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Mandarin Orange, Cilantro, and Avocado Salsa

"My sister made the original version of this recipe, but I tweaked it to make it my own. It is very easy to prepare and makes a delicious and pretty addition to any party. Perfect for the summer!"

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Avocado and mandarin orange work together. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and 12 recipes mention both. Both carry nonanal, which smells fat, citrus. The science ↓

The recipe

8 servings
Prep20 min

Ingredients

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Drain the mandarin oranges, reserving the liquid in a small bowl.

  2. Put the chopped red onion and chopped cilantro in a large bowl.

  3. Add the cubed avocados and the juice of the lime, then toss gently so the avocado is coated.

  4. Add the drained mandarin oranges and a splash of the reserved liquid, then fold gently to combine without mashing the avocado.

  5. Cover and chill for 10 minutes, then stir once more and serve.

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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Avocado + mandarin orangetop 9% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together12 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  2. Avocado + limetop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,117 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  3. Mandarin orange + limetop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together17 recipes

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

  4. Avocado + oniontop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together1,653 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Onion + limetop 10% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together4,263 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (avocado, mandarin orange, lime):

  1. Lettucebetter flavor fit
  2. Tomatobetter flavor fit
  3. Capsicumbetter flavor fit
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against avocado, mandarin orange, lime. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).