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Classic Shepherd's Pie

"A savory base of ground beef and vegetables in tangy tomato gravy and topped with a layer of buttery mashed potatoes. It's the perfect comfort food for your hungry family."

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 18 ingredients
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Classic Shepherd's Pie

Why it works: Thyme and rosemary match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,340 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Classic Shepherd's Pie

6 servings
Prep25 min
Cook35 min

Ingredients

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1539Calories
60 gProtein
64 gFat
181 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 18 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Beef100g cooked250
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Vegetable1 tbsp (14g)120
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Pea1/2 cup (72g)62
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Soy Sauce1 tbsp (15ml)9
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Rosemary1 tsp dried (1.2g)4
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Salt1 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.

By allrecipes. 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.

  1. Thyme + rosemarytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,340 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  2. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Clove + thymetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,108 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Clove + rosemarytop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together519 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

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

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 (clove, garlic, thyme, rosemary, pepper, beef, flour):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Carrotfits better
  3. Parsnipfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against clove, garlic, thyme, rosemary, pepper, beef, flour. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.