What to Eat with Goulash

Dumplings, potatoes or bread for the sauce, then something cold and sour beside it, five ideas at a time.

What to Eat with Goulash

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  1. Dark rye breadThick slices. With a rich stew, nothing else is needed.
  2. Bread dumplingsSliced thick, to soak up the sauce like a sponge.
  3. NokedliSmall, soft egg dumplings. Spoon the stew right over them.
  4. Sour creamA cold spoonful on top, stirred in at the table.
  5. Cucumber salad with vinegarSliced paper-thin, sweet and sour.

Next step Pick a dessert to follow the stewChoose another night's dinner

How it works

What to eat with goulash depends on the pot. A thick stew takes dumplings, potatoes, polenta or just bread. The macaroni kind made in American kitchens needs only bread and a salad. All of them are among these 40 sides.

Read the full guide

A soup at home, a stew elsewhere

In Hungary, gulyás is a soup and a main course in one pot, with potatoes and small pinched noodles called csipetke cooked in it. The thick stews known as goulash across Central Europe come with boiled or mashed potatoes, polenta, dumplings or bread. In the Czech Republic that means bread dumplings and slices of raw onion. In Vienna it is dark bread.

American goulash

In the Midwestern and Southern United States, goulash is ground beef, tomatoes and pasta, usually macaroni or egg noodles. The starch is in the pot already, so skip the dumplings and the potatoes.

  • Put the sour cream and the hot pepper on the table, not in the pot, so each bowl can be made mild or fiery.
  • Serve the cucumber salad in a small bowl of its own. Its vinegar should not run into the sauce.

Questions and answers

What do you serve with Hungarian goulash?

With the soup, bread is enough. A thicker stew takes nokedli, boiled potatoes with parsley or bread dumplings, with sour cream, pickled peppers and a cucumber salad with vinegar on the side.

What to eat with American goulash?

Garlic bread and a green salad are enough, because the macaroni is in the pot. Grated cheese melts over the top, and dill pickles add something sour.

What bread goes with goulash?

Dark rye bread in thick slices, white bread torn into the soup, or caraway salt sticks. A hollowed round loaf makes a bread bowl, and fried flatbread is the treat.

Is goulash served with noodles or potatoes?

Either. In Germany it is usually potatoes in the north and dumplings in the south. In Serbia it is most often macaroni or mashed potatoes, and in Poland mashed potatoes, noodles or dumplings.

What do you drink with goulash?

Without alcohol: raspberry syrup with sparkling water, apricot nectar thinned with cold water, or hot rose hip tea. A sweet plate such as apple strudel can follow the stew.

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All 40 sides

Dumplings and noodles 8

  • Bread dumplings Sliced thick, to soak up the sauce like a sponge.
  • Buttered egg noodles Wide ones, tossed in butter so they do not stick.
  • Elbow macaroni Stirred through the pot, or served under it.
  • Nokedli Small, soft egg dumplings. Spoon the stew right over them.
  • Pinched noodles Tiny bits of fresh dough dropped into the soup at the end.
  • Spiral noodles The twists hold more sauce than a straight noodle.
  • Toasted egg barley Small grains of pasta browned in fat, then simmered until tender.
  • Wide ribbon pasta Broad enough to carry chunks of beef.

Potatoes and polenta 6

  • Boiled potatoes with parsley Plain and floury. Crush them into the sauce with a fork.
  • Finger-shaped potato noodles Fried in butter until golden.
  • Mashed potatoes A soft bed with a hollow for the stew.
  • Polenta Soft and yellow, in place of potatoes or dumplings.
  • Potato croquettes Crisp shells, soft inside, for a Sunday plate.
  • Potato pancakes Crisp ones, with the stew ladled over the top.

Breads 6

  • Bread bowl Hollow out a round loaf and ladle the stew inside.
  • Caraway salt sticks Crisp crust, soft crumb, seeds on top.
  • Dark rye bread Thick slices. With a rich stew, nothing else is needed.
  • Fried flatbread Puffy and hot, rubbed with a cut clove of garlic.
  • Garlic bread Hot from the oven, with the macaroni kind.
  • White bread for the soup Tear pieces into the bowl, or dip as you go.

Toppings and pickles 9

  • Dill pickles Whole or sliced, on a small plate beside the bowl.
  • Fresh hot pepper rings Cut at the table, for the ones who want fire.
  • Fried egg Laid on top of the stew, the yolk still soft.
  • Fried sausage A small one, split and browned, beside the stew.
  • Grated cheese Melted over the macaroni kind while it is hot.
  • Hot paprika paste A dab stirred into your own bowl, not the pot.
  • Pickled peppers Sour and a little hot, straight from the jar.
  • Sliced raw onion Thin rings scattered over the bowl.
  • Sour cream A cold spoonful on top, stirred in at the table.

Salads and vegetables 4

  • Celery root salad Grated and sharp with lemon, cold beside a hot bowl.
  • Cucumber salad with vinegar Sliced paper-thin, sweet and sour.
  • Green salad Soft lettuce in a light, sweet vinegar dressing.
  • Roasted bell peppers Peeled, sliced and dressed with oil and garlic.

Something sweet after 4

  • Apple strudel A warm slice under powdered sugar.
  • Plum dumplings Rolled in buttery breadcrumbs and sugar.
  • Poppy seed roll A thin slice with coffee.
  • Thin pancakes with apricot jam Rolled up and eaten with the fingers.

Drinks 3

  • Apricot nectar Thick and sweet. Thin it with cold water.
  • Raspberry syrup with sparkling water Pink, sweet and cold in a tall glass.
  • Rose hip tea Red and tart, with a spoonful of honey.