Name: Porotos Granados
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons Olive Oil; 1 tablespoon sweet Paprika; 1 medium Yellow Onion, peeled and chopped; 1 (15 ounce) can Navy Beans, drained; 3 1/4 cups vegetable Broth; 3 cups Winter Squash, peeled and cubed (like pumpkin, butternut or acorn); 1 1/2 cups Lima Beans (fresh or frozen); 1 1/2 cups Corn Kernels (2 ears fresh or frozen); 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped; salt and Black Pepper, to taste

Why it works: Beans and lima beans match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 156 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. 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.

Beans + lima beanstop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together156 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Beans + corntop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,211 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Lima beans + corntop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together222 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Olive + basiltop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,063 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Basil + peppertop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,294 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

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

What each ingredient does

Yellow onion: Softens as it cooks, adding sweetness and savory depth to the soup base.
Winter squash: Softens into the broth, adding body, natural sweetness and a creamy texture.
Navy beans: Break down slightly while simmering, thickening the soup and adding creamy body.
Lima beans: Hold their shape while simmering, adding substance and a tender, buttery bite.
Corn kernels: Add sweetness and tender texture, and help the sauce thicken as it cooks.

The step that matters

Simmering the squash until it begins to soften. Squash cooks slowly and unevenly, so covering the pot and watching the liquid keeps it from scorching or drying out while the cubes become tender and thicken the soup.

Swap the winter squash

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, onion, beans, lima beans, corn, basil, pepper):

Avocadofits better
Limefits better
Lemonfits better
Winter squashthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, onion, beans, lima beans, corn, basil, 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
Navy Bean	1/2 cup (91g) cooked	127
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Lima Bean	1/2 cup (85g) cooked	108
Corn	1/2 cup kernels (82g)	77
Winter Squash	1 cup cubed (140g) butternut	76
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Pumpkin	not in our table	0
Butternut	not in our table	0
Acorn	not in our table	0

Porotos Granados