Name: Vegan Tex-Mex Dip
Ingredients: 8 oz soy cream cheese; 1 cup grated soy cheddar; 15 oz can vegetarian refried beans; 1/2 tsp Mexican chili powder (or to taste)

Why it works: Cream cheese and beans work together. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, pear. The science ↓

Vegan Tex-Mex Dip

Oven300°F

Time20 minutes

Ingredients

8 oz soy cream cheese
1 cup grated soy cheddar
15 oz can vegetarian refried beans
1/2 tsp Mexican chili powder (or to taste)

Directions

Make the dip

Mix all ingredients.
Put into a greased baking pan.

Bake and serve

Bake at 300°F for 20 minutes.
Serve with tortilla chips.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

294Calories

16 gProtein

24 gFat

4 gCarbs

Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 5 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Cheddar Cheese	1 oz (28g)	113
Soy Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Bean	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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.

Cream cheese + beanstop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

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

What each ingredient does

Soy cream cheese: Provides creamy body and smooth melting texture when baked.
Soy cheddar: Melts into the dip, adding stretch and savory richness.
Refried beans: Adds bulk, moisture and a thick, scoopable structure to the dip.

“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.