Name: Zucchini Casserole
Ingredients: 4 small zucchini squash, thinly sliced (2½ to 3 cups); 2 tbsp chopped onion; 3 tbsp margarine or butter; 2 tomatoes; 1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese; 1 tsp sugar; ¾ tsp salt; ½ tsp oregano; ⅛ tsp garlic salt; ⅛ tsp pepper; 4 Oz. mozzarella cheese, grated; 2 tsp margarine or butter; ½ to ¾ cup Pepperidge Farm stuffing

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).
Tomato + oreganotop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,767 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Oregano + garlictop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,756 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,076 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Oregano + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,449 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Zucchini squash: Forms the bulk of the casserole and becomes tender and moist as it cooks.
Tomatoes: Add moisture and acidity that blend into the sauce-like juices during baking.
Mozzarella cheese: Melts into a stretchy layer that binds the vegetables and browns on top.
Parmesan cheese: Adds savory, salty flavour and helps the topping brown.
Pepperidge farm stuffing: Forms a crisp, golden crumb topping that adds texture.

The step that matters

Sautéing the zucchini until limp. Zucchini holds a lot of water. Cooking it first drives off some moisture, so the casserole does not turn soggy during baking.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, tomato, parmesan cheese, sugar, oregano, garlic, pepper):

Capsicumfits better
Eggplantfits better
Spinachfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, tomato, parmesan cheese, sugar, oregano, garlic, pepper. 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
Parmesan Cheese	1 oz (28g)	110
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Mozzarella Cheese	1 oz (28g)	85
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Oregano	1 tsp dried (1.8g)	5
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Pumpkin	not in our table	0
Stuffing	not in our table	0

Zucchini Casserole