Name: All-American Jambalaya
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons butter; 1 lb ground beef; 1/2 cup onions, diced; 1/4 cup green peppers, diced; 1 (28 ounces) can diced tomatoes; 1 small bay leaf; 1 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon sugar; 1 1/2 cups Minute Rice

Why it works: Tomato and rice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,065 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

All-American Jambalaya

Ingredients

Directions

Make the jambalaya base

Melt butter in large skillet.
Saute onion, green pepper, and beef until browned. Drain fat.
Drain tomatoes, and add enough water to juice to make 1 1/2 cups.
Add tomatoes, bay leaf, salt, sugar, and liquid. Bring to a slow boil.

Simmer

Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Cover and simmer another 5 minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

681Calories

33 gProtein

27 gFat

74 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 9 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Beef	100g cooked	250
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Bay Leaf	1 leaf (0.6g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Tomato + ricetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,065 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,092 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).
Beef + tomatotop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,448 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,633 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

Ground beef: Provides savory flavor and browned richness as the base of the dish.
Diced tomatoes: Supply moisture and acidity that cook into the liquid the rice absorbs.
Onions: Add sweetness and aroma as they soften and brown in the butter.
Minute rice: Absorbs the cooking liquid and sets the final texture of the dish.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, beef, pepper, tomato, sugar, rice):

Capsicumfits better
Potatofits better
Carrotfits about as well
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, beef, pepper, tomato, sugar, rice. 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.