Weight Watchers Goulash | Instant Pot and Stovetop

This quick and easy Weight Watchers Goulash recipe will become a comfort food staple for weeknight dinners that your whole family will love.  

Goulash is one of the classic traditional recipes of our childhood memories. Also known as American chop suey or American Goulash, it has been a great recipe for family dinner for years. You can hide a ton of vegetables from picky eaters and bulk it up for yourself since vegetables are zero points on any Weight Watchers plan.

With our updated twist on the classic comfort food, we provide healthy changes that you can feel great about, all while still serving up an incredible meal that will make your mouth water.

Our Weight Watchers goulash recipe will be one of your favorite meals. The best part about our Goulash recipe is that it can be made in the Instant Pot which will cut down on both time and effort in the kitchen.

Where’s the recipe?

There’s a lot of information here, including tips, nutrition facts, and detailed cooking instructions. I do this to better serve all of my readers. If this is more information than you need, please simply scroll to the bottom of the page, where you will find our weight watchers goulash recipe.

Ingredients in Weight Watchers Instant Pot Goulash

• Ground Turkey: Fat-free ground turkey is zero points. You can opt for lean ground turkey or extra-lean ground beef, but you’ll need to add a few points per serving (this can change based on the plan you’re on).    
• Garlic: Garlic is zero points for Weight Watchers but gets all the points in flavor!
• Italian Seasoning: Italian seasoning is a blend of marjoram, thyme, rosemary, sage, oregano and basil. 
• Yellow Onion: Grab a bag of chopped yellow onions from the freezer section at your local grocery store to speed this recipe up. If using frozen, nothing changes–add the onions at the same time you would fresh.
• Bay Leaves: Bay leaves are an aromatic leaf commonly used in soups, stews, and pasta dishes to add a great depth of flavor.  
• Zucchini: You can add any squash that you like, or even extra zucchini. If you don’t like it, leave it out and add another vegetable.
• Bell Peppers: These sweet nightshades work well paired with tomato-based sauces. We prefer to use green pepper or red pepper in this recipe, but any color of pepper is great.
• Crushed Tomatoes: You can substitute a jar of no added sugar spaghetti sauce, but this will add some points to the recipe. I love using the spices and canned tomatoes to make my own delicious tomato sauce. We find that crushed tomatoes gives this recipe a more authentic goulash flavor than when using tomato paste.
• Whole Wheat Pasta: Whole wheat pasta is far less processed than its bleached counterparts and saves you 1 point per serving. We love using whole wheat elbow macaroni noodles. We don’t recommend using egg noodles for this recipe as they absorb up liquid and flavor quickly.

How to make Weight Watchers Goulash in the Instant Pot

1. Sauté: Set your Instant Pot to sauté and spray with oil.
2. Brown your turkey: Use a spatula to break apart the ground turkey. Cook until crumbled and browned.
3. Add your spices: Add garlic, Italian seasonings, onions, and bay leaves to the pot. Mix well. If using pasta sauce, omit the seasonings and tomatoes.
4. Add your vegetables: Add chopped zucchini, bell peppers, and crushed tomatoes and 14 oz. of water.
5. Add noodles: Stir in uncooked elbow macaroni.
6. Pressure Cook: Close and lock the lid. Turn the valve to sealing. Select Pressure Cook and set time for 3 minutes.
7. Quick Release: When the cooking time is up, quick release the pressure and remove the lid.
8. Serve: Stir the ingredients in the pot to evenly mix. Serve warm and top with parmesan cheese, if desired.

How to make Weight Watchers Goulash on the stovetop

1. Brown your turkey in a deep large skillet or large saucepan on medium/high heat until cooked to a temperature of 165°F. 
2. While your meat is browning, boil your noodles until they are just undercooked (they will continue to cook in the sauces).
3. Add the noodles, zucchini, bell peppers, tomatoes, and spices to your turkey and stir well. 
4. Simmer for ten minutes until your vegetables are soft. 
5. Top with parmesan cheese, if desired and serve warm.

Recipe Tips

• This is the perfect recipe for meal prep. Just freeze in serving size containers and reheat in the microwave when ready to eat!
• This recipe is great for adding in extra vegetables You can hide a ton of vegetables by pulverizing them in the food processor before adding to the Instant Pot. Your picky eaters will never know!
• If you are using gluten free noodles, reduce your cook time to 2 minutes. Double check your points as not all gluten-free pastas have the same point value as whole wheat pasta. 
• This recipe is easy to customize for your family’s tastes. I like to add mushrooms, carrots, and riced cauliflower along with the peppers, onions, and zucchini. You can leave out any veggie that you don’t like, and double up on the ones you do.
• Swapping the crushed tomatoes for other varieties, such as diced tomatoes or tomato puree, will change the way this recipe comes out.
• Some people struggle with the burn warning when cooking tomato based recipes. I’ve never had that issue with this goulash, but if you’re concerned, add the tomato sauce last and don’t stir the food before cooking.
• The next time you make this meal, feel free to use whatever spare veggies you have on hand. It’s a great recipe to make when you
• For a list of the tools that I used in this recipe, and my other favorites, check out my Amazon store.

Weight Watchers Points

Freestyle and Smart Points have been phased out of Weight Watchers and have been replaced with Blue, Purple, and Green Plans.

• Blue Plan Points: Each serving is 1 Blue Plan Points
• Green Plan Points: Each serving is 2 Green Plan Points
• Purple Plan Points: Each serving is 0 Purple Plan Points
• 2022/2023 Points: 2

More Weight Watchers Instant Pot Recipes

• Weight Watchers Gyros
• Slow Cooker Stuffed Pepper Soup
• Weight Watchers Tuscan Chicken Pasta
• Weight Watchers Swedish Meatballs