Why it works: Beef and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 17,091 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 6Ingredients
Contains: egg, milk, soy, fish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C). Place a 9-inch pie plate nearby.
Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp, about 6 minutes. Drain on paper towels, crumble, and set half aside for the top. Leave the bacon fat in the skillet.
Add the sliced onion to the skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring, until soft and lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
Add the ground beef and cook, breaking it up, until no pink remains and it reaches 160°F (71°C), about 6 minutes. Stir in the sea salt, smoked paprika, sriracha, and Worcestershire sauce. Drain off any excess fat.
Spread the beef and onion mixture evenly in the bottom of the pie plate and scatter the crumbled bacon from the first half over it.
In a bowl, whisk the Bisquick, eggs, and milk until mostly smooth. Pour the batter evenly over the beef mixture.
Arrange the tomato slices over the top, then sprinkle with the shredded cheddar and the reserved bacon.
Bake for 25 minutes, until golden, set in the center, and an instant-read thermometer in the center reads 160°F (71°C). Let rest 5 minutes before slicing.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Beef + oniontop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together17,091 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + tomatotop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together5,445 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Milk + cheddar cheesetop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,963 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Onion + tomatotop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together20,622 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + cheddar cheesetop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,865 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
Flavor stand-ins for the sriracha
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, onion, sauce, egg, milk, tomato, cheddar cheese):
- Garlicbetter flavor fit
- Celerybetter flavor fit
- Pepperbetter flavor fit
- Srirachathe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, onion, sauce, egg, milk, tomato, cheddar cheese. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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