Beef Paprika is a saucy stewed beef dish seasoned with paprika, garlic, and onions. It's the perfect comfort food served over egg noodles.
There are a few dishes that stand out in my memory as ones that my mom made on a regular basis when I was a kid, and this Beef Paprika is one of them. I remember liking it quite a bit back then, so when I recently came across a photocopy of my mom's old recipe, I decided it was time for my family to try it too.
I'm not sure where the original recipe came from, but the photocopy I had looks like it may have been from a recipe card, or maybe a small cookbook. In any case, I thought it needed a bit of modernizing.
I swapped the shortening for oil and reduced the amount. I reduced the amount of ketchup and added some tomato paste. I increased the paprika and the garlic.
I slightly changed the method of the recipe so that the flour was added near the start of the cooking time, rather than at the very end in the original recipe. This ensures that the flour is well-cooked both for food safety and to avoid any "raw flour" taste.
These changes worked out well, and the dish came out tasting similar to what I remembered eating when I was young. It's a great comfort food, and it tasted excellent on the cold winter evening when we had it for dinner. I hope your family will like it too.
How to make Beef Paprika
Making Beef Paprika is a lengthy process because it needs to simmer in the oven or on the stovetop for 1 ½ to two hours to ensure that the beef is tender, not chewy. But the good news is that most of that time is hands-off, and the time you will actually spend doing hands-on work is much less.
If you purchased your beef in roast or steak form, the first step is to cut it up. Also make sure to remove any excess solid fat or tough connective tissue. You want the beef to be in roughly 1-inch bite-sized pieces. Mince the onion.
Heat some neutral-flavored cooking oil in a small to medium Dutch oven. Add the minced onion, beef cubes, tomato paste, and salt, and cook until the beef is browned and the onions are soft.
Stir in the garlic, paprika, mustard powder, and cayenne, and cook until fragrant. Stir in the flour and cook for about 2 minutes. Slowly stir in the water, ensuring to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Stir in the ketchup, Worcestershire, and brown sugar, and bring the mixture to a boil.
If cooking on the stovetop, reduce the temperature to low-medium low and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching. If cooking in the oven, transfer the Dutch oven to a 350°F oven and cook for about 1 ½ hours.
When the beef is done, remove the Dutch oven from the heat and cook a package of egg noodles according to the directions on the package. Serve the beef over the noodles, and garnish with minced parsley. Serve with a green salad or roasted vegetables to make a complete meal.
Beef Paprika Leftovers
Store any leftover beef and noodles separately in airtight containers for up to 2 days in the fridge and reheat to 165°F.
Beef Paprika Ingredients
- Beef blade/chuck roast or stewing beef - pro-tip: the "stewing beef" that you see at the grocery store is convenient, but typically more expensive than the blade or chuck roasts or steaks that you can cut up yourself at home. Choose whichever works better for you.
- Canola oil or other neutral-flavored cooking oil
- Onion - for convenience, you could consider using frozen diced onions.
- Tomato paste - for convenience, consider buying tomato paste in tubes, which can just be put in the fridge after dispensing the amount you need. For maximum affordability though, buy tomato paste in cans and freeze any leftover paste in ice cube trays (use silicone ones to easily remove the frozen paste).
- Kosher salt or MSG-salt
- Garlic
- Paprika - use either sweet or hot paprika here, not smoked paprika.
- Mustard powder
- Cayenne - a pinch is all you need. If you don't want yours to have even a hint of spice, feel free to omit it.
- All-purpose flour - this is used to thicken the sauce. If you require a gluten-free diet, make sure to use a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend.
- Water - use whatever water you normally drink. Cold tap water is fine.
- Ketchup
- Worcestershire sauce
- Brown sugar - or you could substitute granulated sugar if needed.
- Egg noodles - I prefer extra-broad, but broad egg noodles are fine too.
- Minced parsley - this is optional, to garnish
Want more beef recipes?
Beef Paprika Nutrition Notes
The nutrition information in the recipe below is for ⅙th of the recipe and includes both the beef paprika and the egg noodles that it's served with.
To make this recipe gluten-free, make sure to use a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend to thicken the sauce and serve it either with gluten-free noodles, or another gluten-free starch option like rice or potatoes.
This recipe is dairy-free as written.
Beef Paprika
Equipment
- Small to medium Dutch oven or large oven-safe saucepan or saute pan
Ingredients
- 2 pounds beef blade roast or other pot roast or stewing beef
- 1 medium onion minced
- 2 Tablespoons canola oil or other neutral-flavored cooking oil
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt or MSG-salt
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 Tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon mustard powder
- 1 pinch cayenne
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour or use a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend to make this recipe gluten-free
- 2 cups water
- ½ cup ketchup
- 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
- 13 ounces dried extra-broad egg noodles
- 2 Tablespoons minced parsley optional, to garnish
Instructions
To cook in the oven:
- Trim the beef of any large chunks of fat and tough connective tissue. Cut the beef into 1-inch chunks. Move the oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 350°F.
- Heat 2 Tablespoons canola oil or other neutral-flavored cooking oil in a small-to-medium Dutch oven, or large oven-safe saucepan or saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the beef chunks, the minced onion, 2 Tablespoons tomato paste, and 2 teaspoons kosher salt and cook until the beef is browned and the tomatoes are softened, about 5-8 minutes.
- Stir in the minced garlic, 1 Tablespoon paprika, 1 teaspoon mustard powder, and 1 pinch cayenne and cook until the garlic and spices are fragrant, about 1 minute. Sprinkle 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour over the mixture and stir well. Cook until the mixture has thickened, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in 2 cups water, ½ cup ketchup, 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, and 1 Tablespoon brown sugar. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Cover the pan and carefully transfer it to the oven. Cook for 90 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and stir. Replace the lid and let the pot rest while you make the noodles. NOTE: If the sauce/gravy seems too thick at this point, stir in up to ½ cup additional water and return to a simmer over medium heat to thin it.
- Bring a large saucepan of water to boil over high heat. Cook 13 ounces dried extra-broad egg noodles according to the instructions on the package. Drain the noodles and divide them into serving bowls. Ladle the beef over the noodles and garnish with minced parsley, if desired.
To cook on the stovetop:
- Follow the recipe as above, but skip prepping and turning on the oven in step 1. In step 4: after bringing the beef mixture to a simmer, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 2 hours (increase the heat to medium-low if needed if the simmering stops), stirring every 15 minutes or so to prevent scorching. Follow the remainder of the recipe as written.
Nutrition
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