Name: Brussels Sprouts & Butternut Squash with Bacon Vinaigrette
Ingredients: 4 oz. thick-cut bacon slices, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces; 1 shallot, finely chopped; 2 Tbs. cider vinegar; 1 Tbs. firmly packed light brown sugar; 1 tsp. Dijon mustard; 1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme; 6 Tbs. olive oil; Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste; 1 1/2 lb. brussels sprouts, trimmed; 1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 3/4-inch dice; 1 tsp. chopped fresh sage; 1 cup coarsely chopped steamed chestnuts

Why it works: Shallot and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 859 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. 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.

Shallot + mustardtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together859 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Shallot + thymetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,476 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,585 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Thyme + olivetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,948 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).
Mustard + thymetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together913 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

Swap the shallot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cider, vinegar, sugar, mustard, thyme, olive, pepper):

Capsicumfits about as well
Shallotthe original
Horseradishfits about as well
Lettucefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against cider, vinegar, sugar, mustard, thyme, olive, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Brussels Sprout	1 cup (156g)	56
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Bacon	1 slice cooked (8g)	43
Shallot	1 tbsp minced (10g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Sage	1 tsp ground (0.7g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Cider	not in our table	0
Pumpkin	not in our table	0
Chestnut	not in our table	0

Brussels Sprouts & Butternut Squash with Bacon Vinaigrette