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Beef Cholent

A slow‑cooked stew of beef, lima beans, potatoes, carrots, onions, salt, pepper, and bay leaves.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 11 ingredients
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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 ↓

Beef Cholent

Oven200°F
Timeovernight

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Brown the pot roast in a nonstick pan with the onion.

  2. Combine with the remaining ingredients in a Dutch oven or crockpot.

  3. Add enough water to cover the ingredients.

Cook

  1. Cover tightly and simmer slowly in a 200°F oven or crockpot overnight.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

596Calories
40 gProtein
16 gFat
75 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Lima Bean1/2 cup (85g) cooked108
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Bay Leaf1 leaf (0.6g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

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.

  1. Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

  2. Potato + carrottop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,107 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  3. Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,555 recipes

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

  4. Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

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

  5. 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

What each ingredient does

Lean beef pot roast
Provides the main meat, which becomes tender as its connective tissue breaks down over slow cooking.
Lima beans
Their starch softens during long cooking and adds body to the broth.
Potatoes
Their starch softens and thickens the cooking liquid while adding bulk.
Onion
Browning in the pan builds savory, sweet aroma that flavors the whole pot.
Carrots
Long cooking softens them and adds natural sweetness to the stew.

The step that matters

Simmer slowly with the lid on. Low, covered heat over many hours slowly converts tough meat collagen into gelatin, keeping the beef tender and moist. Higher heat or an open pot can toughen the meat and dry out the liquid.

Swap the lima beans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, onion, potato, carrot, pepper):

  1. Beansfits better
  2. Sesamefits better
  3. Chickpeafits better
  4. Lima beansthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, onion, potato, carrot, pepper. 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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