Skip to main content
Main

Pot-au-feu

A French beef stew made with chuck steak, beef broth, vegetables, herbs, and simmered until tender.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 12 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Leek and turnip match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,046 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Pot-au-feu

Timeabout 20 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut meat into 1‑inch cubes.

  2. Place the meat in a Dutch oven with the broth.

  3. Add enough water to cover the meat.

  4. Over medium heat, bring to a boil.

  5. Add the soup bone to the boiling pot.

  6. Prepare vegetables: cut celery into 4‑inch strips, cut potatoes into wedges, cut carrots into 4‑inch sticks.

Simmer

  1. When the beef boils, skim any foam off the surface.

  2. Add parsley, thyme, salt, and the prepared vegetables.

  3. Add leeks and turnips if desired.

  4. If necessary, add water to cover the vegetables.

  5. Cover the pot.

  6. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

  7. Remove the parsley.

Serve

  1. Serve from the pot.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

525Calories
34 gProtein
16 gFat
63 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 10 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Turnip1 medium (122g)34
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Soupnot 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. Leek + turniptop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,046 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  5. Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,002 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Chuck steak
Becomes tender and flavorful as it simmers slowly in the broth.
Top round steak
Provides lean beef that softens during the long, gentle simmer.
Beef broth
Forms the savory liquid that cooks the meat and vegetables.
Soup bone
Adds body and savory depth to the broth as it simmers.
Potatoes
Turn tender and starchy, thickening the broth slightly and adding body.
Leeks
Add mild onion-like sweetness that softens and mellows in the broth.

The step that matters

Skimming the foam after the boil. Foam is coagulated protein and impurities; removing it early keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting instead of cloudy or greasy.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, carrot, celery, parsley, thyme, leek, turnip):

  1. Parsnipfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Chivefits better
  4. Potatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, carrot, celery, parsley, thyme, leek, turnip. 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.

More pot-au-feu recipes

Russian 5French 4 See all 133 →

You might also like

Potato CroquettesPotato Croquettes255 recipesRoast BeefRoast Beef211 recipesBeef LoafBeef Loaf175 recipesCarrot SoupCarrot Soup134 recipes