Name: Soft Pretzel Nuggets with Spicy Cheese Dipping Sauce
Prep time: 1 h 30 min
Cook time: 15 min
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients: 1½ cups warm water; 1 tablespoon granulated sugar; 2 teaspoons kosher salt; 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (1 packet); 4½ cups all-purpose flour; 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted; 10 cups water; 2/3 cups baking soda; 1 egg yolk + 1 tablespoon water, whisked together (for egg wash); Coarse salt, for sprinkling; 1 tablespoon unsalted butter; 1 shallot, finely minced; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 2 jalapeños, seeded and minced; 2 chipotle chiles, minced (canned in adobo sauce); 1 (12-ounce can) evaporated milk (1½ cups); 1 tablespoon cornstarch; 4 ounces cream cheese, cut into cubes and softened; 2 teaspoons yellow mustard; 12 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 3 cups)

Why it works: Shallot and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,000 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. 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 + garlictop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,000 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Shallot + clovetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,677 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Flour + shallottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,081 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Garlic + clovetop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,368 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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 (sugar, flour, butter, egg, shallot, garlic, sauce):

Capersfits better
Jalapenofits better
Tarragonfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, flour, butter, egg, shallot, garlic, sauce. 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
Cheddar Cheese	1 oz (28g)	113
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Cream Cheese	1 oz (28g)	99
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Shallot	1 tbsp minced (10g)	7
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0
Sauce	not in our table	0

Soft Pretzel Nuggets with Spicy Cheese Dipping Sauce