Name: Chicken-Fried Steak with Country Gravy Recipe
Cook time: 40 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick); 1/4 cup all-purpose flour; 2 teaspoons kosher salt , plus more as needed; 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper , plus more as needed; 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper; 3 cups whole milk; 1 cup whole milk; 1 cup all-purpose flour; 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper , plus more as needed; 1 teaspoon garlic powder; 1 teaspoon onion powder; 1 teaspoon paprika; 1 teaspoon kosher salt , plus more as needed; 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper; 1 pound beef round , trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1/4-inch slices; 3/4 cup vegetable oil , for frying

Why it works: Garlic and onion match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Onion + beeftop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,092 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Pepper + garlictop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,090 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Pepper + beeftop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,971 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the garlic

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, pepper, milk, onion, beef):

Parsleyfits about as well
Garlicthe original
Thymefits about as well
Turmericfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, pepper, milk, onion, beef. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Beef	100g cooked	250
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Chicken-Fried Steak with Country Gravy Recipe