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Southern Texas-Style Beef Barbacoa

"This tender, slow-cooked beef tastes great on burritos and tacos. My family of 8 goes nuts over it, and 5 lbs. of this meat isn't enough to satisfy them. It takes a long time to prepare, but the wait is worth the effort."

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 9 ingredients
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Southern Texas-Style Beef Barbacoa

Why it works: Oregano and cumin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 983 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Southern Texas-Style Beef Barbacoa

12 servings
Prep15 min
Cook3 hr

Ingredients

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

281Calories
27 gProtein
16 gFat
6 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Oregano1 tsp dried (1.8g)5
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. Oregano + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together983 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,082 recipes

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

  3. Oregano + garlictop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,756 recipes

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

  4. Pepper + oreganotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,449 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Pepper + cumintop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,382 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

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 (pepper, oregano, cumin, beef):

  1. Rosemaryfits better
  2. Turmericfits better
  3. Marjoramfits better
  4. Garlicthe original

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