Name: Mennonite Old-fashioned Beef Pot Pie
Ingredients: 2 pounds stewing beef; 6 cups water; 1½ teaspoons salt; 6 medium size potatoes; 2 cups all-purpose flour; 1 egg; 3 tablespoons milk or water; 1 teaspoon minced onion; 1 teaspoon minced parsley

Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Mennonite Old-fashioned Beef Pot Pie

Time20 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the beef

Cook meat in salt water until it is tender.
Remove meat from broth; add minced onion and parsley to broth.

Add potatoes and dough

Bring to the boiling point and add alternate layers of cubed potatoes and squares of dough.
To make dough, beat egg and add milk.
Add flour to make a stiff dough.
Roll out paper thin and cut into 1 inch squares.
Keep broth boiling while adding dough squares in order to keep them from packing together.

Finish

Cover and cook for 20 minutes, adding more water if needed.
Add meat and stir through pot pie.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1138Calories

59 gProtein

30 gFat

155 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Beef	100g cooked	250
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	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.

Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,855 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,092 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,052 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,843 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Stewing beef: Provides the savory main filling, becoming tender as it simmers slowly in the broth.
All-purpose flour: Forms the gluten network that gives the dough its structure and holds the squares together.
Egg: Binds the dough and adds richness and structure as it sets during cooking.
Milk: Adds moisture to the dough, making it softer and more pliable.
Potatoes: Their starch thickens the broth and adds body to the finished pot pie.

The step that matters

Keep the broth boiling while adding dough squares. Dough rolled paper thin and dropped into a rolling boil cooks quickly and stays separate. In gentler liquid the squares can sink, stick together and turn gummy.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, potato, flour, egg, milk, onion):

Garlicfits about as well
Nutmegfits about as well
Turmericfits about as well
Parsleythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, potato, flour, egg, milk, onion. 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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Mennonite Old-fashioned Beef Pot Pie