Name: Hot Vegetarian Chili
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons canola oil; 1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions; 1 cup chopped red bell peppers; 2 tablespoons minced garlic; 2 to 3 serrano peppers, stemmed, seeded, and minced, depending upon taste; 1 medium zucchini, stem ends trimmed and cut into small dice; 2 cups fresh corn kernels (about 3 ears); 1 1/2 pounds portobello mushrooms (about 5 large), stemmed, wiped clean and cubed; 2 tablespoons chili powder; 1 tablespoon ground cumin; 1 1/4 teaspoons salt; 1/4 teaspoon cayenne; 4 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped; 3 cups cooked black beans, or canned beans, rinsed and drained; 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce; 1 cup vegetable stock, or water; 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves; Cooked brown rice, accompaniment; Sour cream or strained plain yogurt, garnish; Diced avocado, garnish; ESSENCE Creole Seasoning; Chopped green onions, garnish

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).
Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,082 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Cumin + tomatotop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,272 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,076 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Onion + cumintop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,498 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Portobello mushrooms: Release liquid and brown at the edges, adding meaty body and savory depth to the chili.
Black beans: Add starch and body, thickening the chili as they soften in the simmering liquid.
Tomatoes: Provide acidity and liquid that form the chili's main sauce base.
Yellow onions: Soften and release sweetness, forming the aromatic foundation of the pot.
Corn kernels: Add natural sweetness and tender texture that balances the spices.
Tomato sauce: Adds concentrated tomato flavor and extra liquid to the simmer.

The step that matters

Cooking the spices until fragrant. Blooming chili powder, cumin and cayenne briefly in hot oil and vegetable juices releases their fat-soluble aroma compounds. Adding them to liquid too soon leaves the spices tasting raw and dusty.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (canola oil, pepper, garlic, corn, mushroom, cumin, tomato):

Capsicumfits better
Spinachfits better
Eggplantfits about as well
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against canola oil, pepper, garlic, corn, mushroom, cumin, tomato. 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
Avocado	1 medium (150g)	240
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Black Bean	1/2 cup canned (120g) drained	114
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Corn	1/2 cup kernels (82g)	77
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Red Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Mushroom	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Cayenne	1 tsp (1.8g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Bean	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

Hot Vegetarian Chili