Name: Prize-winning Chili for 50
Ingredients: 5 pounds ground beef Top Round; 2 pounds ground pork; 6 whole onions, chopped; 8 cloves garlic, crushed; 3 stalks celery, chopped; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1 quart beef broth; 1 28 oz can Los Palmas Red Chile Sauce; 1 12 oz can tomato paste; 2 28 oz cans 6 in 1 Tomato Puree, or a 3 lb, 10 oz can; 3 tsp oregano; 1 bunch cilantro; 1 tsp cumin; 3 tsp California Mild Chili Powder; 1 No. 10 can pinto beans; 3 onions, chopped; Condiments:; sour cream; your favorite salsa; shredded cheese; finely chopped onion

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 ↓

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.

Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Beef + porktop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,690 recipes

Shared aroma: 12-methyltridecanal (tallowy, beefy).
Garlic + olivetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Clove + celerytop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,668 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).
Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,092 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

Ground beef: Provides the main meaty body and fat that carries the chili's flavor.
Ground pork: Adds richness and fat, giving the meat a softer, juicier texture.
Onions: Build sweetness and savory depth as they soften in the oil.
Tomato paste: Concentrates tomato flavor and adds body to the simmering sauce.
Pinto beans: Add starch and body, thickening the chili and adding earthy substance.
Garlic: Contributes pungent aroma that mellows and sweetens during cooking.

The step that matters

Saute the onions, celery, and garlic until softened. Cooking the aromatics gently in oil softens their raw bite and draws out sweetness. Browning them too hard can turn garlic bitter, so the flavor base stays balanced.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pork, onion, garlic, celery, olive, sauce):

Thymefits better
Cuminfits better
Capersfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pork, onion, garlic, celery, olive, sauce. 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
Pork	100g cooked	242
Pinto Bean	1/2 cup (86g) canned	122
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Oregano	1 tsp dried (1.8g)	5
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Sauce	not in our table	0

Prize-winning Chili for 50