Name: Rich Shrimp Salad
Ingredients: 8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature; ½ cup plain yogurt; 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice; 2 tablespoons finely chopped white onion; 2 tablespoons snipped fresh dill sprigs; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; ½ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper; ½ teaspoon ground cumin; ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper; 1 teaspoon hot red pepper sauce; 1 pound peeled cooked shrimp diced

Why it works: Lemon and dill match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 976 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. 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.

Lemon + dilltop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together976 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together27,047 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Dill + cumintop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together106 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
Dill + peppertop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,630 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + cumintop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,498 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Cream cheese: Provides the rich, thick body that holds the salad together.
Plain yogurt: Adds moisture and a light tang that loosens the cream cheese.
Fresh lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and balances the richness.
Shrimp: Supplies the main protein and chewy texture in the spread.
White onion: Adds a sharp, aromatic bite.

The step that matters

Chill at least 2 hours. Cold chilling firms the cream cheese base so the salad holds its shape, and the flavors of the lemon, onion, dill and spices blend and mellow before serving.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream cheese, yogurt, lemon, onion, dill, cumin, pepper):

Corianderfits better
Parsleyfits better
Oreganofits better
White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cream cheese, yogurt, lemon, onion, dill, cumin, 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
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Cream Cheese	1 oz (28g)	99
Shrimp	100g cooked	99
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
White Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Sauce	not in our table	0

Rich Shrimp Salad