Name: Ham Upside-down Casserole
Ingredients: 1½ cups cubed cooked ham; 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce; 1 cup lima beans cooked and drained; 8 ounce can cream style corn; 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese; 2 tablespoon minced onions; ⅔ cup all purpose baking mix; ⅓ cup cornmeal; 1 egg; ¼ cup milk; parsley

Why it works: Lima beans and corn work together. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 222 recipes. Both carry 2,3-pentanedione, which smells butter, sweet. 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.

Lima beans + corntop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together222 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Sauce + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,787 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Cheddar cheese + oniontop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,669 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Corn + oniontop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,205 recipes

Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
Lima beans + oniontop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together331 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

Eggs: Bind the batter and help it set into a firm, sliceable top.
All purpose baking mix: Provides flour and leavening so the topping batter bakes up light and cakey.
Cornmeal: Adds a grainy texture and slightly firmer crumb to the batter topping.
Cheddar cheese: Melts through the filling and adds savory flavor and richness.
Cream style corn: Adds moisture and sweetness to the filling, keeping it tender.
Milk: Hydrates the dry ingredients and loosens the batter so it spreads evenly.

The step that matters

Spreading batter evenly to edges of casserole. Batter that is spread unevenly bakes unevenly, leaving thin or doughy patches. Reaching the edges gives the topping a uniform set, which also helps it hold together when the casserole is inverted and cut into wedges.

Swap the lima beans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, sauce, cream, corn, cheddar cheese, onion, egg):

Beansfits better
Sesamefits about as well
Lima beansthe original
Peanutfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, sauce, cream, corn, cheddar cheese, onion, egg. 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
Pork	100g cooked	242
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Cheddar Cheese	1 oz (28g)	113
Lima Bean	1/2 cup (85g) cooked	108
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Corn	1/2 cup kernels (82g)	77
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1

Ham Upside-down Casserole