Name: Southwestern Shepherd's Pie
Yield: Makes 4 servings
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1 medium onion, diced; 1 small green bell pepper, diced; 1 tablespoon minced garlic; 1 tablespoon chopped green jalapeño; 1 pound ground beef; 1 tablespoon tomato paste; 1 tablespoon chili powder; 1 teaspoon ground cumin; 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon; Salt and pepper, to taste; 2 cups tomatoes, chopped; 1/2 cup cooked corn; 1/2 cup black beans, rinsed; 1/4 cup chopped cilantro; 1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in chunks; 2 tablespoons butter; 1/2 cup milk

Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

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 + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Cumin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,103 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,539 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,082 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

Swap the cinnamon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, onion, pepper, garlic, beef, tomato, cumin):

Oreganofits better
Corianderfits better
Thymefits better
Cinnamonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, onion, pepper, garlic, beef, tomato, cumin. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Beef	100g cooked	250
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Black Bean	1/2 cup canned (120g) drained	114
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Corn	1/2 cup kernels (82g)	77
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Southwestern Shepherd's Pie