Name: Lithuanian Cold Soup and Salad
Ingredients: 3 to 6 cooked beets with stems & leaves (cut up fine) or 2 cans shoestring beets; 10 to 12 green onions, sliced sm. (tops & bottoms); Cucumbers, if you have fresh grown pickling cukes from the garden, use 6 to 8 sm. ones, cut up fine; if you use grocery store salad cukes, 2 long thin cukes diced sm. (about 3 c. of cuke pieces); 4 boiled eggs, cut up fine; 2 tsp. dill (fresh is best); 2 tbsp. vinegar; Salt to taste; 16 oz. of sour cream; Water

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 ↓

Lithuanian Cold Soup and Salad

Ingredients

3 to 6 cooked beets with stems & leaves (cut up fine) or 2 cans shoestring beets
10 to 12 green onions, sliced sm. (tops & bottoms)
Cucumbers, if you have fresh grown pickling cukes from the garden, use 6 to 8 sm. ones, cut up fine; if you use grocery store salad cukes, 2 long thin cukes diced sm. (about 3 c. of cuke pieces)
4 boiled eggs, cut up fine
2 tsp. dill (fresh is best)
2 tbsp. vinegar
Salt to taste
16 oz. of sour cream
Water

Directions

Make the soup

Mix cooked beets, fresh onions, fresh cucumbers, boiled eggs, dill, salt, vinegar, and sour cream. Stir gently.
Put in a gallon container and add water and (or) ice cubes until jar is full. Stir gently.
Test with more salt, vinegar or dill to your taste.

Chill and serve

Refrigerate until ice melts and serve very cold.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

280Calories

27 gProtein

6 gFat

29 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 10 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Beet	1/2 cup (85g)	35
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Salad	not in our table	0
Water	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.

Cucumber + dilltop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together530 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + cucumbertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,050 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Cucumber + vinegartop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,734 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
Dill + vinegartop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together659 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Onion + dilltop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,639 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Beets: Provide the main color, earthy flavor and body of the soup.
Sour cream: Adds richness and a creamy body while softening the sharpness of the vinegar.
Boiled eggs: Add soft, creamy texture and mild richness to the chopped vegetables.
Cucumbers: Contribute crisp texture and fresh, cool flavor.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the soup and balances the sour cream.

The step that matters

Chilling with ice and seasoning to taste. Adding water or ice dilutes the soup, so salt, vinegar and dill are best tested after chilling, when cold dulls perceived flavor. Tasting only once it is very cold helps avoid over-salting or over-souring.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cucumber, egg, dill, vinegar, cream):

Horseradishfits better
Mustardfits better
Chivefits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cucumber, egg, dill, vinegar, cream. 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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Lithuanian Cold Soup and Salad