Wiener Saftgulasch
Beef slowly braised in a rich onion-and-paprika gravy until deeply tender, traditionally served with a bread roll or dumplings.
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 2 h 30 min
- total
- 2 h 50 min
- serves
- 6
- level
- medium
Saftgulasch, literally juice goulash, gets its name from a sauce built on an almost absurd amount of onions, cooked down slow until they practically disappear into a dark, rich gravy around the beef.
A crusty bread roll for mopping up that sauce is the traditional Viennese way to eat it, not rice and not noodles.
Part of our 20 best Austrian recipes list.
method
Heat the lard or oil in a large heavy pot, and cook the onions over medium-low heat for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring often, until deeply softened and golden brown. This long cook is not optional; it is the base of the whole sauce.
Add the garlic and caraway seeds, and cook for 1 minute.
Remove the pot from the heat briefly, stir in the paprika, then return to low heat and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Add the tomato paste and vinegar, then the beef and stock, scraping up anything stuck to the bottom of the pot.
Bring to a gentle simmer, cover, and cook on low heat for 2 to 2.5 hours, stirring occasionally, until the beef is completely tender and the sauce has thickened and darkened.
Stir in the marjoram in the last 10 minutes, and season with salt and pepper.
Serve hot with a crusty bread roll for mopping up the sauce.
chef's tips
- The onions should outweigh or nearly match the beef, which is unusual for a stew but is exactly what gives Saftgulasch its name, meaning "juice goulash," and its thick, dark sauce.
- Cook the onions low and slow until genuinely golden brown, not just softened; rushing this step is the most common way to end up with a thin, pale gulasch instead of a rich one.
- A bread roll on the side, used to mop up the sauce, is the traditional Viennese way to eat this, rather than rice or pasta.
- This is, like most braises, noticeably better the day after it is made.