Name: Chilaquile Casserole
Ingredients: formatted by lisa crawford; 12 uncooked corn tortillas; 1 med anaheim or poblano chili; -minced (or 2 4-oz cans; -diced green chilies); 2 to 3 cups grated jack cheese; 4 eggs; 2 cup buttermilk; salt and pepper; optional items; 1 to 2 cups cooked pinto beans; 1/2 lbs firm tofu, thinly sliced; 1 cup chopped onion, sauteed; 1 to garlic cloves, sauteed; -minced; 1 small zucchini, sliced and sauteed; ds cumin, and dried bell pepper; -or oregano

Why it works: Corn and beans match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,211 recipes. Both carry 2,3-pentanedione, which smells butter, 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.

Corn + beanstop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,211 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Beans + tofutop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,242 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Tofu + oniontop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together729 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Corn + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,324 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Corn tortillas: Form the bulk of the layers and soak up the egg custard as they bake.
Eggs: Set with the buttermilk to bind the layers into a sliceable custard.
Buttermilk: Adds moisture and tang to the egg mixture, keeping the custard tender as it sets.
Jack cheese: Melts through the layers to bind them and add richness and browning on top.
Chilies: Provide the main flavor and mild heat throughout the casserole.

The step that matters

Pour the egg mixture slowly. Pouring slowly lets the tortillas absorb the custard evenly instead of pooling at the bottom, so the eggs set uniformly rather than leaving a soggy or uneven layer.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (corn, cheese, egg, buttermilk, pepper, beans, tofu):

Capsicumfits better
Welsh onionfits better
Chivefits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against corn, cheese, egg, buttermilk, pepper, beans, tofu. 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
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Corn Tortilla	1 medium flour (45g)	140
Pinto Bean	1/2 cup (86g) canned	122
Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Tofu	100g firm	76
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Oregano	1 tsp dried (1.8g)	5
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Chilaquile Casserole