Name: Peppers and Steak
Ingredients: 2 green peppers, chopped; 1 cup beef bouillon; 1/2 tsp ground ginger; 2 lbs lean round steak; 2 tbsp minced dried onion; 1/4 cup soy sauce; 1/2 tsp garlic powder; nutri info per serving; 106 x *calories

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 ↓

Peppers and Steak

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Cut steak into serving-size portions.
Place half the steak in the crockpot.
Arrange green peppers on the steak.
Place the remaining steak on top.

Cook

Mix the remaining ingredients and pour over the meat.
Cover and cook on low setting for 8 to 10 hours, or high for 4 to 5 hours.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

315Calories

28 gProtein

15 gFat

14 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 6 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Beef	100g cooked	250
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2

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.

Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Ginger + garlictop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,402 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,092 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,090 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Pepper + gingertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,800 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 round steak: Provides the meat that becomes tender during long, slow, moist cooking.
Green peppers: Add mild sweetness and a fresh vegetable flavor that softens as they cook.
Beef bouillon: Supplies liquid and savory beefy flavor that moistens the meat as it cooks.
Soy sauce: Adds salty, savory depth and helps season the meat and sauce.

The step that matters

Cover and cook on low or high for the stated time. Lean round steak is tough, and it needs enough hours of gentle, moist heat for collagen and fibers to break down. Cooking too briefly leaves the meat chewy, while very high heat for too long can dry it out.

Swap the ginger

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

Cuminfits better
Parsleyfits better
Thymefits better
Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, beef, onion, sauce, 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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Peppers and Steak