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Mexican Snack Squares

A baked crescent roll base topped with refried beans, sour cream, taco seasoning, cheese, and vegetables, chilled and cut into squares.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and olive are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,539 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Mexican Snack Squares

Oven375°F
Time14 to 19 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the crust

  1. Heat oven to 375°F.

  2. Unroll the crescent dough into four long rectangles.

  3. Place the rectangles crosswise in an ungreased 15x10x1 inch pan; press over the bottom and up the sides to form a crust, then firmly press perforations together to seal.

  4. Bake at 375°F for 14 to 19 minutes or until golden brown, then allow to cool completely.

Layer the toppings

  1. Spread the refried beans over the crust to within about ½ inch of the edges.

  2. In a small bowl, combine sour cream and taco seasoning and mix well.

  3. Spread the sour cream mixture over the refried beans.

  4. Sprinkle with shredded cheese, chopped green onion, chopped green bell pepper, chopped tomatoes, and sliced ripe olives.

  5. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Serve

  1. Cut into squares and serve with salsa.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

314Calories
27 gProtein
11 gFat
27 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 8 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Cheddar Cheese1 oz (28g)113
Yogurt170g plain Greek100
Green Onion1 medium (110g)44
Green Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Olive1 large (4g)4
Beannot in our table0
Taconot 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. Tomato + olivetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,539 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  2. Beans + tomatotop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,713 recipes

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

  3. Beans + olivetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,470 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  4. Beans + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,242 recipes

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

  5. Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 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

Crescent dinner rolls
Dough bakes into a golden, sturdy base that holds the toppings.
Refried beans
Adds moisture and body to the layers beneath the sour cream and cheese.
Sour cream
Adds creamy richness and tang to the taco-seasoned layer.
Shredded cheddar cheese
Melts into a rich, savory layer that binds the toppings together.
Taco seasoning mix
Provides the main savory, spiced flavor in the sour cream layer.

The step that matters

Let the crust cool completely before topping. A hot crust would soften the refried beans and sour cream layer, making the squares soggy and causing the toppings to slide.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beans, cream, cheddar cheese, pepper, tomato, olive):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Spinachfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beans, cream, cheddar cheese, pepper, tomato, 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.

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