Skip to main content
Salad

Tomato, Onion, and Pepper Salad

A salad of thinly sliced onion, tomato, and green bell pepper dressed with salt, pepper, red wine vinegar, and olive oil.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 7 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Tomato and olive are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,539 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Tomato, Onion, and Pepper Salad

Time1 hour refrigerated

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the onion

  1. Place the onion slices in a small bowl and toss with 1 teaspoon salt.

  2. Let stand for 25 minutes.

  3. Rinse under cold running water and pat thoroughly dry with paper towels.

Assemble and chill

  1. Place the tomato, pepper, and onion slices in alternating layers in a shallow serving bowl, sprinkling each layer with salt and pepper.

  2. Sprinkle the vegetables with the vinegar and oil and toss gently.

  3. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

225Calories
4 gProtein
14 gFat
22 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Green Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 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.

  1. Tomato + olivetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,539 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  2. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

  3. Tomato + red winetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

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

  5. Onion + olivetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Onion
Salting and rinsing mellows its sharp flavor, so it tastes milder in the salad.
Tomatoes
Provide the juicy, acidic body of the salad and release moisture as they sit.
Green bell peppers
Add crisp texture and a fresh, slightly bitter vegetal flavor.
Red wine vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the vegetables and balances the oil.
Olive oil
Adds fat that carries flavor and coats the vegetables.

The step that matters

Drying the onion after rinsing. Onion slices hold water after rinsing. Patting them dry keeps the dressing from being diluted and helps the oil and vinegar cling to the vegetables instead of pooling.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, pepper, red wine, vinegar, olive):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Cucumberfits better
  3. Eggplantfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, pepper, red wine, vinegar, olive. 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.

You might also like

Tomato SaladTomato Salad179 recipesChicken SaladChicken Salad623 recipesSalad DressingSalad Dressing491 recipesCold SlawCold Slaw160 recipes