Name: Beef Stroganoff with Pimento Rice
Ingredients: 1 1/2 pounds boneless chuck roast, cut into thin, narrow strips; 2 tablespoons oil; 2 small bay leaves; 2 cloves garlic, crushed; 3 cups beef broth, divided; 1 1/2 teaspoons salt; 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper; 2 1/2 cups chopped onions, divided; 1/3 cup flour; 1/2 cup sherry (optional); 1/2 cup sour cream; 1/2 cup chopped green pepper; 1 tablespoon butter or margarine; 3 cups cooked rice; 1/4 cup diced pimientos

Why it works: Garlic and onion 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 ↓

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.

Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,092 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Garlic + peppertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,090 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,971 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

Beef chuck roast: Becomes tender through long simmering, turning tough connective tissue into a soft, sliceable texture.
Flour: Thickens the broth into a smooth, creamy sauce that coats the meat.
Sour cream: Adds tang and a rich, creamy body to the finished sauce.
Onions: Add sweetness and savory depth as they soften into the sauce.
Beef broth: Provides the liquid that cooks the meat and forms the base of the sauce.

The step that matters

Adding the flour paste to the broth. Flour mixed with cold liquid first forms a smooth paste; added directly to hot liquid it clumps. Blending it with a little broth before stirring it in keeps the sauce smooth.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (garlic, beef, pepper, onion, flour, sherry, cream):

Thymefits better
Parsleyfits better
Turmericfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against garlic, beef, pepper, onion, flour, sherry, 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Beef	100g cooked	250
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Bay Leaf	1 leaf (0.6g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Beef Stroganoff with Pimento Rice