Name: Seared Salmon with Tzatziki Sauce
Prep time: 8 min
Cook time: 6 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: ¾ cups FOR THE TZATZIKI SAUCE:; 2 Tablespoons Greek Yogurt; ⅓ whole Lemon Juice; 1 clove English Cucumber (or 1 Persian Cucumber), Diced; 2 Tablespoons Garlic, Crushed Using A Mortar And Pestle Or Grated On A Microplane; ½ teaspoons Minced Fresh Dill; ¼ teaspoons Dried Crushed Mint; ⅛ teaspoons Coarse Salt; 4 whole Black Pepper

Why it works: Lemon and dill match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 976 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Seared Salmon with Tzatziki Sauce

Serves 4

Prep8 min

Cook6 min

Ingredients

¾ cups FOR THE TZATZIKI SAUCE:
2 Tablespoons Greek Yogurt
⅓ whole Lemon Juice
1 clove English Cucumber (or 1 Persian Cucumber), Diced
2 Tablespoons Garlic, Crushed Using A Mortar And Pestle Or Grated On A Microplane
½ teaspoons Minced Fresh Dill
¼ teaspoons Dried Crushed Mint
⅛ teaspoons Coarse Salt
4 whole Black Pepper

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

151Calories

19 gProtein

1 gFat

18 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 10 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Mint	2 tbsp fresh (3g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Sauce	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 tastykitchen. 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.

Lemon + dilltop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together976 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together27,047 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,998 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,630 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sauce, yogurt, lemon, garlic, dill, mint, pepper):

Parsleyfits better
Corianderfits better
Tarragonfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sauce, yogurt, lemon, garlic, dill, mint, pepper. 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.