Name: Smokey California Avocado, Shrimp, and White Bean Gazpacho
Ingredients: 2 ¾ Pounds tomatoes; 1 ½ Cups diced, peeled, and seeded cucumber (for Kirby and hot house cucumbers, it is not necessary to peel cucumbers.); 1 Cup diced red onion; 2 small shallots; 1 ½ Cups canned tomato juice; 1/3 Cups extra virgin olive oil; 2 ½ Tbsp sherry wine vinegar; 2 Tbsp finely chopped chipotle pepper in adobo sauce or to taste; 1 Cup cooked rock shrimp, very coarsely chopped; 11/16 Cups cooked cannellini beans; 1 California avocado, about 8 ounces, cut in small dice; ½ Tbsp salt, or to taste; Tortilla chips as needed for garnish; Chopped cilantro as needed for garnish

Why it works: Tomato and olive are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,539 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. 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.

Tomato + olivetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,539 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Cucumber + shallottop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together264 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Tomato + cucumbertop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,405 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,611 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
Onion + shallottop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,431 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Tomatoes: Form the bulk of the soup, supplying body, acidity and fresh tomato flavor.
Extra virgin olive oil: Adds fat and a smooth, rounded mouthfeel to the puréed soup.
Sherry wine vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the tomato and balances the richness of the oil.
Cannellini beans: Add creamy body and a soft texture that thickens the soup slightly.
Rock shrimp: Provide the main protein, adding savory flavor and a firm, tender bite.

The step that matters

Chill at least 3 hours. Chilling lets the flavors of the tomato, vinegar, chipotle and salt blend together, so the soup tastes more balanced than it does freshly made.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, cucumber, shallot, olive, sherry, wine, vinegar):

Capsicumfits better
Lettucefits better
Chivefits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, cucumber, shallot, olive, sherry, wine, 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
Avocado	1 medium (150g)	240
Tortilla Chip	1 medium flour (45g)	140
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Shrimp	100g cooked	99
Red Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Sauce	not in our table	0
Cannellini Bean	not in our table	0

Smokey California Avocado, Shrimp, and White Bean Gazpacho