Name: Balsamic Beef Stew
Ingredients: 3 Tbs. all-purpose flour; 1/2 tsp. salt, plus more, to taste; 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper, plus more, to; taste; 2 lb. boneless beef chuck, trimmed of excess fat; and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces; 3 Tbs. canola oil; 1 large red onion, sliced; 2 bay leaves; 1 cup full-bodied red wine; 2 cups beef broth; 1 lb. red or Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1 1/2-; inch chunks; 3 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch; chunks; 2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar

Why it works: Onion and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. 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.

Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Potato + carrottop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,107 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Pepper + carrottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,555 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together21,601 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,092 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 carrot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, pepper, beef, canola oil, onion, red wine, potato):

Chivefits about as well
Tomatofits about as well
Shallotfits about as well
Carrotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, pepper, beef, canola oil, onion, red wine, potato. 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
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Bay Leaf	1 leaf (0.6g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Balsamic Beef Stew