Name: Homemade Salad Dressing
Ingredients: 3/4 cup oil; 1 egg; 1 1/2 teaspoons prepared mustard; 2 teaspoons salt; 1/3 cup sugar; 1/2 cup flour, plus; 2 1/2 tablespoons flour; 1 1/3 cups sugar; 1/3 cup vinegar; 1 cup water

Why it works: Mustard and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. 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.

Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,067 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Mustard + flourtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,066 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,806 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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

What each ingredient does

Egg: Egg yolk emulsifies the oil and liquids so the dressing stays smooth instead of separating.
Flour: Flour thickens the cooked vinegar and water mixture into a body that clings to salad leaves.
Oil: Oil supplies richness and a silky mouthfeel while carrying flavor.
Sugar: Sugar balances the sharpness of the vinegar and rounds out the flavor.
Vinegar: Vinegar adds acidity that gives the dressing its tang.

The step that matters

Bring to boil, stirring constantly. Flour needs to be heated fully to gelatinize its starch and thicken the mixture. Constant stirring prevents lumps and scorching on the bottom of the pan.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, flour, vinegar):

Shallotfits about as well
Mustardthe original
Arrowrootfits about as well
Cucumberfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, flour, vinegar. 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
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0

Homemade Salad Dressing