Slow Cooker Beef Paprikash; The Hungarian-American Classic
Slow Cooker Beef Paprikash is what I make when I want a Sunday stew on a Wednesday without standing over a pot. It’s beefy, has that signature paprika flavor, and the gravy is good enough to eat by the spoonful. You do about 30 minutes of prep, then the slow cooker takes it from there while you get on with your day.
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I looooove this recipe. I grew up eating it; my Oma was an adventurous cook and she made this dish often. I’ve tweaked it over the years, and now this is the version I make when I’m craving that rich, saucy flavor and melt-in-your-mouth beef. And, with beef prices really getting pricy, this is an affordable way to stretch your dollar.
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Chef Jenn’s Take on Slow Cooker Beef Paprikash
Most people treat paprika like a garnish. A sprinkle on deviled eggs, a dusting over potato salad, and the jar sits in the cupboard for five years. That’s why so many paprikash recipes taste flat. A quarter cup sounds like a mistake the first time you measure it out, but that’s how much it takes to get the deep red color and the sweet, peppery backbone this stew is known for.
I use three paprikas here: sweet Hungarian for the base, plus a little smoked sweet and smoked hot for depth. The smoked ones aren’t traditional, and I’m fine with that. They give the slow cooker version some of the richness you’d otherwise get from hours on the stovetop.
The one step you can’t skip is taking the pan off the heat before the paprika goes in. Paprika scorches fast, and scorched paprika turns bitter and muddy. Kill the heat, stir it into the onions, and let the residual warmth bloom it. Then brown your beef properly, in batches, and don’t rush the onions.
What You’ll Love About Slow Cooker Beef Paprikash
- You brown the beef and cook down the onions once, then walk away for most of the day, which is exactly what a slow cooker was made for.
- Beef chuck is one of the more affordable cuts at the meat counter, and after 8 hours on low it’s pull-apart tender without any fuss.
- It’s a real Old World stew that doesn’t ask for anything hard to find, just good paprika, onions, and a tub of sour cream.
History of Beef Paprikash
Paprikash (paprikás in Hungarian) comes from Hungary, where paprika became a kitchen staple in the 1800s and the sour cream finish is what separates a paprikás from the related stew called pörkölt. The dish crossed the Atlantic with the waves of Hungarian immigrants who arrived in the late 1800s and early 1900s, many settling in industrial cities like Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and New York, where church dinners and neighborhood restaurants kept it on the table. By the mid-century years, paprikash was showing up in American community and general-interest cookbooks alongside goulash, usually made with chicken or beef and served over egg noodles. When slow cookers arrived in American kitchens in the early 1970s, braised beef dishes like this one were a natural fit, and a hands-off paprikash has been part of the slow cooker playbook ever since.
Ingredients
- Cooking oil – Any neutral oil with a decent smoke point works. I use vegetable or canola. Start with a tablespoon and add more between batches as the pan dries out.
- Beef chuck – Buy a whole chuck roast and cube it yourself instead of buying pre-cut stew meat. Stew meat is often a mix of cuts that cook at different rates, and you’ll end up with some pieces tender and some tough.
- Yellow onions – About 2 large onions gets you to a pound. Don’t swap in sweet onions; they get too soft and sugary over the long cook.
- Garlic – Fresh cloves only. Jarred garlic tastes sour after 8 hours.
- Sweet Hungarian paprika – This is the one to spend a little on. Look for “Hungarian” and “sweet” on the label, and if your jar has been open longer than a year, replace it. Regular grocery store paprika works in a pinch, but the flavor is noticeably thinner.
- Smoked sweet paprika – Sometimes sold as Spanish smoked paprika or pimentón dulce. If you can’t find it, use another teaspoon of sweet Hungarian.
- Smoked hot paprika – Leave it out if you’re cooking for kids or anyone heat-shy. A pinch of cayenne works as a swap if you want the heat without the smoke.
- Tomato paste – The kind in a tube keeps longer in the fridge than an opened can.
- Worcestershire sauce – Any brand. If you don’t have it, a teaspoon of soy sauce is a fair stand-in.
- Beef broth – Low-sodium, so you control the salt. Stock or bone broth both work.
- Kosher salt and black pepper – If you only have table salt, cut the amount roughly in half.
- Bay leaf – Dried is fine. Fish it out before serving.
- Full-fat sour cream – Don’t use light or fat-free. It curdles in the hot stew no matter how carefully you temper it.
- All-purpose flour – For the slurry. Cornstarch works too; use 1 tablespoon instead of 2.
How to Make Slow Cooker Beef Paprikash
Scroll down for the full recipe card with exact measurements and printable instructions.
Heat the oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the beef in batches, giving each piece room so it sears instead of steams. Transfer each batch to the slow cooker as it finishes.
Lower the heat to medium and add the onions to the same pan. Cook them for about 10 minutes, scraping up the browned bits from the beef, until they’re very soft and just starting to turn golden at the edges.
Stir in the garlic and tomato paste and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the tomato paste darkens a shade. Now turn off the heat. Add all three paprikas and the Worcestershire, and stir until the onions are coated a deep, even red.
Scrape the onion mixture into the slow cooker over the beef. Add the broth, bay leaf, salt, and pepper and stir well. It won’t look like much liquid, but the beef and onions release plenty as they cook.
Cover and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours, until the beef falls apart when you press it with a spoon.
Whisk the flour with 2 tablespoons of water until smooth, then stir it into the stew. Cover and cook another 15 to 20 minutes on high, until it comes back up to a simmer and thickens.
Just before serving, pull out the bay leaf. Put the sour cream in a bowl and whisk in a ladle of the hot liquid, then stir that back into the stew. Serve over egg noodles or spaetzle with chopped parsley on top.
Make It A Meal
I serve this over buttered egg noodles or Grandma’s Mashed Potatoes to catch every bit of the sauce. For a vegetable, I like something with a little acid to cut the richness. Oma’s German Red Cabbage is my first choice, or go with Roasted Green Beans with Almonds and Lemon if you want something lighter.
For dessert, stay in the Old World lane with Dutch Apple Pie Squares.
Storage
Store leftover beef paprikash in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat gently on the stovetop over medium-low heat, stirring often, and don’t let it boil or the sour cream can separate. To freeze, leave out the sour cream, freeze the stew for up to 3 months, then stir in fresh sour cream after reheating.
Frequently Asked Questions
Paprikash is finished with sour cream, while goulash is not. Hungarian goulash is also usually a thinner, soupier dish with potatoes or other vegetables, where paprikash is a thick braise served over noodles or dumplings.
Yes, simmer it covered in a Dutch oven over low heat for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours, until the beef is tender. Check the liquid every 30 minutes or so and add a splash of broth if it starts to stick.
Not very. Sweet Hungarian paprika gives flavor and color, not heat, and the half teaspoon of smoked hot paprika adds only a mild warmth across the whole pot.
You can, but use full-fat plain Greek yogurt and temper it the same way. It’s tangier and a little more likely to curdle, so stir it in off the heat right before serving.
Slow Cooker Beef Paprikash Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil then as needed
- 3–4 pounds beef chuck cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 pound yellow onions peeled and thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic coarsely chopped
- ¼ cup sweet Hungarian paprika
- 1 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked hot paprika
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 cup full-fat sour cream
- 2 tablespoons flour
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the beef well in batches, adding more oil as needed, and transfer each batch to the slow cooker.
- Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onions to the same pan and cook until substantially softened and beginning to caramelize, about 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring well to combine.
- Turn off the heat. Stir in the sweet paprika, smoked sweet paprika, smoked hot paprika, and Worcestershire sauce until the onions are evenly coated.
- Add the onion mixture to the slow cooker along with the beef broth, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Stir well.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours or HIGH for 4 to 5 hours, until the beef is fall-apart tender.
- Whisk the flour with 2 tablespoons water to make a slurry. Stir it into the hot stew and cook 15 to 20 minutes more, until the stew returns to a simmer and thickens.
- Discard the bay leaf. Temper the sour cream by whisking in a ladle of the hot liquid, then stir the sour cream into the stew. Taste and adjust salt.
- Serve hot over egg noodles or spaetzle, sprinkled with parsley.
Notes
Recipe Card Tips
- Add the paprika off the heat. It scorches in seconds over a live burner and turns the whole pot bitter.
- Let the stew stop bubbling for a minute before the tempered sour cream goes in. Stirring it into a rolling simmer is how it curdles.
Nutrition
A Note on Nutritional Information
Nutritional information for this recipe is provided as a courtesy and is calculated based on available online ingredient information. It is only an approximate value. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site cannot be guaranteed.
