Name: Tuna Rice Savories
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups warm, cooked rice; 1 6- to 7-ounce can water packed tuna, drained and flaked; 1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated Cheddar cheese; 2 eggs; 2 tablespoons minced chives; 1/4 cup chopped dill pickle; 1 teaspoon lemon juice; 3 to 4 drops hot pepper sauce; Salt to taste; 1 to 1 1/2 cups fine dry breadcrumbs; 1 tablespoon paprika (optional)

Why it works: Dill and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 976 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.

Dill + lemontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together976 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together27,047 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Dill + peppertop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,630 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Chive + dilltop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together228 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Rice + chivetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together241 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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 balls and gives them a soft, tender body.
Eggs: Bind the mixture so the balls hold their shape while baking.
Cheddar cheese: Adds richness and helps bind the mixture as it melts and sets.
Tuna: Provides the main protein and savory flavor of the balls.
Dill pickle: Adds acidity and a tangy crunch that brightens the mixture.
Fine dry breadcrumbs: Form a crisp, golden coating that browns in the oven.

The step that matters

Bake at 375 °F for 20 minutes. The balls must be shaped firmly and coated evenly before baking. Loose or thin coating can let the mixture spread or dry unevenly, while the eggs and cheese set and the breadcrumbs brown in the heat.

Swap the lemon

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

Avocadofits about as well
Limefits about as well
Lemonthe original
Cherryfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against rice, cheddar cheese, egg, chive, dill, pepper, sauce. 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
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Salmon	100g cooked	208
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Cheddar Cheese	1 oz (28g)	113
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Chives	1 tbsp (3g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0
Sauce	not in our table	0

Tuna Rice Savories