Why it works: Beef and tomato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 5,445 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 6Ingredients
Contains: milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Brown the ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat, breaking it up, until no pink remains and it reaches 160°F (71°C) inside, about 6 minutes.
Drain off excess fat, then stir in the taco seasoning with a splash of water and simmer 2 to 3 minutes until thickened. Let it cool slightly.
Chop the lettuce and dice the tomato, then toss them together in a large serving bowl.
Add the cooked beef and the shredded taco-flavored cheese to the bowl and toss to combine.
Roughly chop the Doritos and set aside some for the top.
Pour the French dressing over the salad and toss gently to coat.
Top with the remaining chopped Doritos and serve right away so the chips stay crisp.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Beef + tomatotop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together5,445 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Lettuce + tomatotop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,654 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + cheesetop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,892 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + cheesetop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,191 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Beef + lettucetop 10% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together661 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
Flavor stand-ins for the lettuce
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, tomato, cheese):
- Potatobetter flavor fit
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Onionbetter flavor fit
- Lettucethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, tomato, cheese. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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