Name: Creamy Potato Salad
Ingredients: 250px|right; 1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt; 1/3 cup mayonnaise; 1/4 tsp. finely minced or scraped onion; 1 sprig of parsley, finely chopped; 1/4 cup chopped celery or green pepper (optional); 2 potatoes, boiled and diced; 2 hard-boiled eggs, diced; salt to taste

Why it works: Parsley and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,810 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Creamy Potato Salad

Timeseveral hours

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dressing

Blend yogurt, mayonnaise, onion, parsley, celery, and pepper.

Assemble and chill

Stir in remaining ingredients.
Cover and refrigerate for several hours.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

421Calories

30 gProtein

7 gFat

61 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 8 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 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.

Parsley + celerytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,810 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Parsley + potatotop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,855 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Celery + potatotop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,047 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,518 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Plain low-fat yogurt: Provides tang and creaminess as the base of the dressing.
Mayonnaise: Adds fat and richness, giving the dressing a smooth, creamy body.
Potatoes: Form the bulk of the salad and absorb some of the dressing's flavour and moisture.
Hard-boiled eggs: Add richness and a soft, firm texture to the salad.

Swap the celery

The recipe marks celery as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (yogurt, onion, parsley, potato, egg):

Dillfits better
Garlicfits better
Thymefits better
Celerythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against yogurt, onion, parsley, potato, egg. 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.