Name: Herbed Steak and Onions
Ingredients: 1 cup tomato juice; 1 tbsp olive or cooking oil; 1/2 tsp dried basil, crushed; 1/2 tsp dried oregano, crushed; 1/4 tsp pepper; 1 x clove garlic, minced; 1 lbs top round steak, 1" thick; 2 x lg onions, thin sliced rings

Why it works: Basil and oregano match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,390 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Herbed Steak and Onions

four portions

Ingredients

Directions

Marinate

Combine tomato juice, oil, basil, oregano, pepper, and garlic to make a marinade. Set aside.
Trim fat from the steak and cut it into four equal portions.
Place the meat in a plastic bag and set the bag in a deep bowl. Pour the marinade over the steak.
Seal the bag and turn it to coat the steak well. Marinate the steak overnight in the refrigerator.
Drain the steak, reserving the marinade.

Prepare the onions

Place the onion slices on an 18-inch square of heavy foil. Turn the edges of the foil up slightly.
Drizzle half a cup of the reserved marinade over the onions. Fold the foil tightly to seal the packet.

Grill and serve

Grill the onion packet and the steak on an uncovered grill directly over medium coals for ten minutes. Turn the onion packet and the steak.
Brush the steak with the reserved marinade. Grill the steak to the desired doneness, allowing eight to ten more minutes for medium.
Grill the onions eight minutes more or until tender. Unwrap the onions and place them on a serving plate.
Arrange the meat atop the onions. Spoon any remaining sauce from the onions over the meat.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

455Calories

29 gProtein

29 gFat

19 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 9 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Beef	100g cooked	250
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Oregano	1 tsp dried (1.8g)	5
Olive	1 large (4g)	4
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1

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.

Basil + oreganotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,390 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,539 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Tomato + basiltop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,979 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Tomato + oreganotop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,767 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).

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

What each ingredient does

Top round steak: Lean beef that becomes tender and juicy when marinated and cooked to medium over direct heat.
Tomato juice: Acidic base of the marinade that helps tenderize the surface of the meat and carries the herbs.
Olive or cooking oil: Fat that carries the dried herbs and garlic flavour and helps keep the meat moist on the grill.
Onions: Soften and sweeten as they steam in the foil packet, and soak up the reserved marinade.
Garlic: Adds pungent aroma that mellows and spreads through the marinade during grilling.

The step that matters

Marinate the steak overnight in the refrigerator. Acid and salt-free herb flavour need hours to penetrate the meat. Keeping it cold during the long soak limits bacterial growth, and the marinade must not be reused raw without being cooked.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, olive, basil, oregano, pepper, clove, garlic):

Eggplantfits better
Capsicumfits better
Spinachfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, olive, basil, oregano, pepper, clove, garlic. 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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Herbed Steak and Onions