Name: Spaghetti and Meatballs
Yield: Makes 6 main-course servings
Ingredients: 2 28-ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes in juice, drained, juice reserved, tomatoes finely chopped; 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter; 2 medium onions, peeled, halved through root end; 1/2 teaspoon (or more) salt; 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs made from crustless French or country-style bread; 1/3 cup whole milk; 8 ounces ground beef (15% fat); 8 ounces ground pork; 1 cup finely ground (not grated) Parmesan cheese; 1/3 cup finely chopped Italian parsley; 1 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 2 large eggs; 2 large garlic cloves, pressed; 1 pound spaghetti; Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (for serving)

Why it works: Beef and pork match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,690 recipes. Both carry 12-methyltridecanal, which smells tallowy, beefy. 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.

Beef + porktop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,690 recipes

Shared aroma: 12-methyltridecanal (tallowy, beefy).
Onion + beeftop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,092 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Tomato + beeftop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,448 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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 (tomato, butter, bread, milk, beef, pork, parmesan cheese):

Potatofits better
Capsicumfits about as well
Asparagusfits about as well
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, butter, bread, milk, beef, pork, parmesan cheese. 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
Beef	100g cooked	250
Pork	100g cooked	242
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Parmesan Cheese	1 oz (28g)	110
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Spaghetti and Meatballs