has lots of tomatoes and is served with egg noodles or some other type of pasta. You could still serve this version over noodles, if that’s what you like, or sop up the delicious broth with some fresh bread.

What Type Of Beef Should I Use?

I prefer boneless beef chuck, also called chuck steak. The only problem is that you need to cut the beef into smaller pieces yourself for this. If you don’t mind that, and especially if it’s on sale, go with the chuck steak.

If you prefer not to do that, you can also get stewing beef which normally comes already cut down into chunks. This also works well and can save you some effort.

What Kind Of Paprika To Use?

This recipe calls for two tablespoons of paprika so you want to make sure you’re using the right kind. Look for paprika labelled Hungarian or sweet paprika. You don’t want to use a hot or smoked paprika in this, at least not for the full amount, because that smoked paprika has a pretty strong flavor. You could use one teaspoon of smoked paprika and use the Hungarian for the rest if you’d like. If you want some extra heat, add more red pepper flakes.

Tips For Making Hungarian Goulash Even Quicker

#1 – Buy your beef already cut into chunks. It may not be cheaper, but it will save you time.

#2 – You don’t have to brown the beef before pressure cooking, but you will lose a little of that caramelized, umami flavor from the sear.

#3 – Skip sautéing the onion and bell pepper, just add them to the pot raw.

You can skip the first several steps of the recipe below and put all the ingredients except for one cup of the broth and the flour into the instant pot and pressure cook from there. (You can also leave out the oil cooking it this way.) It’ll be slightly less tasty in my opinion, and have a little less color, but will still be good. Reminder – don’t try to save time with a quick release, the natural release prevents the beef from getting tough from a sudden temperature change. You will still want to do the steps with the flour mixture to thicken your stew at the end.