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Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time45 mins
Total Time1 hr
Course: Main Course, Main Dish
Cuisine: All American
Keyword: american, casserole, easy dinner, elbow macaroni, feeds a crowd, ghoulash, goulash, hungarian, veggies
Servings: 8
Calories: 430kcal
Cost: $12.00

Equipment

  • large soup pot
  • wooden spoon
  • cutting board
  • knife
  • can opener

Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground beef (or ground venison, buffalo, or turkey meat) *see recipe notes
  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 white onion, diced
  • 1 bell pepper, diced
  • 8 oz mushrooms, finely diced
  • 28 oz canned tomato sauce
  • 28 oz water use the emptied tomato sauce can
  • 15 oz can diced tomatoes
  • 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
  • 16 oz elbow macaroni
  • 15 oz canned corn, drained
  • 1 Tbsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Instructions

  • Heat a large Dutch oven or large soup pot over medium high heat.
  • Brown the ground beef. (If using ground venison, turkey, or buffalo add 2 Tbsp bacon renderings or butter- see recipe notes below)
  • Add in garlic powder, onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, and Italian seasoning.
  • Bring the mixture to a simmer. Cover, and let cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
  • Stir in the elbow macaroni pasta, corn, salt, and pepper.
  • Cover and continue simmering an additional 15 minutes.
  • Stir goulash occasionally, until the pasta is cooked through.
  • Serve warm and refrigerate leftovers.

Notes

*Add 2 Tbsp bacon fat if using ground venison, buffalo, or turkey. If I do not use ground beef I feel like the end result needs some "umphhh" aka depth. Bacon renderings (bacon fat) is perfect! Butter will do the trick too if you do not have saved bacon renderings in your refrigerator.
I was inspired to make this recipe by this one: https://4sonrus.com/grandmas-american-goulash