Name: The Ultimate Queso Bean Dip
Yield: 8-10 Servings
Ingredients: Two 16 ounce cans Old El Paso Refried Beans; 4 tablespoons butter, unsalted; 1/4 cup all purpose flour; 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 1 cup heavy cream; 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided; 10 ounce can diced tomatoes with green chilies, mild

Why it works: Beans and tomato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,713 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

The Ultimate Queso Bean Dip

8-10 Servings

Ingredients

Two 16 ounce cans Old El Paso Refried Beans
4 tablespoons butter, unsalted
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
10 ounce can diced tomatoes with green chilies, mild

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

749Calories

22 gProtein

28 gFat

102 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Cheddar Cheese	1 oz (28g)	113
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Bean	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 pickypalate. 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.

Beans + tomatotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,713 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Butter + cheddar cheesetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,436 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Beans + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,733 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 tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beans, butter, flour, pepper, cream, cheddar cheese):

Potatofits better
Chivefits better
Spinachfits better
Tomatothe original

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

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