Name: Beans and Wieners Under Cornbread
Ingredients: 24 ounces All-beef wieners; 64 ounces vegetarian beans; 1/4 cup catsup; 2 tablespoons Dijon-style mustard; 2 tTablespoons dark brown sugar; 2 tablespoons dark molasses; 2 teaspoons hot-pepper Sauce; 2 scallions, including part of the green, chopped; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1-1/3 cups yellow cornmeal; 2/3 cup all-purpose flour; 2 tablespoons granulated sugar; 2 teaspoons baking powder; 1 teaspoon salt; 2 eggs; 1 cup milk

Why it works: Beans and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 852 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. 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.

Beans + mustardtop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together852 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,470 recipes

Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Mustard + olivetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,950 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,430 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,971 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

All-beef wieners: Provide the meaty body and savory flavor of the casserole.
Vegetarian beans: Form the bulk of the casserole and carry moisture and sweetness through the dish.
Eggs: Bind the cornbread batter so the topping sets firm rather than crumbly.
Yellow cornmeal: Gives the cornbread topping its grainy texture and corn flavor.
All-purpose flour: Provides structure to the cornbread topping so it holds together when cut.
Baking powder: Lifts the batter so the cornbread topping rises and turns light.
Dark molasses: Adds depth, color, and sweetness to the bean mixture.

The step that matters

Spreading and baking the batter. The batter must be stirred only until smooth, since overmixing develops gluten and makes the cornbread topping tough. Baking at the set temperature lets the eggs and leavening set the topping evenly over the moist beans.

Swap the beans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, mustard, sugar, molasses, pepper, sauce, olive):

Beansthe original
Sesamefits about as well
Chestnutfits less well
Chickpeafits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, mustard, sugar, molasses, pepper, sauce, olive. 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
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Molasses	1 tbsp (20g)	58
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Bean	not in our table	0
Sauce	not in our table	0

Beans and Wieners Under Cornbread