Potatoes, bell peppers and tender-melt-in-your-mouth chunks of eggplant are simmered up in a smoky paprika sauce to make this hearty and comforting vegan goulash.
The other day I was looking at my blog stats and I noticed that someone ended up here after googling “vegan goulash.” The funny thing is, I didn’t even have a vegan goulash recipe at the time. They landed on my mushroom beef stew recipe. I guess that’s close enough to goulash that if you scroll past enough search results, it’ll eventually show up.
Anyhow, I took it as a sign that I needed to dabble in some goulash, a dish I knew very little of. I took to the old Google myself and initially found a bunch of recipes for American goulash, which sounded a bit like hamburger pasta and didn’t appeal to me a whole lot. Hungarian goulash, on the other hand, seemed more interesting – something like beef stew, but with a heavy hit of paprika. I opted to veganize the Hungarian version, and that’s how we ended up here.
By the way, let me know if I should take a crack at American goulash! If I’m missing something and there’s more to it than meaty pasta, or if you just happened to love meaty pasta as a kid and want a vegan spin on the dish, I’d be happy to help out!
Back to the dish currently at hand. Since it is quite a bit like beef stew, and since I’ve done the whole mushroom beef stew thing, I decided to go into some uncharted territory: eggplant! The idea of some tender eggplant chunks simmered in peppery stew sounded pretty fantastic, and it totally was. The potatoes give this meal a stick-to-your ribs quality that’s perfect a winter dinner. Best of all, everything cooks up in one pot, and couldn’t be easier to throw together.
Eggplant Goulash
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 medium (1 pound) eggplant, cut into 1 inch chunks
- 1 red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
- 1 onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 cup canned diced tomatoes
- 2 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 3/4 pound Yukon gold potatoes, about 3 potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
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Coat the bottom of a large pot with olive oil and place it over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the eggplant. Sauté until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add bell pepper, onion, and garlic to the pot. Continue to sauté until peppers and onions are tender, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour, stirring constantly, until it coats the veggies evenly.
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Add tomatoes, broth, sweet paprika, smoked paprika, thyme, bay leaf, potatoes, soy sauce, sugar, and liquid smoke to the pot. Raise heat to high and bring to a simmer. Lower heat and allow to simmer, uncovered, until the potatoes are fork tender, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes.
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Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Serve.
Recipe Notes
If your eggplant has been hanging around for a while, or shows some brown spots when you cut into it, be sure to salt it. Chop the eggplant, then place it into a colander and sprinkle generously with salt. Allow to sit for 30 minutes, then rinse off the salt, pat the pieces dry, and proceed with the recipe.
:))) well I guess I’m gonna google some delicious vegan recipes and end up here… If you see it, then you’ll cook it, right?? ahahahahah
I’m a recent follower ☺ greetings from Lisbon, Portugal ☺
Hi Anita! Welcome, and thanks for following! I hope you enjoy the recipes. :)
wonderful! I love a hearty winter soup.
Me too! One of the best things about winter. :)
I made this tonight and am eating it while I type–it’s delicious! I did make changes, as I didn’t have all ingredients on hand so I made some substitutions and additions. I salted the eggplant, used a green bell pepper instead of red, used a whole can of diced fire roasted tomatoes, added tomato paste, extra thyme, doubled the garlic, no sweet paprika but extra smoked paprika, baby red potatoes instead of gold, doubled the liquid smoke, added cayenne, and cooked it about 10 minutes longer. I also sauteéd cremini mushrooms (thickly sliced) in olive oil with red pepper flakes, thyme, paprika, Bragg’s liquid aminos and salt and pepper until just underdone and added it to the pot 10 minutes prior to finishing. A great way to use leftover eggplant and peppers!
Those all sound like delicious modifications! Glad you’re enjoying it. :)
I love reading the modifications thanks for sharing. I too may need to substitute if I’m going to make this NOW!
This recipe was great! My husband was on the fence but he loved it. I will make this again and again. Thanks
Wonderful! I’m glad you both enjoyed it!
It sounds delicious! I’ll definitely try!
Do you think I can do it using a slow cooker?
Regards!
Thank you! I think this could work in the slow cooker, but I’d probably do step 1 on the stove top, then transfer everything to the slow cooker. I’d love to hear how it works out if you give it a try!
A definite winner!! So delish!! Made it exactly as written although I might add carrots next time – since I’m a carrot lover. This has moved from my “Vegan” category on Pinterest to “Favorites”!
I’m glad to hear it! Thanks Jayne!
My Ex is Hungarian and made Goulash bi weekly, she also made chicken and potato versions. Chicken paprikash and paprikash krumplii respectively. Swap out eggplant for oyster mushrooms and you have a decent chicken sub. Potatoes are stewed in a seasoned broth close to what you have above and served as a side.All are excellent winter dishes.
I just had to google paprikash krumplii – that’s a new one for me, but definitely something worth exploring the possibility of veganizing. Thank you! I think mushrooms would be excellent in here too!
You say a can of diced tomatoes but what size can?
1 cup, so a little more than half of a 14 ounce can. :)
We’ve been eating this weekly all winter long! Fantastic recipe!
Yay!! Glad to hear it!
Made this last night in a slow cooker and it turned out beautiful! I am having it for meal preps all this week with rice on the side. Beautiful flavours!
I made this tonight, swapping a green pepper for red and red potatoes for gold because that was what I had on hand. I also used an entire 14 oz can of tomatoes because I didn’t want to waste them. My two daughters and I loved it! Thank you for such a tasty recipe!
Thank you for this recipe! I just made it yesterday in a slow cooker without smoked curry. It is delicious. I made stow 1 in the stove top and then transferred that plus everything else to the slow cooker. I put it on high for 5 hours so the potatoes are cooked through. I will make it again for sure!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! And good to know it works in the slow cooker! Thanks Katya!
This recipe turned out really well and was relatively simple. I didn’t have liquid smoke or smoked paprika, but I am also not a huge fan of smoked flavours. I found it turned out really well despite leaving those two ingredients out. I will definitely be making this again :)
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thanks so much Adriana!
Can this be frozen?
I haven’t tried freezing it, but I think it would work!
Do you think i cand top over pasta or riceva
Yup! I think it would be delicious over either. :)
Used sweet potatoes. Yum
Sounds delicious! Glad you enjoyed it!
This recipe sounds so delish can hardly wait to make it this week! Will let you know how I liked it!!
Thanks Donna! I hope you enjoy it!!
Would skipping the flour and sugar be okay?
I think so – it might be a bit runny and more tart though.
For gluten free, could I replace the flour with corn flour?
I think so, but instead of adding it before the liquid, I’d stir it together with some cold water to make a slurry and add it at the very end of cooking.
I love this recipe! I’ve made it three times now, and it gets more delicious each time. Will keep and share.
Awesome!! I’m so glad to hear that!
So many delicious recipes! Thanks for the list of favorite stews. This was a winner. I used all the sweet paprika that I had. It took about 35 minutes for my yellow potatoes to soften up. Otherwise, the recipe was spot on. I appreciate your seemingly endless supply of delicious dinner recipes.
Yay! I’m glad you liked the stews email, and so glad this one was a hit! Thanks Glenn!
This soup was so easy to make. We are low-carb, so I left out the sugar and potatoes and it was still super filling and yummy. Thanks for another great recipe
Wonderful! I’m glad you enjoyed it!!
What is Liquid Smoke? We don’t have that I Western Australia. How important is it and are there any alternatives?
Thank you
It’s a seasoning that’s actually made from smoke, so it adds some smoky flavor – like this: https://www.amazon.com/Colgin-Liquid-Natural-Hickory-4-Ounce/dp/B0005Z8NCM?th=1 You could try using smoked sea salt to taste instead, or just leave it out – the stew should still have some smoky flavor from the paprika. Enjoy!!
Very tasty! I made it as written, except that I skipped the soy sauce and just sprinkled in a bunch of salt instead. I will definitely make this again any time a big old eggplant shows up in my produce box.
This brought back memories of grade school. Did other kids get goulash a lot at the school cafeteria? They made it with ground beef (ugh) and macaroni in it. I’ll stick with your version, thank you very much.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! I never got goulash in my school lunches, thankfully! :) Thanks so much Chessie!
This is delicious exactly as it is. Perfect cool weather dish but not heavy. I did sub a sweet potato which cooked in less time than suggested. Thank you !