Name: Beef or Chicken Stroganoff
Ingredients: 2 tbs salt margarine; 1 onion, minced; 1 clove garlic, minced; 1 teaspoon salt (or you can use pre-prepared seasoning that has garlic in it).; ½ lb white cultivated mushrooms (Champignon); 1 ½ lb beef or breast chicken cut into small cubes or strips.; 2 tablespoon ketchup; 1/2 cup sour cream or 1/2 can of table cream (8oz table cream from Nestle)

Why it works: Onion and garlic 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 ↓

Beef or Chicken Stroganoff

Timeabout 5 minutes

Ingredients

2 tbs salt margarine
1 onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt (or you can use pre-prepared seasoning that has garlic in it).
½ lb white cultivated mushrooms (Champignon)
1 ½ lb beef or breast chicken cut into small cubes or strips.
2 tablespoon ketchup
1/2 cup sour cream or 1/2 can of table cream (8oz table cream from Nestle)

Directions

Cook the beef

Lightly fry the beef or chicken cubes with the margarine, onion, garlic and salt in a large saucepan over medium heat.
Add ½ cup of water just to make a thick sauce, add the remaining ingredients except the sour cream and ketchup.
Cook for about 5 minutes and check the meat for doneness.

Finish the sauce

When done, add the sour cream and ketchup. Mix briefly and take the saucepan out of the heat.
The cream should stay on the heat just enough to warm up. Do not let it cook prolonged.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

753Calories

79 gProtein

37 gFat

24 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 10 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Beef	100g cooked	250
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Mushroom	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Salt	1 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.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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 + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Mushroom + beeftop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,232 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Garlic + mushroomtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,700 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Onion + beeftop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,092 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Clove + garlictop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,368 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef or chicken: Provides the main protein, which becomes tender and firm as it cooks through.
Sour cream: Adds creaminess and a tangy richness to the sauce; it can curdle if overheated.
Mushrooms: Add earthy flavour and moisture that becomes part of the sauce.
Ketchup: Adds sweetness and acidity that rounds out the sauce's flavour.

The step that matters

Adding the sour cream. Sour cream is a dairy emulsion that can split or curdle when it gets too hot or cooks for too long. Removing the pan from the heat once it is just warmed keeps the sauce smooth and creamy.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, garlic, mushroom, beef, ketchup, cream):

Celeryfits better
Thymefits better
Pepperfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, garlic, mushroom, beef, ketchup, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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Beef or Chicken Stroganoff