Name: Beefy Black Bean Game Day Chili
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon vegetable oil; 1 1/2 pounds lean, boneless round steak, cut into 3/4-inch pieces; 1 large onion, chopped; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 1 tablespoon chili powder; 1/2 teaspoon cumin; 2 14-1/2-ounce cans Mexican-style stewed tomatoes*; 2 15- to 16-ounce cans black beans, undrained; 2 14-1/2-ounce cans chicken broth; 2 4-ounce cans chopped green chilies; 6 cups cooked rice; Fresh chopped cilantro for garnish; Sour cream for garnish

Why it works: Cumin and beans match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,188 recipes. Both carry linalool, which smells floral, citrus. 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.

Cumin + beanstop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,188 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,082 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Tomato + beanstop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,713 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Cumin + tomatotop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,272 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

What each ingredient does

Round steak: Provides the main meat, which browns and then becomes tender during the long simmer.
Black beans: Add body, fiber-rich bulk and a creamy texture to the chili.
Stewed tomatoes: Supply liquid and acidity that build the chili's base flavour.
Onion: Softens and adds sweetness that rounds out the chili's savoury notes.
Chili powder: Provides the main chili aroma and warm, earthy heat.
Chicken broth: Adds moisture and savoury depth as the chili simmers.

The step that matters

Browning the steak. Searing the meat over medium-high heat until browned builds deep, savoury flavour through the Maillard reaction; pale, steamed meat makes a flatter chili.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, garlic, cumin, tomato, beans, chicken, rice):

Corianderfits better
Turmericfits better
Oreganofits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, garlic, cumin, tomato, beans, chicken, rice. 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
Beef	100g cooked	250
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Black Bean	1/2 cup canned (120g) drained	114
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1

Beefy Black Bean Game Day Chili