Name: Gouda, Potato and Egg Casserole
Ingredients: 1 cup white onion sliced; 1 tablespoon butter; 8 hard cooked eggs; 2 cups shredded smoked gouda cheese; 1 can cream of potato soup; ¾ cup milk; 1 teaspoon prepared mustard; ½ teaspoon salt; ¼ teaspoon dill weed; ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 6 slices rye bread buttered and cut diagonally into 4 pieces

Why it works: Onion and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. 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 + potatotop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,259 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Potato + mustardtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,340 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

What each ingredient does

Hard cooked eggs: Provide the sliced egg layer that gives the casserole its body and protein-rich texture.
Smoked gouda cheese: Melts into the custard layer, adding savory richness and a smoky aroma.
Cream of potato soup: Supplies thickened liquid and starch that help the casserole set into a creamy base.
Milk: Thins the soup mixture and adds moisture for a tender, custard-like set.
Rye bread: Forms a top crust that toasts and absorbs some of the liquid as it bakes.

The step that matters

Pour soup mixture over cheese, then overlap bread slices. Bread placed on top must be buttered side up and overlapped so it toasts evenly; the egg-and-milk mixture needs to bake through to set rather than stay runny.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, butter, egg, cheese, cream, potato, milk):

Chivefits better
Asparagusfits better
Leekfits about as well
Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, butter, egg, cheese, cream, potato, milk. 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
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Rye Bread	1 slice (32g)	83
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Gouda	not in our table	0
Soup	not in our table	0

Gouda, Potato and Egg Casserole