Gulyásleves is a Hungarian soup

Soup

Soup is a generally warm food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables with stock, juice, water, or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavors are extracted, forming a broth.Traditionally,...

, made of beef

Beef

Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. It is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of the Middle East , Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and is also important in...

, vegetables, ground paprika

Paprika

Paprika is a spice made from the grinding of dried fruits of Capsicum annuum . In many European languages, the word paprika refers to bell peppers themselves. The seasoning is used in many cuisines to add color and flavor to dishes. Paprika can range from mild to hot...

 and other spices. It originates from a dish cooked by the cattlemen (gulyás

Gulyás (herdsman)

The gulyás is the traditional mounted cattle-herdsman of Hungary. The gulyás tradition is associated with the Hungarian puszta and with the Hungarian Grey or Hungarian Steppe breed of Podolic cattle, , now considered a meat breed but formerly used as oxen. Gulyás is the origin of the word goulash.-...

 also means cowherd) who tended their herds in the Great Hungarian Plain

Great Hungarian Plain

The Great Hungarian Plain is a plain occupying the southern and eastern part of Hungary, some parts of the Eastern Slovak Lowland, southwestern Ukraine, the Transcarpathian Lowland , western Romania , northern Serbia , and eastern Croatia...

, known as the Alföld or Puszta in Hungarian.
These Hungarian cowboys often camped out with their cattle days away from populated areas, so they had to make their food from ingredients they could carry with themselves, and this food had to be cooked in the one available portable cauldron (called bogrács) over an open fire.

The original dish called bográcsgulyás was a stew, not a soup. Traditional Hungarian bográcsgulyás (cauldron

Cauldron

A cauldron or caldron is a large metal pot for cooking and/or boiling over an open fire, with a large mouth and frequently with an arc-shaped hanger.- Etymology :...

 gulyás) is often still cooked outdoors over an open fire in a cauldron, a Hungarian style "Barbecue

Barbecue

Barbecue or barbeque , used chiefly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia is a method and apparatus for cooking meat, poultry and occasionally fish with the heat and hot smoke of a fire, smoking wood, or hot coals of...

".
Later on when the dish left the peasant cuisines and became popular even in the town, it started to be cooked more like a soup. Nowadays the dish served in the Hungarian restaurants is a soup, but the locals cook the dish called gulyás

Goulash

Goulash is a soup or stew of meat, noodles and vegetables , seasoned with paprika and other spices. Originating in Hungary, goulash is also a popular meal in Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Romania, Scandinavia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and the north-eastern Italian region of Friuli Venezia...

  as a stew and gulyásleves (leves means soup) like a soup.
There are different variations of the recipe. The meat is beef, but often mixed meats are used (e.g. beef, pork and mutton/lamb). Tomatoes, carrots and fresh peppers (often hot chilies) are also added. Onions, paprika and caraway seeds provide its flavour. Cubed potatoes or pasta squares are typically added to this spicy soup. This dish is not to be confused with other dishes called "pörkölt

Pörkölt

Pörkölt is a meat stew which originates from Hungary, but is eaten throughout Central Europe and the Balkans.-In Hungary:Pörkölt is a Hungarian stew with boneless meat, paprika, some vegetables and no potato...

" or "paprikás

Goulash

Goulash is a soup or stew of meat, noodles and vegetables , seasoned with paprika and other spices. Originating in Hungary, goulash is also a popular meal in Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Romania, Scandinavia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and the north-eastern Italian region of Friuli Venezia...

".