Name: Sun-dried Tomato Vinaigrette
Ingredients: 2 cups extra-virgin olive oil; ¾ cup sherry vinegar; ½ cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes; ½ cup pitted and chopped kalamata olives; ¼ cup pitted and chopped niçoise olives; ¼ cup honey; 3 tablespoons drained chopped capers; 2 tablespoons minced shallot; 2 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves; 1½ tablespoons chopped mint leaves; 1 tablespoon chopped basil leaves; 1 tablespoon minced garlic; 1 tablespoon grated orange zest; salt; freshly ground black pepper

Why it works: Capers and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 405 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. 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.

Capers + shallottop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together405 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Capers + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,550 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,539 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Shallot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,737 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Olive + caperstop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,688 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

Extra-virgin olive oil: Forms the body of the dressing and carries the fat-soluble flavours of the other ingredients.
Sherry vinegar: Adds the sharp acidity that balances the oil and the honey.
Sun-dried tomatoes: Contribute concentrated, savoury tomato flavour and a chewy texture.
Kalamata olives: Add briny, salty depth and a meaty texture to the dressing.
Honey: Adds sweetness that rounds out the acidity of the vinegar.
Capers: Add sharp, salty bursts of flavour that brighten the oil.

The step that matters

Whisk briefly, then taste and adjust seasoning. Oil and vinegar separate quickly, so a brief whisk is enough to combine them without over-emulsifying. Salt is added in stages because its flavour is muted when mixed into oil and only becomes clear after tasting, so the final seasoning must be checked at the end.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, sherry, vinegar, honey, capers, shallot, parsley):

Mustardfits better
Chivefits better
Welsh onionfits better
Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, sherry, vinegar, honey, capers, shallot, parsley. 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
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Honey	1 tbsp (21g)	64
Orange	1 medium (131g)	62
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Shallot	1 tbsp minced (10g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Olive	1 large (4g)	4
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Capers	1 tbsp (9g) drained	2
Mint	2 tbsp fresh (3g)	2
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Sun-dried Tomato Vinaigrette