Cheesy Old Fashioned Baked Goulash

Old Fashioned Baked Goulash casserole with ground beef, flavorful tomato sauce, and a cheesy kick like the lunchroom ladies made—an easy recipe for an economical dinner.

Jump To:

• ♨️Ingredients
• 👨‍🍳How to make Cheesy American Baked Goulash
• ↕️How to make a half-size recipe
• Variations
• ♨️What is Goulash?
• ❓FAQs
• ❄️Storage and reheating leftovers
• 🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
• Recipe

This cheesy American-style baked goulash recipe has ground beef, a spicy tomato sauce, tender pasta, and cheese. It's like the lunch lady have made for school lunch for decades.

It has the addition of a cheesy topping that was not always used in the lunch room but makes it special. An easy, tasty everyday recipe that will be a favorite of kids and the whole family.

You will want to make a large amount for great leftovers. It freezes well. but is easy to cut down to "cooking for two" size.

Serve with a nice bread like Stand Mixer Lunch Lady Rolls or Honey Wheat Rolls. For other comfort food casseroles you many enjoy Tuna Noodle Casserole with Parmesan Topping, Cheesy Jambalaya, and Cheesy Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole.

↕️How to make a half-size recipe

This is "cooking for two," so I strive to make adaptions to make recipes smaller when it makes sense. This recipe is easy to cut in half, making a more "for two" recipe, and it is easy enough that the amount of work makes sense.

To cut this recipe in half, use an 8X8 or 6X9 dish. Also, skip the tomato sauce and just use the can of diced tomatoes. Cooking time will be a bit less, but you are cooking to the color, so watch that.

Double size: To make a double-size recipe, use a 9X13 casserole dish or cake pan. Cooking time will increase some but cook to the final color.

Variations

• Pick the cheeses of your choice. I added cheddar to the casserole and topped it with mozzarella. But all cheddar is more than I had in the 60s.
• Add 1 to 2 teaspoons of paprika if you want more of a Hungarian-type taste.
• You can use jarred spaghetti sauce, but the taste will be much different.
• Other spices may be added for different flavors, like oregano, rosemary, thyme, or Italian seasoning.
• Skip the cheese and make it a stovetop dish. Cook the macaroni a little longer and just mix it all in one pot. I prefer cheese and oven-baked.
• Any pasta can be used, but elbow macaroni is traditional.
• This is a casserole—add what you want or have hanging around. Some will add bell pepper, corn, drained kidney beans, or other things.

♨️What is Goulash?

If you think of this as a cheesy tomato hamburger casserole, you will be about right. And it is great comfort food, especially with the added cheese.

Some feel that the term goulash needs some heavy paprika. There is some in the seasoning salt, and feel free to add a teaspoon or two of paprika if you wish, but to me, the taste is just right, lunchroom goulash with lots of cheese.

American goulash is more "freestyle," while Hungarian goulash has multiple specific variations and lots of opinions of what is right or wrong. I'm more of a freestyle guy.

❓FAQs

❄️Storage and reheating leftovers

Many think it is much better to warm up the next day

Stored in an airtight container, it is good refrigerated for 3-4 days or frozen for 3-4 months.

To reheat: Thaw first if frozen—reheat in the microwave or the oven covered.

This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.

🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions

Preheat oven to 350° convection or 375° conventional.

Heat water and start cooking 1 cup of pasta to al denta.

Start brown 1 pound of ground beef over medium-high heat.

Chop one small or ½ medium onion. Add the onion to the ground beef about 5 minutes into cooking, and add 2 cloves of minced or crushed garlic to the burger the last few minutes of cooking the ground beef. Drain when done cooking.

Prep a 2 ½ quart baking dish with PAM cooking spray.

To the baking dish, add one 15 oz can of tomato sauce, 14 ½ oz diced tomatoes, 1 teaspoon of basil, 2 teaspoons of seasoning salt (I used Lowery's), and ½ teaspoon pepper. Mix well.

Add the ground beef along with the pasta and mix well.

Stir in 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese.

Top with ½ cup of shredded mozzarella.

Bake until golden brown—about 30 minutes.

Recipe

Editor's Note: Originally published November 16, 2013. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.