Name: Black Bean Soup with Rice
Ingredients: 1 pound dry black beans, sorted and rinsed; 1 14-1/2-ounce can whole tomatoes, undrained; 1 cup sliced celery; 1 cup chopped onion; 1 cup chopped green pepper; 1 smoked ham hock or ham bone; 4 cloves garlic, minced; 1 bay leaf; 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper; 1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves; 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth; 4 cups water; Salt and ground black pepper to taste; 4 cups hot cooked rice; 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese; 1/2 cup sour cream; 1/2 cup picante sauce

Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. 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.

Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,713 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,076 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Tomato + celerytop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,377 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

What each ingredient does

Dry black beans: Form the body of the soup and thicken it when partly pureed.
Ham hock: Adds smoky, savory flavor to the broth as it simmers.
Whole tomatoes: Add acidity and liquid that gives the soup its base flavor.
Chicken broth: Provides the liquid base and savory depth for the soup.
Onion: Builds aromatic sweetness and savory flavor in the base.
Garlic: Adds pungent aroma that mellows during the long simmer.

The step that matters

Simmer until the beans are fully tender. Dry beans must cook long enough to soften completely; undercooked beans stay firm and grainy, and acidic ingredients added too early can slow softening, so check tenderness before serving.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beans, tomato, celery, onion, pepper, ham, garlic):

Cuminfits better
Thymefits better
Parsleyfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beans, tomato, celery, onion, pepper, ham, garlic. 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
Pork	100g cooked	242
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Black Bean	1/2 cup canned (120g) drained	114
Cheddar Cheese	1 oz (28g)	113
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Bay Leaf	1 leaf (0.6g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0
Sauce	not in our table	0

Black Bean Soup with Rice