Why it works: Beans and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 852 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Cathy's Baked Beans
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the beans
Wash beans.
Cover with water and soak overnight.
Drain well.
Cover with a large amount of boiling salted water and boil slowly for 1 hour. Drain well.
Make the sauce and assemble
Combine salt, sugar, molasses, bay leaf, mustard, onion and water and add to beans.
Pour into bean pot. Score rind of pork and press into beans, leaving the rind exposed.
Bake
Cover beans with additional boiling water and bake in a 300-degree oven for 4 hours.
Remove cover for the last hour of baking.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 9 of 10 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Pork | 100g cooked | 242 |
| Navy Bean | 1/2 cup (91g) cooked | 127 |
| Molasses | 1 tbsp (20g) | 58 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Bacon | 1 slice cooked (8g) | 43 |
| Mustard | 1 tsp (5g) yellow | 3 |
| Bay Leaf | 1 leaf (0.6g) | 2 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 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.
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.
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Beans + mustardtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together852 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Mustard + oniontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,259 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Beans + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,242 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Onion + porktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,214 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Beans + porktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,000 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
- Navy beans
- Form the bulk of the dish and give it its hearty, tender body.
- Molasses
- Adds dark sweetness and color and helps give the beans their rich flavor.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the sauce caramelize and darken during long baking.
- Salt pork
- Renders fat and savory flavor into the beans as they bake; its rind is left exposed.
The step that matters
Remove the cover for the last hour. Uncovering lets surface liquid evaporate so the sauce thickens and the top browns, while the covered hours keep the beans moist and tender.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beans, sugar, molasses, mustard, pork):
- Lettucefits better
- Sweet potatofits better
- Beetrootfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beans, sugar, molasses, mustard, pork. 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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