Name: Steak with Barbecue Sauce
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 4 lamb leg steaks (of beef if you prefer); 1 tbsp sunflower oil , plus a little extra; 1 onion , chopped; 150ml tomato ketchup; 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce; 2 tbsp light muscovado sugar; 2 tbsp red wine vinegar

Why it works: Ketchup and sauce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,099 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Steak with Barbecue Sauce

Serves 4

Prep5 min

Cook20 min

Ingredients

4 lamb leg steaks (of beef if you prefer)
1 tbsp sunflower oil , plus a little extra
1 onion , chopped
150ml tomato ketchup
3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp light muscovado sugar
2 tbsp red wine vinegar

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

671Calories

54 gProtein

36 gFat

28 gCarbs

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
Lamb	100g cooked	294
Beef	100g cooked	250
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Sunflower Oil	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.

By bbcgoodfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

Ketchup + saucetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,099 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Lamb + beeftop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together896 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,092 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,448 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together260 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lamb, beef, sunflower, tomato, ketchup, sauce, sugar):

Capsicumfits better
Carrotfits better
Potatofits about as well
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lamb, beef, sunflower, tomato, ketchup, sauce, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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