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Mixed Bean Soup

A hearty soup of mixed beans, lentils, and vegetables simmered in stock and milk.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Carrot and parsnip match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,096 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓

The recipe

Time15-20 minutes

Ingredients

Contains: milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Make the soup

  1. Melt butter in a large non-stick frying pan.

  2. Add the prepared vegetables and cook until softened.

  3. Add lentils, stock, milk and bouquet garni and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

  4. Remove and discard bouquet garni.

  5. Add beans and heat through.

Serve

  1. Garnish with parsley and serve with bread rolls.

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.

  1. Carrot + parsniptop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,096 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  2. Onion + potatotop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together9,019 recipes

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

  3. Carrot + potatotop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together3,105 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  4. Butter + milktop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together81,222 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  5. Carrot + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together14,555 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

Lentils
Break down during simmering to thicken the soup and add body.
Potatoes
Break down slightly as they cook, adding starch that thickens the soup.
Milk
Adds creaminess and softens the flavour of the vegetable broth.
Red kidney beans
Add substance and texture, holding their shape after heating through.
Butter beans
Add creamy texture and body, holding their shape after heating through.
Carrots
Add natural sweetness and colour as they soften in the butter.

The step that matters

Simmer the lentils gently. Simmering too hard can break lentils apart unevenly and scorch the milk on the base of the pan. A gentle simmer keeps the soup smooth and evenly textured.

Flavor stand-ins for the lentils

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, carrot, parsnip, onion, potato, pepper, milk):

  1. Beansbetter flavor fit
  2. Peasbetter flavor fit
  3. Peanutbetter flavor fit
  4. Lentilsthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, carrot, parsnip, onion, potato, pepper, milk. 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.

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