Name: Southwest Sausage Casserole
Ingredients: 1 pound hot sausage, cooked and drained; 2 (4 ounce) cans chopped green chiles; 6 corn tortillas, cut into 1/2-inch strips; 2 cups shredded Monterey jack cheese; 1/2 cup milk; 8 eggs; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt; 1/2 teaspoon onion salt; 1/2 teaspoon cumin; 1/2 teaspoon black pepper; 2 ripe tomatoes, sliced; Paprika; Sour cream (optional); Salsa (optional)

Why it works: Garlic and onion match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. 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.

Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,082 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Onion + cumintop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,498 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Corn + cumintop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together798 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Cumin + peppertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,382 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

Eggs: Set the custard so the layers hold together when sliced.
Milk: Thins the egg mixture and keeps the custard moist and tender.
Corn tortillas: Give structure and soak up the egg mixture as the casserole rests.
Hot sausage: Adds fat and savory, spicy flavor throughout the layers.
Monterey jack cheese: Melts into the layers, adding richness and a creamy texture.
Green chiles: Add mild, tangy flavor and aroma to the layers.

The step that matters

Refrigerate overnight. Resting lets the tortillas soak up the egg and milk mixture evenly. Skipping the rest can leave dry patches or a watery layer after baking.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (corn, cheese, milk, egg, garlic, cumin, pepper):

Capsicumfits better
Spinachfits better
Tomatofits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against corn, cheese, milk, egg, garlic, cumin, 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
Pork	100g cooked	242
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Corn Tortilla	1 medium flour (45g)	140
Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Southwest Sausage Casserole