Why it works: Potato and avocado match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 111 recipes mention both. Both carry nonanal, which smells fat, citrus. The science ↓
The recipe
Garnish 1/2 cup servingIngredients
Contains: egg, milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Also mentioned in the method: milk
Directions
Make the dressing
Mix lemon juice and garlic; stir in mayonnaise and olive oil; reserve.
Assemble and serve
Combine diced potatoes, celery, and onion; fold in reserved dressing.
Dice California avocados; gently fold avocado and cilantro into salad mixture.
Garnish 1/2 cup serving with a cilantro sprig or celery leaves.
To preserve avocado color, spray, brush, or dip exposed surfaces with lemon juice or milk; cover with plastic wrap or foil before refrigerating.
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.
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Potato + avocadotop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together111 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together29,030 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Potato + oniontop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together9,019 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Lemon + celerytop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,467 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Garlic + olivetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together23,449 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mayonnaise
- Adds creamy richness and moisture that binds the salad together.
- Avocados
- Contribute creamy texture and rich fat to the salad.
- Red new potatoes
- Provide the bulk and firm body of the salad.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens flavour and slows browning of the avocado.
- Olive oil
- Adds fat that carries flavour and smooths the dressing.
The step that matters
Protect the avocado from browning. Cut avocado oxidises quickly when exposed to air, turning brown. Coating exposed surfaces with acid such as lemon juice and covering the salad limits contact with oxygen, keeping the colour fresh.
Flavor stand-ins for the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (garlic, olive, potato, celery, onion, avocado):
- Limebetter flavor fit
- Lemonthe original
- Mangoabout as good a flavor fit
- Cherryabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against garlic, olive, potato, celery, onion, avocado. 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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