Name: Hot Onion Dip with French Fried Onions
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 25 min
Yield: 12 servings
Ingredients: For the Onion Dip:; 24 oz. cream cheese, softened; 1 large onion, diced (1 1/2 cups); 1/2 cup mayonnaise; 1 cup grated parmesan cheese; 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper; 1 tsp. cumin; For the French Fried Onion:; 1 small onion, quartered and sliced thin (3/4 cup); 1 cup buttermilk; 1 cup Gold Medal Flour; 2 tsp. salt; 1/2 tsp. black pepper; 2 cups veggie oil for frying

Why it works: Cream cheese and parmesan cheese match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 311 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. 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.

Cream cheese + parmesan cheesetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together311 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Onion + cumintop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,498 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Pepper + cumintop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,382 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
Buttermilk + flourtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,721 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Cumin + flourtop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,286 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

Swap the cumin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, cream cheese, parmesan cheese, pepper, buttermilk, flour):

Garlicfits better
Jalapenofits better
Dillfits better
Cuminthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, cream cheese, parmesan cheese, pepper, buttermilk, flour. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Parmesan Cheese	1 oz (28g)	110
Cream Cheese	1 oz (28g)	99
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Hot Onion Dip with French Fried Onions