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Halal-conscious recipe

Goulash without lard

Hungarian-style paprika beef stew using oil or Halal dripping — no lard, no pork sausage, no wine.

  • Cuisine Hungarian
  • Meal Main
  • Difficulty Easy
  • Yield 4 bowls
  • Time 140 min

Editorially specified from cited technique and ingredient pages — pending kitchen verification. Not a photographed cook-test.

Printable view
Paprika goulash stew, from our analysis page photograph
Existing isithalal.food analysis-page photograph — not an original recipe photo.

Why Halal checks matter here

Some Central European gulyás recipes start with lard or smoked pork; restaurant versions may add sausage or wine.

Paprika and onions do the flavour work. Lard and pork sausage are optional in some kitchens and forbidden in this one. See goulash and lard.

Halal-critical ingredients

  • Lard Pork fat. Haram. Sunflower oil, olive oil, or dripping from Halal beef.
  • Smoked pork / sausage Common in tourist ‘goulash’. Beef only. See Pork.
  • Wine Some stew recipes add red wine. Stock or water only.

Safe substitutes

  • Lard → Sunflower oil or Halal beef dripping
  • Pork sausage garnish → Extra sweet paprika and caraway
  • Wine → A spoon of tomato paste and good Halal stock

Allergens

none

Ingredients

Stew

  • 800 g (1.8 lb) Halal beef chuck, in 3 cm cubes
  • 40 ml (3 tbsp) sunflower oil or Halal beef dripping (not lard)
  • 500 g (4 medium) onions, finely chopped
  • 30 g (4 tbsp) sweet Hungarian paprika
  • 4 g (1 tsp) caraway seeds, lightly crushed
  • 15 g (3 cloves) garlic, crushed
  • 20 g (1 tbsp) tomato paste
  • 800 ml (3½ cups) Halal beef stock or water
  • 400 g (3 medium) waxy potatoes, in chunks, optional
  • 10 g (1½ tsp) fine salt
  • 2 g (½ tsp) black pepper

Method

  1. Onions first. Cook onions in oil or Halal dripping over medium-low heat until pale gold and collapsed, 15–20 minutes. This sweetness is the stew’s base. Do not start with lard. See Lard.
  2. Bloom paprika off the heat. Take the pan off the heat, stir in paprika, caraway, garlic, and tomato paste for 20 seconds. Paprika scorches and turns bitter if fried hard in a ripping-hot pan — a standard Hungarian caution, not a Halal rule.
  3. Beef. Return to the heat, add Halal beef, and coat. Pour in stock to come just level with the meat. Season. Simmer covered 1½–2 hours until the beef yields. No pork sausage, no bacon, no wine.
  4. Potatoes. Add potatoes for the last 25 minutes if you want a one-pot meal. Adjust salt. Serve with bread or Halal sour cream if dairy is fine for you.

Editorial method notes

Method specified editorially from Hungarian gulyás technique (onions cooked pale, paprika bloomed off the boil, beef simmered until spoon-tender) and this site's Goulash, Lard, and Beef pages. Not kitchen-tested in this environment; pending kitchen verification. This is a home paprika stew, not a claim to be a specific regional gulyás.

Technique and ingredient sources

  1. Beef goulash — BBC Good Food — BBC Good Food 15 August 2026

    Onion-heavy paprika stew structure. Fat and pork garnishes in other published versions are replaced here.

  2. Goulash analysis — isithalal.food — isithalal.food 15 August 2026

    Lard, pork, and stock checks for the dish name.

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