Name: Spanish Black Bean Soup
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil; 2 cups fresh onions or frozen onions, , about 2 medium yellow onions (, about 2 medium yellow onions); 1 cup frozen bell peppers, , stir-fry mix -- red, green, and yellow peppers; do not thaw (, stir-fry mix -- red, green, and yellow *peppers; do not thaw); 1/3 cup Spanish ham or prosciutto, finely diced; 1 clove garlic, minced; 1 large whole bay leaf; 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled; 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander; 2 (1 lbs) cans black beans, with their liquid; 1 (14.5 ounces) can beef broth; 3 tablespoons dry sherry; salt; ground black pepper; 3 cups leftover cooked rice, reheated; 2 large hard-cooked eggs, peeled and chopped; 4 tablespoons Italian parsley, coarsely chopped

Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. 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.

Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Clove + thymetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,108 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Garlic + coriandertop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,474 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,585 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Black beans: Provide the main body and thickness of the soup, along with starchy creaminess when simmered.
Onions: Build a sweet, savory aromatic base as they soften in the hot oil.
Spanish ham or prosciutto: Adds salty, savory depth to the broth as it cooks with the aromatics.
Beef broth: Supplies the liquid base and savory meaty flavor for the soup.
Leftover cooked rice: Adds bulk and starch to make the soup more filling when served over it.
Hard-cooked eggs: Add creamy richness and a mild, soft texture as a topping.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, pepper, ham, clove, garlic, thyme, coriander):

Tomatofits better
Capsicumfits better
Eggplantfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, pepper, ham, clove, garlic, thyme, coriander. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Beef	100g cooked	250
Pork	100g cooked	242
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Black Bean	1/2 cup canned (120g) drained	114
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Bay Leaf	1 leaf (0.6g)	2
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Coriander	not in our table	0

Spanish Black Bean Soup