Name: Beef Fajitas with Lime Sour Cream
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 2 small beef grilling steaks, excess fat trimmed (about 400 g/12 oz); 10 mL (2 tsp) chili powder; 2 mL (½ tsp) ground cumin; 2 mL (½ tsp) black pepper; 10 mL (2 tsp) vegetable oil, divided; 1 onion, thinly sliced; 2 red, orange or yellow bell peppers, thinly sliced; 85 mL (⅓ cup) chopped fresh cilantro; 6 small whole grain or corn tortillas; 60 mL (¼ cup) light sour cream; 2 mL (½ tsp) grated lime zest; 30 mL (2 tbsp) lime juice

Why it works: Cumin and lime match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,216 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. 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.

Cumin + limetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,216 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Pepper + limetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,491 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Orange + limetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together937 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Corn + limetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together773 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Cumin + oniontop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,498 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

Steak: Provides the meaty base of the filling, browned for savory flavor.
Sour cream: Adds creamy richness and cooling moisture that balances the spiced beef.
Bell peppers: Add sweetness and tender-crisp texture to the filling.
Onion: Adds sweetness and aroma as it softens in the pan.
Lime juice: Adds acidity that brightens the lime sour cream and the filling.

The step that matters

Browning the beef in a hot skillet. Searing the beef over medium-high heat without overcrowding the pan creates browned flavor through the Maillard reaction. Crowding or stirring too early steams the meat, leaving it grey and less flavorful.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, cumin, pepper, onion, corn, cream, lime):

Avocadofits better
Coconutfits better
Mangofits better
Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, cumin, pepper, onion, corn, cream, lime. 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
Corn Tortilla	1 medium flour (45g)	140
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Orange	1 medium (131g)	62
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Yellow Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Lime	juice of 1 lime (44ml)	11
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1

Beef Fajitas with Lime Sour Cream