can i use beef instead of pork, and paprika instead of Hungarian sweet paprika.

Family, I always used beef in my goulash. Regular paprika will not taste exactly the same as sweet paprika. However, you will likely not notice the difference in the finished dish.

We use beef... I would try very hard to find the sweet paprika...

thank you guys very much.

We always only use beef. I use smoked paprika in mine.

My background is Hungarian. Is this a dish that uses ground meat? We always used beef stew meat in goulash. And the regular paprika is just fine. I've seen recipes for a dish using ground meat. This isn't authentic goulash. But either way, beef is fine and don't worry if you don't have a certain kind of paprika. Most people won't taste the difference.

i am having a hard time finding ground pork, and my husband is tried of me buying spices.

There is a recipe circulating FaceBook that is called Hungarian Goulash that is absolutely NOT and is actually like an American Chili Mac. My parents are from that region of the world and cut up beef is what you used. And it had to be sweet Hungarian Paprika.

It sounds like this is more of a casserole dish and not even attempting to be authentic. So substitute ground beef and use whatever paprika you have. I laughed when you talked about your husband being tired of you buying spices! I have one whole cupboard dedicated to seasonings and spices0!

Yes, Ana. When I was working at one of my jobs, the boss's wife brought in a casserole she called goulash. Imagine my surprise to find it was more like chili-mac. My mother's goulash was made with chunks of beef, potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, and tomatoes, as well as the paprika that seasoned so many of her dishes. Very much like a stew..

That's the way I make it too, Sparkle. If I'm in a hurry, I just do the beef chunks in a pressure cooker for about 15 minutes after I brown them. Tender and juicy!

When the Germans are here, Guenter always makes a pot of ghoulash. His rule of thumb is the same amount of onions as meat... so two pounds of beef and two pounds of onions!

Oh my, Drac. That's a lot of onions. One is usually enough.

And Drac's cabinet is probably filled with a lot of spices grown right there on her farm :-)
I am an onion person.... can't ever have too many :-)

You would be correct, Winfrey! My favorite paprika is my own. Paprika is nothing more than a sweet red pepper. Of course, it all depends on the variety of pepper. The one I use - which I dehydrate and grind up into powder - gives a sweet blast of flavor you can't find in the stuff from the store. My favorite place to buy spices and seasonings that I don't grow is Penzy's Spices.

Penzey's Spices looks like a great resource - I'm going to spend some time looking over what they have to offer.

They have - hands down - the best quality spices and seasonings out there. Well, maybe next to mine!!!

It's very hot here and it's only 9:15 in the morning but I really fancy a bowl of Sparkle's mother's goulash, it sounds wonderful. I'm thinking I would be tempted to put cheese dumplings on top(the light fluffy kind).

That's the thing family, a recipe is just a guide, not a set of rules, play with them, change them, use what you have and what you like. Some of our best meals have come about when we have run out of something and tried a different item in a recipe, it can turn out better than the original recipe!

thank you all very much.

Oh, definitely listen to what copper says! That's the way things sometimes turn out even better than the original! Sometime they fail too - I've made some stinkers in my life.