Name: Spicy Black Bean Soup
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
Ingredients: 1 pound black beans, washed; 10 cups water; 1 pound chopped ham; 1 onion, chopped; 2 stalks celery, chopped; 1 cup shredded carrots; 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes; 1 tablespoon minced garlic; 4 teaspoons garlic powder; 4 teaspoons dried parsley; 2 teaspoons salt; 1 teaspoon celery salt; 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce; 2 cubes chicken bouillon; 1 bay leaf; 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper; 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard; 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper; 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano; 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

Why it works: Carrot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,053 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. 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.

Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together8,053 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Celery + carrottop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together10,173 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,713 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Celery + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,810 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beans, ham, celery, carrot, tomato, garlic, parsley):

Okrafits better
Spinachfits better
Turnipfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beans, ham, celery, carrot, tomato, garlic, parsley. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Ham	100g cooked	145
Black Bean	1/2 cup canned (120g) drained	114
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Cayenne	1 tsp (1.8g)	6
Oregano	1 tsp dried (1.8g)	5
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Bay Leaf	1 leaf (0.6g)	2
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0

Spicy Black Bean Soup