Tomato + Lima beans
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 131 recipes, and they share 135 flavor molecules: the top 8% of all ingredient pairs.
Do tomato and lima beans go together?
Yes. 131 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 135 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 8% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
More than half of lima beans's flavor molecules (135 of 169) also occur in tomato. Among the shared key aromas are 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea) and trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
What each one brings
tomato
The woody side. Woody notes make up 6% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 1% for lima beans. It carries 375 molecules lima beans doesn't have.
lima beans
The floral side. Floral notes make up 19% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 11% for tomato. It carries 34 molecules tomato doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Beans: the best fit for both, top 1% of pairs with tomato, top 1% with lima beans.
- Green beans: top 5% of pairs with tomato, top 1% with lima beans.
- Okra: top 3% of pairs with tomato, top 3% with lima beans.
- Kidney beans: top 12% of pairs with tomato, top 1% with lima beans.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with tomato and lima beans
Almost always mains: 44 of the 47 recipes with a course label are mains.
Can you swap one for the other?
Only partly. Most of lima beans's flavor molecules (135 of 169) are also found in tomato, but tomato has 375 that lima beans lacks. Lima beans gives you part of tomato's character without most of its woody side. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 135 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 375 only in tomato and the 34 only in lima beans.
Tomato and lima beans questions
Do tomato and lima beans go together?
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 131 recipes, and they share 135 flavor molecules: the top 8% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do tomato and lima beans taste good together?
More than half of lima beans's flavor molecules (135 of 169) also occur in tomato. Among the shared key aromas are 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea) and trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
What goes with tomato and lima beans?
Beans is the best third ingredient: top 1% of pairs with tomato and top 1% with lima beans. Green beans and okra also fit both.
What can you make with tomato and lima beans?
Almost always mains: 44 of the 47 recipes with a course label are mains. Common dishes include Native American Lima Bean and Tomato Soup, Baked Beef and Lima Deluxe, Baked Lima Beans, Corn and Lima Bean Stew.
Can I use lima beans instead of tomato?
Only partly. Most of lima beans's flavor molecules (135 of 169) are also found in tomato, but tomato has 375 that lima beans lacks. Lima beans gives you part of tomato's character without most of its woody side. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
Compare other ingredients
Ranks compare this pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. Molecule counts are what the studies and databases we aggregate have reported for each ingredient: a measure of coverage, not a full census. How we score pairs
Cite this analysis
Compound Kitchen (2026). Compound similarity analysis: Tomato vs Lima Beans. https://compkitchen.com/compare/tomato-vs-lima-beans. Accessed 2026-11-03.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_tomato_vs_lima_beans_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Tomato vs Lima Beans},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/tomato-vs-lima-beans},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-03}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.