Name: Northern Bean Soup
Ingredients: 8 cups water; 1 pound dried great northern or lima beans (2 cups); ½ can (15.5 ounce) can tomato sauce; 2 cups chopped ham; 1 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup); 1 tablespoon instant beef bouillon; 1 teaspoon salt; ½ teaspoon pepper; 1 clove garlic, crushed; 2 cups mashed potatoes; 2 medium carrots, cut into ½ inch pieces; 2 medium celery stalks cut into ½ inch pieces (1 cup); nonfat milk (optional)

Why it works: Pepper and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,451 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. 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.

Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Onion + beeftop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,092 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Tomato + beeftop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,448 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,633 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

Dried great northern or lima beans: Form the body of the soup, becoming tender and thickening the broth as they cook.
Ham: Adds savory, smoky meat flavor that carries through the long simmer.
Tomato sauce: Adds acidity and depth of flavor, and colors the broth.
Mashed potatoes: Add body and creaminess, thickening the soup as they break down.
Carrots: Contribute sweetness and texture as they soften in the broth.
Celery: Adds savory aroma and a tender bite to the vegetables.

The step that matters

Simmering the beans until tender. Dried beans need a long, gentle simmer to soften fully. Adding acidic tomato sauce too early can toughen their skins, so the beans may stay firm even after hours of cooking.

Swap the lima beans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, sauce, ham, onion, beef, pepper, clove):

Beansfits better
Black-eyed peafits better
Chickpeafits better
Lima beansthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, sauce, ham, onion, beef, pepper, clove. 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
Beef	100g cooked	250
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Ham	100g cooked	145
Lima Bean	1/2 cup (85g) cooked	108
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Celery Stalks	1 stalk (40g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0

Northern Bean Soup