Name: Hawaiian Baked Beans
Ingredients: 2 cans vegetarian beans in tomato sauce; 1 can pineapple chunks, drained; 1-2 tbsp. light brown sugar; 1 1/2 tsp. mild mustard; 1/4 tsp. salt; dash ground cloves

Why it works: Beans and tomato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 2,711 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

The recipe

Oven375°F

Time50 to 55 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Combine ingredients, pour into 1 quart casserole.
Bake, uncovered in 375 degree oven for 50 to 55 minutes or until beans are hot, stirring occasionally.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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.

Beans + tomatotop 2% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together2,711 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Beans + mustardtop 4% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together852 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Sauce + mustardtop 6% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together2,120 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Tomato + pineappletop 7% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together305 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Tomato + mustardtop 7% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together2,482 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

What each ingredient does

Vegetarian beans in tomato sauce: Provides the main body, starch and moisture that the sauce thickens around during baking.
Pineapple chunks: Adds sweetness and acidity that brighten the tomato sauce and balance the sugar.
Light brown sugar: Adds sweetness and caramel notes and helps the sauce brown slightly as it bakes.
Mild mustard: Adds a sharp, savory tang that rounds out the sweetness of the sugar and pineapple.

Flavor stand-ins for the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beans, tomato, sauce, pineapple, sugar, mustard):

Corianderbetter flavor fit
Celerybetter flavor fit
Gingerbetter flavor fit
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beans, tomato, sauce, pineapple, sugar, mustard. 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).

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.