Name: Baked Round Steak
Ingredients: 2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup; 1/2 package dry onion soup mix; 1 large round steak; 1/2 cup beef broth

Why it works: Mushroom and beef are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,232 recipes. Both carry 2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Baked Round Steak

Oven300°F

Time3 hours

Ingredients

2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup
1/2 package dry onion soup mix
1 large round steak
1/2 cup beef broth

Directions

Prepare

Preheat oven to 300°F.
In a medium-sized bowl, mix together soup, onion soup mix and beef broth.

Bake and serve

Place round steak in a casserole dish and pour soup mixture over the steak.
Bake for 3 hours.
Serve with rice, noodles or mashed potatoes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

360Calories

30 gProtein

21 gFat

13 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Beef	100g cooked	250
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Mushroom	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Soup	not in our table	0

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.

Mushroom + beeftop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,232 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Onion + beeftop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,092 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Mushroom + oniontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,626 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Cream + mushroomtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,500 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Cream + oniontop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together10,827 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

Cream and onion barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 10,827 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Cream of mushroom soup: Provides a creamy sauce that keeps the steak moist during long baking.
Dry onion soup mix: Adds savory onion flavor to the sauce as it cooks.
Round steak: Main protein that becomes tender through long, slow baking in liquid.