Last night’s scheduled dinner was supposed to be pumpkin spiced waffles. The closer it crept to dinner to time though, the less I really wanted waffles. I didn’t want sweet and delicious, I wanted umami. So I pulled a pound of ground beef out of the freezer to thaw, and then tried to find something to make with it.
Did I score. It has been so long since I had a Wisconsin-style goulash. Not to be confused with Hungarian style, this Wisconsin style dish is quick, simple, and it uses whatever you have on hand to make a comforting one-dish meal. The goulash came together in no time. The beef browned first, and then I pretty much added everything else to the pot and let it cook away. Start to finish? This was right around a 30 minute meal, if you add the steamed cabbage and Corn Muffins I decided to make at the last minute. Everyone enjoyed this simple dinner, and it will make great lunches for the rest of the week.
What particularly struck us though about this was that it was delicious- it was simple, easy and it was homemade. There were no preservatives, a small bit of extra sodium maybe from the beef soup base, but you could easily use homemade broth or low-sodium broth if the fancy strikes. This was not all that dissimilar from a Hamburger Helper or similar type dish in a box. Yet it was made from scratch, far better tasting, and far better for you. Cost-wise it was probably about the same, although it really cost me nothing because I had everything on hand in the pantry or freezer.
Wisconsin Goulash
1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 teaspoons beef soup base
2 cups water
1 (28 oz) can stewed tomatoes
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
Black pepper to taste
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup macaroni, uncooked
1 can whole kernel corn
Parmesan cheese (optional)
Brown the ground beef in a pot over medium high heat. Remove grease. Add onion and garlic, and cook for about two minutes, or until vegetables are softened.
Add remaining ingredients, simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Add more water if it starts to get too thick before the macaroni is cooked through.
Top with Parmesan cheese at the table.
Serves 6.
Erika, this looks great! I’m all for the fast, throw-together, use-what-you’ve-got type dinners. I almost always have all these ingredients on hand, so I’ll definitely be giving this a try!
I’ve eaten it for lunch three days in a row now…it must be good. 😉