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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 this Weight Watchers 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 Goulash Recipe
- Ground Turkey: Fat-free ground turkey is zero points. We love using ground turkey as our ground meat for this recipe. 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: Minced 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: You’ll need a chopped onion for this recipe, however we love the time saver of grabbing 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 or diced tomatoes.
- 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 Recipe in the Instant Pot
- Sauté: Set your Instant Pot to sauté and spray with oil.
- Brown your turkey: Use a spatula to break apart the ground turkey. Cook until crumbled and browned.
- 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.
- Add your vegetables: Add chopped zucchini, bell peppers, and crushed tomatoes and 2 cups of water.
- Add noodles: Stir in uncooked elbow macaroni.
- Pressure Cook: Close and lock the lid. Turn the valve to sealing. Select Pressure Cook and set time for 3 minutes.
- Quick Release: When the cooking time is up, quick release the pressure and remove the lid.
- 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 Recipe on the stovetop
- Brown your turkey in a deep large skillet or large saucepan on medium/high heat until cooked to a temperature of 165°F.
- While your meat is browning, boil your noodles until they are just undercooked (they will continue to cook in the sauces).
- Add the noodles, zucchini, bell peppers, tomatoes, and spices to your turkey and stir well.
- Simmer for ten minutes until your vegetables are soft.
- Top with parmesan cheese, if desired and serve warm.
Recipe Tips
- Our Weight Watchers Goulash recipe is the perfect recipe for meal prep. Just freeze in serving size containers and reheat in the microwave when ready to eat!
- This goulash recipe is pure comfort food, and 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 ww points as not all gluten-free pastas have the same point value as whole wheat pasta.
- This goulash 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. We prefer using crushed tomatoes over diced tomatoes in this healthy goulash recipe.
- 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 need to clear out the fridge of spare vegetables.
- For a list of the tools that I used in this recipe, and my other favorites, check out my Amazon store.
Weight Watchers Points
2 2025 Plan Points | 1 Blue Plan Point | 2 Green Plan Points | 0 Purple Plan Points | 2 2023 Plan Points
More Weight Watchers Instant Pot Recipes
- Weight Watchers Gyros
- Weight Watchers Stuffed Pepper Soup
- Weight Watchers Tuscan Chicken Pasta
- Weight Watchers Swedish Meatballs
- Weight Watchers Crack Chicken
- WW Egg Roll in a Bowl
click the stars to rate!
Weight Watchers Goulash Recipe
Approximate Serving Size: 1 1/4 cups
Servings 6
This healthy goulash recipe is so easy to make and can be made with turkey or beef. It's a tasty meal that's packed full of veggies!
Equipment
- Instant Pot 6 qt
- Food processor
- Sealing Rings
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 1 lb ground turkey fat free
- 1 tbsp garlic minced
- 2 ½ tbsp Italian seasoning
- ½ cup onion minced
- 2 bay leaves take these out after cooking
- 1 cup zucchini chopped
- 1 cup bell pepper chopped
- 14 oz crushed tomatoes or a jar of pasta sauce. If using a jar of sauce, omit the spices below.
- 1 cup whole wheat pasta elbow, dry
Instructions
Instant Pot Directions:
- Set your Instant Pot to Sauté and spray with oil.
- Use a spatula to break apart the ground turkey. Cook until crumbled and browned. 1 lb ground turkey
- Add garlic, Italian seasoning, onions, and bay leaves to the pot. Mix well. 1 tbsp garlic, 2 ½ tbsp Italian seasoning, ½ cup onion, 2 bay leaves
- Add chopped zucchini, bell peppers, and crushed tomatoes and 2 cups of water. 1 cup zucchini, 1 cup bell pepper, 14 oz crushed tomatoes
- Stir in your whole wheat noodles. 1 cup whole wheat pasta
- Close and lock the lid and turn the valve to sealing. Select Pressure cook and set time for 3 minutes.
- When the cook time is up, quick release the pressure and remove the lid.
- Stir the ingredients in the pot to evenly mix. Serve warm and top with parmesan cheese, if desired.
Stovetop Directions:
- Brown your turkey in a skillet on medium/high heat until cooked, 165°F. 1 lb ground turkey
- While your meat is browning, boil your noodles until they are just undercooked (they will continue to cook in the sauces). 1 cup whole wheat pasta
- Add the noodles, zucchini, bell peppers, tomatoes, and spices to your turkey and stir well. 1 cup zucchini, 1 cup bell pepper, 14 oz crushed tomatoes, 1 tbsp garlic, 2 ½ tbsp Italian seasoning, ½ cup onion
- Simmer for ten minutes until your vegetables are soft.
- Top with parmesan cheese, if desired and serve warm.
Video
Notes
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 stuffing in extra vegetables You can hide a ton of vegetables by pulverizing 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.
- Use the sauté feature on your Instant Pot to continue cooking your pasta if it is more al dente than you prefer.
- This recipe is easy to customize for your family’s tastes. I like to add 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.
Nutrition
Calories: 165kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 42mg | Sodium: 131mg | Potassium: 590mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 1015IU | Vitamin C: 43mg | Calcium: 73mg | Iron: 3mg
Make This Recipe?
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This was my first attempt at making something using an Instapot. The recipe was easy to follow and quick and tasted good, but not great. My wife differed and said she loved it. So our “joint” rating is a four. I think it needs a bit more powerful or savory taste. I also subsitituted baby bella mushrooms for the zucchini.
I will be trying some more of your recipes.
So glad you liked it and found it easy to make!
Do you use a full jar of spaghetti sauce or just 14 oz?
I use the full jar of sauce, and you can omit the other seasonings :)
I have made this in the past and loved it. If you use the pasta sauce do you still add the water too in the instant pot?
Yes, definitely still add the water!
How much is considered a serving made tonight very good
1 1/4 cup. I just noticed that my serving sizes are gone! Thanks for pointing this out – I’ll get these fixed :)
I have made this several times. Once in the instant and many times on the stove. When making on the stove I don’t bother with precooking it the pasta. I just add it in and set it on low and it cooked in 15-20 minutes. Also, I use pasta sauce and I still add the seasonings. It is FELICIOUS. Even my picky eaters (my 3 kids) devour it!! We eat it weekly.
Hi Becca, the flavor of this goulash is so good! I’ve made it three times now but I’m still struggling to get enough liquid to balance the meat and veggies. Then I watched your video and noticed you added water but I don’t see water listed in the ingredients. How much should I add?
Hi Diane! For the Instant Pot, I add 2-3 cups of water, depending on the size of your pot and your elevation. If you add 3 cups, it may look like a lot when you first open the pot but it usually soaks in a bit as it cools. It mentioned the water in the cooking instructions.
Your recipe looks great! I’m going to make this using the stove top method because I don’t own an instant pot. Have you made this in a slow cooker before? I thought about doing it this way instead of the stove top.
Hi Molly! This could definitely be made in a slow cooker, but I’d cook the ground meat in a skillet first. Then add everything but the pasta to the slow cooker. You may want to cook the pasta separately, too, but it could be added to the slow cooker towards the end of the cook time if you add in extra liquid. I’d probably cook this on low for 6-8 hours. Let us know if you try it!
Really enjoyed this recipe! Very tasty! Thank you!
10/10 recommend! This was a HIT, even with my own extremely picky eaters!
I made this today and it is amazing. Homestyle comfort food made healthy. Thank you for the recipe!