Here's my latest column for HD Media:
Some dishes come with recipes. This one comes with aliases.
American Chop Suey. Goulash. Slumgullion. Beefaroni. Johnny Marzetti.
The ingredients — pasta, beef and tomatoes — remain the same. But the name changes depending on the region.
The concept of the dish is simple: combine what’s on hand into something filling. Stretch a little meat with starch, build flavor from scraps, and make enough to feed everyone at the table. It’s the backbone of peasant cooking, born from necessity rather than precision.
You see it everywhere. In Italy, leftover pasta becomes frittata or baked casseroles. In Spain, rice absorbs whatever meats or vegetables are available. In China, stir-fries turn small amounts of protein and produce into a complete meal.
And in the United States, it’s American Chop Suey. Or goulash. Or slumgullion. Or Beefaroni. Or Johnny Marzetti.
AMERICAN CHOP SUEY
You’ll find “American chop suey” in parts of New England and the Mid-Atlantic. But the only thing Chinese about it is its name: “Chop suey” comes from a Cantonese Chinese phrase that roughly translates to “mixed pieces” or “odds and ends.”
When Chinese immigrants brought the idea to the United States in the 19th century, it originally referred to a dish made from a variety of leftover ingredients like meats and vegetables stir-fried together. Hence, the pasta-tomato-macaroni meal became an American version of the dish.
GOULASH
Travel deeper into the coal regions of West Virginia, eastern Ohio, or Kentucky, and you’ll hear it called “goulash.” Appalachian goulash bears almost no resemblance to the paprika-heavy beef stew that originated in Hungary.
When immigrants from Eastern Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries came to the region, they brought goulash, which traditionally contains chunks of beef, onions, paprika and sometimes potatoes. Over time, the recipe evolved to include other ingredients — like macaroni — that make up a hearty, one-pot meal but the name stayed the same.
SLUMGULLION
One of the first documented uses of the word “slumgullion” was in 1872 in the story Roughin’ It by Mark Twain. But it was referring to a gross, watery beverage. It later was used to describe a weak, tasteless stew made from leftovers. And then ultimately became a catch-all term for a stew made for whatever was on hand.
While it’s the most fun term of the bunch, it’s likely one of the least used but still found in frontier regions that had logging camps and gold mines -- the West, Alaska and Appalachia.
BEEFARONI
“Beefaroni” is the trademarked name for the canned version of the meal produced by Chef Boyardee. First introduced in the U.S, in the 1970s, Chef Boyardee commercialized the macaroni, beef and tomato dish into a ready-to-eat meal.
The company took the home-style dish, standardized it, and marketed it, giving it a catchy, trademarked name — and bringing the dish into homes nationwide.
JOHHNY MARZETTI
In some pockets of the country, especially areas with Italian-American influence, it’s known as Johnny Marzetti. It traces back to Marzetti’s Restaurant in Columbus, opened by Teresa Marzetti in the early 1900s. She is said to have created the dish for her brother-in-law, Johnny Marzetti, and it quickly became popular because it was inexpensive, filling and easy to prepare in large quantities.
The dish typically combines ground beef, tomato sauce, pasta, and cheese, then is baked into a casserole, giving it a more structured, cohesive texture than stovetop goulash or slumgullion.. Like its counterparts, Johnny Marzetti reflects a practical, make-do style of cooking, but stands apart as the cheesier, oven-baked version with a specific place, name and group of users tied to it.
There are even more names. Chili mac, slum gully, Minnesota goulash, hot dish, etc.
At its core, no matter the name, the dish is the same: browned beef, tender macaroni, and a tomato-based sauce that binds it all together. Some families stir in vegetables, others layer in cheese, and some bake it for a golden top. It’s versatile, economical, and endlessly comforting — characteristic of an Appalachian staple.
These dishes aren’t defined by strict ingredients — they’re defined by resourcefulness. They are economical, adaptable, and deeply personal, often carrying the imprint of family habits and regional language more than any written recipe.
