Name: Ultimate Vegetarian Chilli
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1 medium onion chopped; 4 cloves garlic minced; 1/2 pound mushrooms chopped; 2 cups cauliflower pieces; 1 large potato peeled and diced; 1 large green pepper seeded and chopped; 2 large carrots chopped; 3 cups corn kernels; 1 can plum tomatoes -- (28 oz) chopped, including liquid; 2 cans kidney beans -- (15 oz); 2 stalks celery -- chopped; 1 cup tomato juice; 1 tablespoon cumin; 2 tablespoons chili powder; 1 teaspoon paprika; 1 1/2 teaspoons salt; 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper; 2 tablespoon tomato paste

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).
Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Garlic + potatotop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,517 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

What each ingredient does

Kidney beans: Add body and substance, holding their shape through long simmering.
Mushrooms: Release moisture and savory depth as they cook down in the pot.
Tomato paste: Adds concentrated tomato flavor and richness, deepening the chili's color and body.
Potato: Softens during simmering and thickens the chili slightly as its starch releases.
Plum tomatoes: Provide the liquid base and acidity that carries the spices through the simmer.

The step that matters

Simmering until the vegetables are tender. Adding all the vegetables at once means dense items like potato and carrot cook at different rates, so the chili needs enough covered time for them to soften fully. Cooking too briefly leaves firm, uneven pieces.

Swap the clove

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

Thymefits better
Parsleyfits better
Turmericfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, onion, garlic, mushroom, cauliflower, potato, pepper. 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
Kidney Bean	1/2 cup canned (128g) drained	112
Corn	1/2 cup kernels (82g)	77
Broccoli	1 cup chopped (156g)	55
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Plum	1 medium (66g)	30
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Mushroom	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Ultimate Vegetarian Chilli