Name: Pepper Slaw
Ingredients: 6 cups chopped or shredded cabbage; 2 cups sliced red and/or green pepper; 1 1/2 cup sliced celery; 1 cup sliced onion; 3/4 cup shredded carrots; 1/2 cup vegetable oil; 1 1/2 t. celery salt; 1 t. cracked pepper; 1/2 t. celery seed; 2 t. sugar; 3 T. cider vinegar; 1 T. dry mustard

Why it works: Celery and carrot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. 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.

Celery + carrottop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together10,173 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together16,012 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,081 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Pepper + carrottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,555 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Cabbage + celerytop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,840 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Cabbage: Forms the crisp, crunchy bulk of the slaw that softens slightly as it sits.
Red and/or green pepper: Adds crunch and a fresh, mildly sweet vegetable flavor.
Vegetable oil: Coats the vegetables and carries flavor, giving the dressing body and richness.
Cider vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the fat.
Sugar: Adds sweetness that rounds out the sharpness of the vinegar.
Dry mustard: Contributes a sharp, pungent note to the dressing.

The step that matters

Refrigerate for several hours or overnight. The dressing needs time to soak into the cabbage and vegetables. Acid and salt slowly soften the cabbage and draw flavor into it, so serving straight away gives a sharper, less blended taste.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, pepper, celery, carrot, sugar, cider, vinegar):

Mustardfits better
Capsicumfits better
Turnipfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, pepper, celery, carrot, sugar, cider, vinegar. 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
Broccoli	1 cup chopped (156g)	55
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Celery Seed	1 stalk (40g)	6
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Cider	not in our table	0

Pepper Slaw

Pepper Slaw

Ingredients

Directions

Mix the slaw

Chill

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)