Name: Creamy Frankfurter Salad
Ingredients: 3 cups cooked rice, cooled; 1 12-ounce package frankfurters, sliced; 1 1/2 cups sliced celery; 3/4 cup chopped onion; 1/2 cup chopped pimientos; 1 11-ounce can condensed Cheddar cheese soup; 1/4 cup mayonnaise; 1 tablespoon prepared mustard; 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper; 3 hard-cooked eggs, sliced; Salad greens (optional); Sliced hard-cooked eggs for garnish (optional)

Why it works: Celery and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,169 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. 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.

Celery + mustardtop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,169 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together16,012 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Onion + mustardtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,259 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,518 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Rice + celerytop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,169 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Cooked rice: Forms the bulk of the salad and absorbs the creamy dressing, giving it body.
Frankfurters: Supply the main savoury flavour and chewy texture through the salad.
Cheddar cheese soup: Provides the creamy base that binds the salad and adds cheesy flavour.
Mayonnaise: Adds fat and moisture, making the dressing smooth and rich.
Hard-cooked eggs: Add richness and a soft, firm texture to the salad.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, celery, cheddar cheese, mustard, pepper, egg):

Capsicumfits better
Broccolifits better
Chivefits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against rice, celery, cheddar cheese, mustard, pepper, egg. 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
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Cheddar Cheese	1 oz (28g)	113
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Frankfurter	not in our table	0
Soup	not in our table	0
Salad	not in our table	0

Creamy Frankfurter Salad