Name: Cucumber Salad with Yogurt
Ingredients: 1 medium cucumber; 1 clove garlic; 1 tbsp. salt; 1 tbsp. vinegar; 1 cup yogurt; 1 tbsp. vegetable oil; 1 tbsp. chopped dill (optional)

Why it works: Cucumber and dill match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 530 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Cucumber Salad with Yogurt

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dressing

Crush the garlic; add salt and vinegar and mix to a smooth paste.
Stir this into yogurt; add the oil and half of dill.

Assemble and serve

Peel and slice cucumber, very thin across.
Put into a salad bowl and sprinkle with a little salt.
Cover with the yogurt sauce and sprinkle the rest of the dill on top.
Chill before serving.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

246Calories

18 gProtein

14 gFat

11 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	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.

Cucumber + dilltop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together530 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,556 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Cucumber + vinegartop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,734 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
Clove + dilltop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together187 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Garlic + dilltop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together943 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

Cucumber: Forms the crisp, watery bulk of the salad, cooled and refreshing against the sauce.
Yogurt: Forms the creamy, tangy base of the sauce that coats the cucumber.
Garlic: Adds pungent aroma that mellows and spreads through the yogurt sauce.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the yogurt and balances its richness.
Vegetable oil: Adds fat that gives the sauce a smoother mouthfeel and carries flavor.

The step that matters

Mix the garlic, salt and vinegar into a smooth paste. Crushing the garlic and working it with salt and vinegar breaks down its cell walls and spreads the flavor evenly, so the sauce tastes consistent instead of harshly sharp in spots.

Swap the dill

The recipe marks dill as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cucumber, clove, garlic, vinegar, yogurt):

Dillthe original
Corianderfits about as well
Cuminfits about as well
Tarragonfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against cucumber, clove, garlic, vinegar, yogurt. 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.

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Cucumber Salad with Yogurt