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 ↓
Flour and Bread Soups
Ingredients
Directions
Make the soup base
Fry onions in beef fat until light brown.
Remove onions, pressing out the fat.
In the same fat cook flour until yellow, adding water a little at a time.
Put onions back and let stand awhile.
Add milk and mashed potato.
Salt well.
Cook flour brown in fat over a slow fire or in the oven.
Add water slowly and other ingredients.
Add sliced onion fried in fat.
Salt and pepper well.
Serve
Soak bread in boiling water for a few minutes.
Serve with fried bread.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Beef | 100g cooked | 250 |
| Mashed Potato | 1 medium (173g) baked | 161 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| 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.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
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 pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Beef + potatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,052 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
-
Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Cooked in the fat to form a roux that thickens the soup.
- Mashed potato
- Adds body and thickness to the soup.
- Milk
- Adds richness and creaminess to the soup.
- Onions
- Fried until light brown to add sweetness and savory flavor.
- Beef fat
- Carries the frying and cooking flavor of the onions and flour.
The step that matters
Cook the flour in the fat. Cooking flour in fat until it turns yellow or brown develops flavor and thickens the soup. Adding water slowly keeps the mixture smooth without lumps.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, potato, flour, milk, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Chivefits about as well
- Carrotfits about as well
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, potato, flour, milk, pepper. 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.
More bread soup recipes
You might also like
Potato Croquettes255 recipes
Roast Beef211 recipes
Beef Loaf175 recipes
Corned Beef87 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.