Name: Grilled Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
Ingredients: 2/3 cup fresh tomatoes, chopped; 1/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese; 1 teaspoon olive oil; 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh or 1/8 teaspoon dried rosemary; 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper; 1 garlic clove, crushed; 4 (5-6" diameter) portobello mushroom caps; 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice; 2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce; Low-fat cooking spray; 2 teaspoons fresh cilantro, chopped

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 ↓

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.

Tomato + olivetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,539 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Olive + rosemarytop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,590 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,076 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Rosemary + clovetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together519 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Portobello mushroom caps: Act as the edible base that softens on the grill and holds the filling.
Mozzarella cheese: Melts over the filling to create a stretchy, binding layer.
Tomatoes: Add moisture and acidity that keep the filling juicy under heat.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and balances the savory soy sauce.
Soy sauce: Adds salty, savory depth and helps the caps brown on the grill.

The step that matters

Grilling the caps stem side down first. Mushroom caps hold water and can turn soggy or tough if overcooked, and the gill side cooks faster than the cavity. Starting stem side down and watching for softness helps the caps cook evenly before the filling goes in.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, mozzarella cheese, olive, rosemary, pepper, garlic, mushroom):

Basilfits better
Oreganofits better
Thymefits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, mozzarella cheese, olive, rosemary, pepper, garlic, mushroom. 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
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Mozzarella Cheese	1 oz (28g)	85
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Mushroom	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Rosemary	1 tsp dried (1.2g)	4
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1

Grilled Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms