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Beef Dinner in a Dish for Two

A casserole of ground beef, onion, squash, green pepper, rice, egg, garlic, herbs, and cheddar cheese baked until heated.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 11 ingredients
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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 Dinner in a Dish for Two

Oven350°F
Time25 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the filling

  1. Cook beef and onion in medium skillet until meat is no longer pink, stirring to crumble.

  2. Pour off fat.

  3. Add squash, green pepper, rice, egg, garlic, basil, oregano, and black pepper.

Bake

  1. Spoon mixture into a 1-quart casserole.

  2. Sprinkle with cheese.

  3. Bake at 350°F for 25 minutes, or until heated through.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

738Calories
47 gProtein
31 gFat
66 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 11 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Cheddar Cheese1 oz (28g)113
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Oregano1 tsp dried (1.8g)5
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Basil5 leaves fresh (2.5g)1
Pumpkinnot 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 + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Garlic + basiltop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,805 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  3. Pepper + basiltop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,294 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  4. Clove + basiltop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,437 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Binds the mixture together and helps it set as it bakes.
Lean ground beef
Provides the main protein and savory body of the casserole.
Cooked rice
Adds bulk and soft texture that absorbs flavor from the filling.
Cheddar cheese
Melts over the top and adds richness and browning.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, onion, pepper, rice, egg, garlic, basil):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Oreganofits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, onion, pepper, rice, egg, garlic, basil. 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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