Chili Recipe ~ An easy, hearty chili goulash soup!

This chili recipe, “chili goulash”, is super-duper easy to make! I don’t know about you, but as soon as the cooler weather rolls in I’m ready for a pot of chili!

To noodle or not to noodle, that is the question!

There’s the big debate out there — does chili have noodles or not? In doing a little research, technically chili is sans noodles. If noodles are added to chili soup, then it’s goulash. My mom called this soup chili, and my dad called it goulash. I’m giving this one to my dad!

So…I’ve just named this recipe chili goulash so I’m covered on all fronts, lol! I also like the way goulash sounds when you say it out loud, so chili goulash it is!

I love both types of chili, with noodles and without!!! This chili goulash recipe is the chili that I make more frequently because it’s so quick to throw together.

Chili recipe ingredients

This chili goulash recipe uses ground beef, onion, elbow macaroni (or a fun pasta of your choice!), tomato juice, tomato sauce or tomato soup, chili beans, salsa, chili powder, and salt & pepper.

When grocery shopping, a lot of these ingredients can be found in the sale section of the supermarket, so I always make sure my pantry it stocked with them. When you have all the ingredients at hand, this chili is so easy to throw together that you can quickly make it on a busy night or when unexpected company drops in.

Making the chili goulash

Brown your lean ground beef in a large skillet, crumbling it as it cooks. Add onion about 1/2 way through cooking the meat, so the onion cooks down too and combines into the flavor of the meat.

I like to substitute venison hamburger. We usually always have venison hamburger in the freezer (we’re from Wisconsin, eh!), and it’s such a lean meat I feel it makes this soup even healthier.

As the meat browns, boil up the pasta in a large soup pot.

Drain the pasta, add the meat and other ingredients back into the soup pot and give it a good stir! Then cover the pot.

Let the soup come to a slow boil over medium heat. As soon as it starts to boil, reduce the heat to low and let the chili goulash simmer for 15-20 minutes. This allows the flavors to meld together nicely. Personally, I love this soup even better on the second day as leftovers (if you’re lucky enough to have leftovers!).

Serving the chili goulash

I like to serve this chili goulash with a dollop of sour cream, some shredded cheddar cheese, sometimes sliced green onions, and Ritz crackers! That’s my favorite way to enjoy it. I also like to make messy chili dogs with my chili, for an easy way to creatively use up the leftovers. Messy, but oh so yummy!!!

Did someone say “chili dump”?

In our neck of the woods, a fun dish-to-pass pot luck get-together is to have a chili dump! This is where everyone who is invited makes their own chili recipe, and brings a jar of it to share! I’ve been to skating parties, birthday parties, sleigh rides, and other fun events where we’ve had a chili dump.

You’d be amazed at how many different ways there are to make chili!! It might sound weird, but when they’re all dumped into the same big soup pot and mixed together they are delicious!!! A few folks also always bring the cheese, crackers, corn bread or garlic bread, hot dogs & buns, chopped onion, and other fun sides to compliment the meal. Yum!!!

Enjoy making and devouring this chili goulash recipe with your family and friends!!