Name: Cajun Red Beans with Rice
Ingredients: 1/2 pound dry pinto, kidney or pink beans; 1 quart water; 1/4 pound salt pork, diced; 1 cup chopped onion; 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper; 1 clove garlic, crushed; 1/4 teaspoon oregano leaves, crushed; 1/4 teaspoon thyme leaves, crushed; 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce; 1/2 pound well-seasoned pork sausage meat, crumbled; 1/2 cup sliced green onions; 3 cups hot cooked rice

Why it works: Oregano and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 791 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. 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.

Oregano + thymetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together791 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Clove + thymetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,108 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Garlic + oreganotop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,756 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,585 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

What each ingredient does

Dry pinto, kidney or pink beans: Form the main body of the dish and thicken the liquid as they break down during simmering.
Salt pork: Adds fat and savory depth that flavors the beans as it renders into the cooking liquid.
Pork sausage meat: Adds savory, spiced meat flavor and fat that enriches the beans.
Tomato sauce: Adds acidity and body, deepening the color and flavor of the sauce.
Onion: Builds a sweet, aromatic base as it softens during long simmering.
Green bell pepper: Contributes fresh, grassy aroma and a mild vegetal flavor to the base.

The step that matters

Simmer until the beans are fully tender. Dried beans need long, gentle simmering to soften their starch fully. Adding acidic tomato sauce too early can slow softening, so the beans should be checked for tenderness before serving.

Swap the beans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, onion, pepper, clove, garlic, oregano, thyme):

Chickpeafits about as well
Black-eyed peafits about as well
Beansthe original
Lentilsfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, onion, pepper, clove, garlic, oregano, thyme. 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
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Green Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Oregano	1 tsp dried (1.8g)	5
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Bean	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0
Meat	not in our table	0

Cajun Red Beans with Rice