Name: White Bean Dip
Yield: makes 8 servings
Ingredients: 2 cups drained cooked or canned cannellini or other white beans, still moist and liquid reserved; 2 garlic cloves, peeled, or to taste; 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus oil for drizzling; Salt and black pepper to taste; 2 teaspoons ground cumin, or to taste; Fresh lemon juice to taste; 1/4 cup chopped shallot, red onion, or scallion for garnish, optional

Why it works: Beans and cumin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,188 recipes. Both carry linalool, which smells floral, citrus. The science ↓

White Bean Dip

makes 8 servings

Ingredients

2 cups drained cooked or canned cannellini or other white beans, still moist and liquid reserved
2 garlic cloves, peeled, or to taste
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus oil for drizzling
Salt and black pepper to taste
2 teaspoons ground cumin, or to taste
Fresh lemon juice to taste
1/4 cup chopped shallot, red onion, or scallion for garnish, optional

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

200Calories

3 gProtein

14 gFat

19 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Shallot	1 tbsp minced (10g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Bean	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.

Beans + cumintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,188 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,082 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together27,047 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Garlic + shallottop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,000 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

Swap the shallot

The recipe marks shallot as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beans, garlic, olive, pepper, cumin, lemon):

Spinachfits better
Tomatofits better
Kalefits better
Shallotthe original

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

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.