Name: Baked Eggs with Garden Vegetable Hash
Ingredients: 1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes (about 4 medium), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes; 1 small red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch dice; 2 medium zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch thick half-moons; 1 medium yellow onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice; 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil; Salt and freshly ground pepper; 1 pound Roma or plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme; 6 large eggs; 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

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).
Clove + thymetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,108 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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

Yukon gold potatoes: Starchy base that becomes tender and browns in the hot oven, giving the hash its body.
Eggs: Set with gentle oven heat to form soft, cooked centers over the vegetables.
Extra-virgin olive oil: Conducts heat and promotes browning of the vegetables while adding richness.
Roma or plum tomatoes: Add moisture and acidity that cook down into the vegetable hash.
Zucchini: Softens and releases moisture, adding tender texture to the hash.
Parmesan cheese: Adds savory, salty flavor and browns lightly when sprinkled on the hot dish.

The step that matters

Breaking the eggs evenly over the vegetables. Spacing the eggs apart gives each one room to set separately. Crowding them lets whites run together and leaves some yolks overcooked while others stay runny.

Swap the plum

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

Limefits better
Avocadofits better
Lemonfits better
Plumthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, pepper, onion, olive, garlic, clove, 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
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Parmesan Cheese	1 oz (28g)	110
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Plum	1 medium (66g)	30
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Baked Eggs with Garden Vegetable Hash