Name: Delicious Macaroni Salad
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Yield: 12 servings
Ingredients: 2 cups elbow macaroni; 1 cup diced fully cooked ham; 1 cup dill pickle relish; 1 stalk celery, chopped, or more to taste; 1 (4 ounce) can black olives, chopped; 1 small red onion, finely chopped; 3/4 cup mayonnaise; 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Why it works: Celery and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,169 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Delicious Macaroni Salad

12 servings

Prep20 min

Cook10 min

Ingredients

2 cups elbow macaroni
1 cup diced fully cooked ham
1 cup dill pickle relish
1 stalk celery, chopped, or more to taste
1 (4 ounce) can black olives, chopped
1 small red onion, finely chopped
3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

381Calories

35 gProtein

20 gFat

13 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 9 ingredients. The other 2 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
Pork	100g cooked	242
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Olive	1 large (4g)	4
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Macaroni	not in our table	0
Relish	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 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.

Celery + mustardtop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,169 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Dill + mustardtop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together560 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Dill + celerytop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together382 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Onion + mustardtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,259 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,518 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

Swap the dill

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, celery, olive, onion, mustard):

Capersfits better
Thymefits better
Garlicfits better
Dillthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, celery, olive, onion, mustard. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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