This Hungarian Pork and Sauerkraut Goulash / Szekely Gulyas, without a doubt, will be one of the best sauerkraut dishes you’ve ever eaten. Delicious, melt in your mouth pork simmered all day with sauerkraut, paprika and veggies – finished with sour cream.
Seriously One of The Best Sauerkraut Dishes EVER
This Hungarian Pork and Sauerkraut Goulash / Szekely Gulyas, without a doubt, will be one of the best sauerkraut dishes you’ve ever eaten. It’s that good – really. Even those who are not fans of sauerkraut will devour this, not giving a thought about the two pounds of sauerkraut it contains.
My Polish grandmother, Halina, made a dish very similar to this. I honestly can not remember if she used sour cream in it.
Pork and sauerkraut dishes are a traditional meal for New Years day in my neck of the woods. It’s eaten for good luck in the coming year. Sounds silly, I guess, but all us Pennsylvanians have been eating it for as long as we can remember and keep the tradition going. None of us would want to skip our traditional meal and be the ones to end up actually having a bad year. Superstition goes a long way.
Here’s my traditional Pork and Sauerkraut recipe.
This Hungarian Pork & Sauerkraut Goulash is definitely not the “traditional” New Years Day meal. I make it quite a few times a year and my friends & family goes bananas over it. I do serve this on New Years Day on occasion – especially when I have company that doesn’t like the traditional meal.
Ingredients & Instructions
You can use any style roast for this goulash. I recommend keeping it cheap and using a pork sirloin roast. The hours of cooking makes the small cubes of meat melt like butter in your mouth.
I start off simmering the sauerkraut, water and Hungarian paprika in a large pot.
From that point, you’re prepping and browning the pork and veggies. Everything gets mixed into the pot of sauerkraut and simmers covered for 3 – 4 hours. After that, the pork just melts in your mouth as all the flavors melt together. Let the goulash cool off for about 20 minutes and stir in the sour cream.
I recommend serving this over spaetzle – it really completes the meal. It’s hearty, soulful. Alternatively, you could serve this over noodles or potatoes.
A loaf of fresh, crusty bread is perfect for dipping and sopping. This makes a hearty 6-8 servings.
Don’t let the lengthy amount of cooking time scare you off – the majority of it is inactive on your part. You will be rewarded with a unique and delicious meal and a bit of a stinky house. Lol, just burn a good scented candle or simmer some cinnamon sticks – the funkiness will clear out soon enough.
Hope you enjoy!
Amanda ♥
Hungarian Pork and Sauerkraut Goulash / Szekely Gulyas
Ingredients
- 2 pound sauerkraut undrained
- 2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika heaping
- 1 cup water
- 1 large green pepper chopped
- 1 large onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 pounds pork roast cut into 1/2″ – “3/4 cubes
- salt & pepper
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- pinch of pepper
- 2 cups sour cream 16 oz container
Instructions
- In a large pot or dutch oven, combine sauerkraut, paprika and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low. Let this simmer while you prep the rest of your ingredients.
- Chop peppers, add into sauerkraut.
- Dice onions, set aside.
- Mince garlic, set aside.
- Cut pork roast in 1/2″ – 3/4″ cubes.
- Salt and pepper pork cubes generously.
- In a large skillet, heat up oil and brown pork.
- Scrape pork and all pan juices into pot of sauerkraut. Mix.
- In same large skillet, melt butter.
- Add onions and saute until golden. Add minced garlic and saute for a minute or two.
- Scrape onions/garlic and all pan juices into pot of sauerkraut. Mix well.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and a pinch of pepper.
- Bring pot of sauerkraut and pork to gentle boil, mixing well.
- Cover, simmer over low heat for 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally.
- When pork is melt in your mouth tender (3-4 hours) remove put from heat and remove lid. Let goulash cool off for about 20 minutes. Mix in sour cream. If necessary, salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve over spaetzle, noodles, potatoes, mashed potatoes. Enjoy!
Hi There,
Thanks for this recipe, I am looking forward to trying to make it::)) I had a question, most recipes call for draining and rinsing the sauerkraut, though yours says undrained. Is there a reason you prefer not to drain and rinse?
thanks:)
Howie
Hi Howie!
You could drain and rinse the sauerkraut if you’d like – I usually do when I make plain pork & sauerkraut. With this recipe, I like the additional tang the unrinsed & undrained sauerkraut gives the finished dish. After hours of cooking down with the water, pork and veggies, then with the addition of sour cream, the sauerkraut flavor might be a little too subtle for my tastes if it was drained & rinsed.
Hope this helps! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Hi there, I love this dish and found another version of it on Pinterest with DILL added to it. Just made it tonight with the beautiful taste of dry dill and it was even more delicious. Give that a try, you’ll love it 😉
I accidentally used hot paprika for the first time and it is sensational. Gives it a perfect lift though I do like sweet paprika as well.
Oh my goodness…I love hot paprika! I bet it turned out delicious!
Glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for stopping by Julia 🙂
Have you ever made this dish with brown sugar? Someone once told me it is called “sakay” ghoulash. Just wondering.
Hi Chris.
I haven’t tried it with brown sugar. Never heard of it, actually. I’ll have to look at some recipes now!
Thanks for stopping by!
Although my Hungarian family told me the name for this dish, I actually learned it from a friend who has a German background. Just looked through the internet and found that they do indeed add brown sugar. No paprika or sour cream though. I guess I’m making a German Hungarian version :)l Love this recipe in the Winter!! Warm, filling, crockpot ease with mashed potatoes, YUUUUUUMMMY!!!!
Hi Chris I think you’re thinking of Hungarian Choucroute ? This one has juniper berries, sugar ribs and other incredients. Both delicious.
This type of “goulash” is called Székely gulyás after the Székely area of Hungary. It’s delicious.
Thank you for this information Shelly. I thought it had something to do with the ingredients, haha haha. Loved learning that it is a region and a people group! 🙂
absoutely!!! my stepdad straight from hungary so when we make shakee goulash for him his recipe calls for brown sugar and also barley!!!
It depends what part of the Country U came from I learned Szekely Gulyas from my Great Aunt she done it 2 ways. One that she learned from my Great grandma and the one from my Grandpa
I was born in Hungary, right outside of Sarospatak…have lived here over 45 years. My mom used to make this a lot, and my sister and I still make it quite often.. I plan to make it later today. My husband is half Scottish and half Polish, and loves it, as well as my sister’s American husband. We usually saute some cubed bacon or tiny cubes or pork belly, remove, then add the meat and later the onions , etc. to brown in the grease. These days I have to eat very low sodium due to health issues, but have adapted this recipe, using low sodium bacon, and a lower sodium sauerkraut…it’s a German brand called Hengstenberg. It still tastes amazing, and reminds me of my mom and the great times we had cooking together.
No, never use sugar in any goulash! That is some weird variation but not Magyar.
This sauerkraut pork stew is not technically a goulash, but a pörkölt or stew, but it’s all ‘stew’, so…… yes, Székely goulash is pronounced ()sort of like sakaay goo-yash.
I agree!!!!
Oh my word! I had this in a restaurant in Bratislava a few years back! She’s not much of a looker, but seriously one of the best stews I’ve EVER eaten!
Will definitely have to give this a try!
Hi Johan 🙂
You are right – it definitely is an U-G-L-Y dish! But my, oh my, it’s delicious. It’s one of my favorite things to eat! One can only eat so much sauerkraut though…so I make this almost on a monthly basis.
I’d love to hear if you try it!
I adore this recipe! Thank you so much!
Back in 1968 my mother challenged her 4 children to make a meal for 6 for the cost each of guessed. The recipe I chose was a pork stew from the New York Times. I can still remover it’s wonderful flavors. I haven’t been able to find the recipe again so I’m going to try it from memory: pick shoulder , Sauerkraut , potatoes, tomato paste & sourcream. Here’s hoping!
What a wonderful memory Barbara!
Hope your taste buds lead the way to recreating your recipe 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!
This looks delicious. Can’t wait to try it. We used to get what they called Szelekey Goulash at a marvelous little bistro run by a brother and sister in Greenwich Village many years ago. The food was so good, this tiny place had a line out the door, even in the winter. Then the brother convinced the sister they would make more money with less work by making falafel and burgers. What a mistake. It closed. I still miss it and look forward to trying this recipe and reliving one of the wonderful dishes we used to get there.
PS I tend to tsk tsk those who rate recipes without trying them, but yours feels authentic and I’m betting will take me back to that little Greenwich Village restaurant.And I just got a pork roast and sauerkraut from my CSA, so the planets are aligned.
Hi Melissa!
Ohhhh….I do hope this recipe took you back to the Goulash from that Greenwich Village bistro!
Love it! Served it over mushroom ravioli and it was fantastic. Also, in case anyone is put off by the long cooking time — I taste-tested this throughout the process, and it tasted great right away, so if you’re the impatient type, you can still give it a try, serve it whenever you just can’t wait any more!
Amanda this recipe is MONEY. Wife, kids, parents, and mother-in-law all loved it. Cut the sourness with about an 1/8 cup of brown sugar but as is nearly perfect. Served with kluski noodles and madhed potatoes.
Ugly as sin and stinks up the house but worth it.
Thanks for posting!
You had me at Hungarian paprika. I love that stuff! However, the part about adding sour cream disturbs me. Sour with sauer (and not drained at that) does not seem appealing to the palate. I would lose the green bell pepper as well. Add French leeks in lieu of the garlic and five juniper berries. My Mom always had sauerkraut on New Years Day as well. When I moved to Texas it was discovered that they do black eyed peas. Sorry, but not my thing, Kraut wins over peas anytime. Wonderful photos of your prep.
Absolutely delicious. Just like my grandmother made years ago. Can’t wait to try goulash. Will make this dish again , so delicious I’m so glad I found this website
My Hungarian Grandmother made this dish. I made it tonight. It always comes out great. I use the look of pork chops. I brown all Tht up with pinion & garlic, then add the sauerkraut, paprika. I never squeeze out the sauerkraut juice as it adds Tht little bit of soreness to the sweet pork. Then when finished, I add sour cream & a table spoon of flour to thicken my sauce. It’s fabulous. Ty for sharing
I grew up in San Paulo,Brasil, The small Hungarian Colony,used to cook,Saurkraut and Pork for a large gathering,and for years I,ve been wanting to cook the same recipe.I think,by looking at Amanda”cooking,is what I remember as a kid 88 years ago.I must try it. Thanks, Amanda hanson Farkas
My mother made this with beef and thickened it with raw egg. If course serving with rye bread to sip up the juices. I usually add caraway seeds during stewing.with pork ribs.
I love this recipe. Have made it several times before. This time instead of pork roast I used pork sausage. Turned out very well. Did not add any salt because the sausage and sauerkraut have plenty of salt. Also substituted 1/2 of paprika for hot style paprika and sprinkled a little smoked paprika. Turned out really good.
Made this tonight and it was fantastic!! I may have tripled the garlic but we love garlic. Lol!! Sooooo yummy!! Served over gluten free elbow noodles. 🙂
Love this recipe what would be the cooking time for a slow cooker
My Hungarian husband made it for dinner tonight and this recipe is almost exactly the way he makes it. He adds caraway seeds to the disk.
I remember as a child my dad made this dish and I loved it when I came across your recipe I tried it without green pepper and it was just what I had as a child…Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe it brought back many memories….
I usually call my Hungarian mother for recipes; however, she was busy…
I found your recipe to be similar to my mother’s with one exception that she
insists makes all the difference when making this dish. She first browns the
onion, green pepper and paprika and then adds the pork and
sautés it altogether. Cooking the paprika in oil enhances the flavor and gives it a
beautiful rich color! Thank you for your recipe!!
Made this today and it was delicious!!! I used smoked paprika. Will definitely be making this many more times!! Thanks for the recipe.
Excellent. Reminds me of my childhood days! I add extra hot peppers (Hot bananas) as I enjoy the heat!