Name: Crockpot Beef Stew I
Ingredients: 3 carrots, cut lengthwise into halves, then cut into 1-inch pieces; 3 ribs celery, cut into 1-inch pieces; 2 large potatoes, peel and cut into ½ inch pieces; 1½ cups chopped onions; 3 cloves garlic, chopped; 1 bay leaf; 1½ tbsp Worcestershire sauce; ¾ tsp. dried thyme leaves; ¾ tsp. dried basil leaves; ½ tsp black pepper; 2 pounds lean beef stew, cut into 1-inch pieces; 1 can (14½ ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained; 1 can (14 ounces) beef broth; ½ cup cold water

Why it works: Carrot and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

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.

Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together10,173 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Clove + thymetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,108 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Carrot + thymetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,563 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Celery + thymetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,193 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef stew: Provides the main protein, which becomes tender through long, slow cooking.
Potatoes: Their starch softens during cooking and helps give the stew body.
Diced tomatoes: Add acidity and liquid that combine with the broth to flavor the stew.
Beef broth: Supplies the main cooking liquid that flavors the beef and vegetables.
Carrots: Add natural sweetness and firm texture that holds up to long cooking.
Onions: Build savory depth as they soften and release their flavor into the liquid.

The step that matters

Stir the flour into cold water until smooth before adding it. Flour dispersed in cold liquid first spreads evenly. Added directly to hot liquid, it clumps, and the starch then thickens the sauce unevenly.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (carrot, celery, potato, onion, garlic, sauce, thyme):

Parsleyfits better
Marjoramfits better
Cuminfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against carrot, celery, potato, onion, garlic, sauce, thyme. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Beef	100g cooked	250
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Bay Leaf	1 leaf (0.6g)	2
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1
Stew	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

Crockpot Beef Stew I