Name: Thousand Island Salad Dressing
Ingredients: 2 cups mayonnaise; ½ cup chili sauce; 3 hard cooked eggs; 2 dill pickles chopped; ⅓ cup celery chopped; 1 green pepper minced; 1 small white onion chopped

Why it works: Dill and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 382 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Thousand Island Salad Dressing

Timeat least two hours

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dressing

Mix all ingredients together and stir until well combined.

Chill

Chill at least two hours before using.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

171Calories

9 gProtein

6 gFat

20 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Sauce	not in our table	0

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.

Dill + celerytop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together382 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Dill + peppertop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,630 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together16,012 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,518 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together68,474 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

Mayonnaise: Forms the creamy base and carries the other ingredients through the dressing.
Chili sauce: Adds sweetness, acidity and color that give the dressing its characteristic flavor.
Hard cooked eggs: Add body and a rich, savory texture as they break down into the dressing.
Dill pickles: Contribute acidity and a briny crunch that cut through the richness of the mayonnaise.
Celery: Adds fresh, crisp texture and a mild vegetal note.
White onion: Adds sharp aromatic bite that mellows during chilling.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sauce, egg, dill, celery, pepper):

Mustardfits better
Carrotfits better
Capsicumfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sauce, egg, dill, celery, 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.

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Thousand Island Salad Dressing