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Spicy Flat Iron Steak Rub

"This is a super flavorful rub with a Southwest taste for flat iron steak. You can use this recipe for grilling, broiling or stove top (fry pan or stove top grill) cooking. The steak is also great served with a few slices of avocado on top. Let the rub sit for up to 2 days, if possible, for the best flavor."

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 10 ingredients
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Spicy Flat Iron Steak Rub

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 ↓

Spicy Flat Iron Steak Rub

4 servings
Prep10 min

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

480Calories
28 gProtein
29 gFat
26 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

  1. Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Garlic + peppertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,090 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

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

  4. Sugar + peppertop 32% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together19,401 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Sugar + garlictop 33% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,208 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Sugar and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,401 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, garlic, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Spinachfits better
  3. Broccolifits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, garlic, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.