Lima Beans

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. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together41,516 recipes

   Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

2. Lima beans + buttertop 14% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together414 recipes

   Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

3. Lima beans + peppertop 15% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together468 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

4. Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together85,593 recipes

   Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

5. Pepper + creamtop 23% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together21,449 recipes

   Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Pepper and cream barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 21,449 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Dried lima beans

Starchy base that cooks down to a soft, tender texture.

Butter

Adds fat and richness that smooths the flavor of the beans.

Hot cream

Optional addition that adds richness and a silkier, moister texture.

The step that matters

Swap the lima beans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, butter, cream):

1. Almondfits better
2. Walnutfits about as well
3. Pistachiofits about as well
4. Lima beansthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, butter, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.