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BBQ Beans

BBQ Beans is a bean dish cooked with onions, garlic, vinegar, mustard, soy sauce, sugar, ketchup, chili, tomatoes, molasses, stock, and spices.

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Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

BBQ Beans

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the beans

  1. Place the rinsed beans in the steamer basket on top of the steamer trivet and put inside the pressure cooker.

  2. Add 6 cups of water.

  3. Close the lid, bring to high pressure, and cook for 2 minutes.

  4. Release pressure using the cold water release method.

  5. Remove the beans and rinse again.

Cook the beans

  1. Return the beans to the cooker and add the olive oil and water or stock.

  2. Close the lid, bring to high pressure, and cook for 8 minutes.

  3. Release pressure using the automatic release method.

  4. Drain the beans and return them to the cooker.

Add the sauce and finish

  1. Combine the remaining ingredients.

  2. Close the lid again, bring to high pressure, and cook for 15 minutes.

  3. Release pressure using the cold water release method.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

628Calories
37 gProtein
18 gFat
83 gCarbs

Counts 16 of 18 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 16 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Chicken100g cooked165
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Honey1 tbsp (21g)64
Molasses1 tbsp (20g)58
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Red Onion1 medium (110g)44
Plum1 medium (66g)30
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Soy Sauce1 tbsp (15ml)9
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Beannot in our table0
Waternot in our table0

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.

  1. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Beans + mustardtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together852 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Garlic + mustardtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  4. Beans + garlictop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,935 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  5. Onion + mustardtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,259 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 or small white beans
Provide the main body and starchy texture of the finished dish.
Dark brown sugar
Adds sweetness and helps build the dark, caramel-like barbecue flavor.
Molasses
Adds depth, sweetness and a darker color to the sauce.
Red wine vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the sauce and balances the sweetness.
Ketchup
Contributes tomato sweetness, acidity and body to the sauce.
Plum tomatoes
Add moisture, acidity and body to the sauce.

The step that matters

Rinse and quick soak the beans before pressure cooking. Dry beans need hydration and a rinse to cook evenly and reduce foam, which helps prevent uneven texture under pressure.

Swap the beans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, garlic, red wine, vinegar, mustard, sauce, sugar):

  1. Sesamefits about as well
  2. Lentilsfits about as well
  3. Beansthe original
  4. Chestnutfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, garlic, red wine, vinegar, mustard, sauce, sugar. 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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