Name: Chips Cheese and Gravy
Yield: 4 people
Ingredients: 200 g oven chips (french fries); Vegetable oil; Salt; 300 g grated packed cheddar cheese; 200 g butter; 200 g all-purpose flour; 4 cans of beef broth; 10 g black pepper

Why it works: Cheddar cheese and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,436 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Chips Cheese and Gravy

4 people

Oven220 °C

Total1 hr

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the chips

Preheat the oven to 220 °C and spread the chips onto an oiled baking tray.
Bake the chips for about 15–20 minutes until they are slightly golden.
After about 5 minutes, add grated cheese on top of the chips and continue cooking.

Make the gravy

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and flour, mixing continuously.
Cook over low heat, slowly adding the beef broth and black pepper while stirring continually.

Serve

When the chips are ready, divide them between plates and add the gravy as desired.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1045Calories

46 gProtein

51 gFat

97 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Beef	100g cooked	250
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Cheddar Cheese	1 oz (28g)	113
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	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 Wikibooks Cookbook.

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.

Cheddar cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,436 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,971 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Cheddar cheese + beeftop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together951 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Butter + beeftop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,847 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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

Butter and flour: Form a roux that thickens the beef broth into a smooth gravy.
Grated cheddar cheese: Melts over the hot chips to add richness and a creamy, gooey texture.
Beef broth: Forms the liquid base of the gravy, adding savoury flavour.
Oven chips: Provide the crisp, golden base that holds the cheese and gravy.

The step that matters

Adding the broth to the roux. Adding liquid slowly while stirring continually keeps the flour dispersed, so the gravy thickens smoothly instead of forming lumps.

“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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Chips Cheese and Gravy