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 ↓
Porky Spaghetti
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the meat
Chop onion and break up pork sausage and ground beef.
Brown in skillet.
Sprinkle with garlic powder, thyme and cumin.
Stir occasionally after 5 minutes. The meat should have lost its pink color and the fat from sausage should be rendered.
Pour off excess grease from skillet.
Make the sauce
Add tomato sauce, then undrained mushrooms, the Worcestershire, salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil.
Let simmer, covered and over medium low heat for about 15 minutes.
Add cheese to skillet.
Cook and serve
Cook spaghetti.
Drain spaghetti in colander, return to its pot.
Pour spaghetti sauce over and toss before serving.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 12 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Beef | 100g cooked | 250 |
| Pork | 100g cooked | 242 |
| Cheddar Cheese | 1 oz (28g) | 113 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Tomato | 1 medium (123g) | 22 |
| Mushroom | 1/2 cup sliced (35g) | 15 |
| Soy Sauce | 1 tbsp (15ml) | 9 |
| Cumin | 1 tsp ground (2.1g) | 8 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Garlic | 1 clove (3g) | 4 |
| Thyme | 1 tsp dried (1.4g) | 4 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
-
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together29,058 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
-
Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,082 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Pork + beeftop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,690 recipes
Shared aroma: 12-methyltridecanal (tallowy, beefy).
-
Cumin + tomatotop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,272 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Thyme + cumintop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together349 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pork sausage
- Adds fat and savory flavor as it renders into the browned meat.
- Ground beef
- Provides the main meaty body and browned flavor of the sauce.
- Tomato sauce
- Forms the liquid base of the sauce and carries the other flavors.
- Cheddar cheese
- Melts into the sauce, adding richness and a creamy texture.
- Spaghetti
- Provides the starch base that the sauce clings to.
The step that matters
Browning the meat and draining the fat. Browning the meat well builds deep savory flavor, while pouring off excess grease keeps the sauce from tasting greasy and oily.
Swap the thyme
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, beef, onion, garlic, cumin, tomato, sauce):
- Oreganofits better
- Corianderfits about as well
- Thymethe original
- Turmericfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, beef, onion, garlic, cumin, tomato, sauce. 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.
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Roast Beef211 recipes
Beef Loaf175 recipes
Cream of Tomato Soup107 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.