Grandma Charlotte’s Macaroni Hotdish (My Goulash Recipe)

My goulash recipe. I grew up eating (and helping my mom make) a meal we called macaroni hotdish that she and her sister grew up with that Grandma made. When I mentioned it to my aunt she remembered that Grandma had initially called it her spaghetti and meatballs even though she used tomato soup instead of tomato sauce and macaroni instead of spaghetti. And at some point the meatballs became too much hassle (lol) and it evolved into what I’ve always known as my Grandma’s macaroni hotdish.

JUMP TO RECIPE

My mom adding cheese and her own spin on it made this recipe one of my favorite meals as a kid and now I make it whenever I want a big bowl of comfort.

Something I didn’t discover until years later is that this meal has an official name and its goulash.

My mom always cooked her ground beef with a chopped up onion and I always do the same with any ground meat I’m using though I can’t remember the last time I cooked with ground beef.

The staple that was ground beef doesn’t seem to be a thing so much with my generation and I think it makes sense or, at least, it does for my household.

Ground beef used to be filling and affordable. But nowadays ground pork and ground poultry are always cheaper (at the writing of this post everywhere I checked they were AT LEAST $1 cheaper a pound) and to me pork tastes better anyway and poultry is certainly better for us.

(If we want burgers now I do a 50/50 ground pork and turkey smash burger that’s so good I’m going to have to share it here on the blog.)

To my goulash I add onion and also a bell pepper all chopped up and cooked in with the ground meat.

Instead of tomato soup I use canned chopped tomatoes and tomato sauce instead.

And I use cavatappi instead of macaroni because for me they’re the perfect noodle for my goulash but, really, any type of short noodle will work.

I cook the chopped onion, bell pepper, all of the seasonings and the ground meat on the stove until its done.

(You can see I left my ground turkey well alone because my biggest gripe with it is that it can disintegrate so I let it really brown up into nice chunks. The easiest mistake to make with this dish is the whole thing becoming a big pile of mush, tasty mush, but still mush. So I’m always careful to keep the meat chunky and to not overcook the pasta.)

Then I add basically everything else: all four cans of chopped tomatoes and sauce, the cup of water and the two cups of uncooked pasta and then cover the pan so the pasta can cook.

(If you use a different pasta that’s going to effect how much water you use, how much pasta you use and how long its gonna take to cook. As with all pasta err on the side of caution when adding more (lol) and don’t stir it too much or it will become chewy gum paste. Of course the safest bet is to just cook the pasta separately.)

When the pasta is just shy of cooked and everything thickened up I add the cheese.

Adding cheese to our goulash was my mom’s addition years ago and no I don’t feel anything other than plain old American cheese would do here and it would be a travesty if you didn’t add it.

I add a layer of cheese slices to the center of my goulash by just pushing the goulash aside and burying the cheese.

Then I sprinkle it with parmesan and bake it uncovered for a good hour because I want it really toasty on top and all that cheese in the middle totally melted.

I’ve served this with green beans, asparagus, garlic bread and salads before but usually when I make it I just want a big bowl of comfort and nothing else. Recipes like this are also a great way to make the most of a Ground Beef Bundle, especially when you’re cooking hearty meals that can easily feed a family or provide leftovers for the week.

Its a lot of goulash for only two of us but not a single morsel has ever gone to waste lol.

My Goulash Recipe
• 1lb Ground turkey
• 1Chopped bell pepper
• 1Chopped onion
• 1Tbsp Black Pepper
• 1Tbsp Oregano
• 1Tbsp Basil
• 1Tbsp Garlic salt
• 2Cans chopped tomatoes (14.5oz)
• 2Cans tomato sauce (14.5oz)
• 1Cup water
• 2Cups dry cavatappi pasta
• 10Slices American cheese
• Parmesan to taste

Add the chopped onion, bell pepper, all of the seasonings and the ground turkey to an oven safe pan and cook on the stove top until done.

Add all four cans of chopped tomatoes and sauce, the cup of water and the two cups of uncooked pasta. Cover and cook on medium until pasta is just done.

Add a layer of cheese slices to the center by just pushing the goulash aside and burying them. Sprinkle with parmesan and bake for around an hour at 350 until well toasted.

My Goulash Recipe
• 1lb Ground turkey
• 1Chopped bell pepper
• 1Chopped onion
• 1Tbsp Black Pepper
• 1Tbsp Oregano
• 1Tbsp Basil
• 1Tbsp Garlic salt
• 2Cans chopped tomatoes (14.5oz)
• 2Cans tomato sauce (14.5oz)
• 1Cup water
• 2Cups dry cavatappi pasta
• 10Slices American cheese
• Parmesan to taste

Add the chopped onion, bell pepper, all of the seasonings and the ground turkey to an oven safe pan and cook on the stove top until done.

Add all four cans of chopped tomatoes and sauce, the cup of water and the two cups of uncooked pasta. Cover and cook on medium until pasta is just done.

Add a layer of cheese slices to the center by just pushing the goulash aside and burying them. Sprinkle with parmesan and bake for around an hour at 350 until well toasted.