Name: Summer Beets with Mint
Yield: Makes 4 (side dish) servings
Ingredients: 1 medium red onion, chopped; 1/2 stick unsalted butter; 1 1/2 pounds trimmed beets, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch pieces; 1 1/2 cups water; 2/3 cup chopped mint

Why it works: Onion and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 42,912 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓

Summer Beets with Mint

Makes 4 (side dish) servings

Ingredients

1 medium red onion, chopped
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 1/2 pounds trimmed beets, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 1/2 cups water
2/3 cup chopped mint

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

183Calories

3 gProtein

12 gFat

18 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Beet	1/2 cup (85g)	35
Mint	2 tbsp fresh (3g)	2
Water	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 epicurious. 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.

Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together42,912 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Onion + minttop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,389 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Butter + minttop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,559 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

Swap the mint

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

Garlicfits better
Capersfits better
Thymefits better
Mintthe original

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

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