Name: Savory Black Bean and Corn Soup
Ingredients: 4 cups cooked black beans (two 19oz cans); 2 cups frozen corn kernels; 6 cups pure water; 1 onion, chopped; 4-8 cloves garlic, chopped; 3 tbsp soy sauce or Braggs Liquid Aminos; 2 tbsp dried parsley; 1 tbsp dried and ground cumin; 1 tbsp paprika; 1 tsp cayenne pepper; 1/4 - 1/3 cup Miso (depending on how savory you want the soup); 1 tsp dried kelp (optional); 3 tbsp 100% pure maple syrup (optional); For Garnish:; Tofu sour cream; Chopped fresh cilantro and/or green onions; Tortilla chips

Why it works: Beans and cumin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,188 recipes. Both carry linalool, which smells floral, citrus. 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.

Beans + cumintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,188 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,082 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Parsley + cumintop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together821 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Beans + corntop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,211 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Black beans: Form the body of the soup and, once pureed, give it its thick, creamy texture.
Miso: Adds savory depth and saltiness, rounding out the soup's flavor.
Corn kernels: Add natural sweetness and a pop of texture to the finished soup.
Onion: Builds a sweet, aromatic base as it softens during simmering.
Garlic: Contributes pungent aroma that mellows and sweetens as the soup simmers.

The step that matters

Puree the miso with only one cup of soup. Miso is added to a small portion so it blends smoothly into a fine paste rather than clumping. Adding it to the whole pot at once risks lumps, and boiling it can dull its flavor, which is why the soup is only reheated gently.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beans, corn, onion, garlic, sauce, parsley, cumin):

Oreganofits better
Corianderfits better
Turmericfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beans, corn, onion, garlic, sauce, parsley, cumin. 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
Tortilla Chip	1 medium flour (45g)	140
Black Bean	1/2 cup canned (120g) drained	114
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Corn	1/2 cup kernels (82g)	77
Tofu	100g firm	76
Maple Syrup	1 tbsp (20ml)	52
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Miso	1 tbsp (18g)	34
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Water	not in our table	0
Savory	not in our table	0
Soup	not in our table	0
Kelp	not in our table	0

Savory Black Bean and Corn Soup