Name: Lettuce Salad
Ingredients: enough lettuce leaves for 4 people (use butter lettuce, red- or green-leaf lettuce); 1 tbsp sugar; 1 tbsp vinegar; about ½ cup sour cream; fresh chives, cut fine or finely sliced onions; salt; pepper

Why it works: Lettuce and chive match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 261 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Lettuce Salad

serves 4

Ingredients

enough lettuce leaves for 4 people (use butter lettuce, red- or green-leaf lettuce)
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp vinegar
about ½ cup sour cream
fresh chives, cut fine or finely sliced onions
salt
pepper

Directions

Prepare and dress

Wash and drain lettuce.
Stir sugar, vinegar, sour cream, chives, onions, salt, pepper together and pour over the lettuce.
Mix lightly.

Garnish and serve

A sliced hard-boiled egg may be used as a garnish if desired, to be fancy or give it more body.
Do not use iceberg lettuce; use butter, red, or green leaf lettuce, or iceberg only if unavailable.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

310Calories

19 gProtein

12 gFat

31 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 9 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Lettuce	1 cup shredded (36g)	5
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Chives	1 tbsp (3g)	1
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.

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.

Lettuce + chivetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together261 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Lettuce + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,037 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Chive + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,885 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,814 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Lettuce leaves: Form the base of the salad and carry the dressing.
Sour cream: Adds creaminess and body to the dressing, coating the leaves richly.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the sweetness.
Sugar: Adds sweetness that softens the sharpness of the vinegar.

Swap the chive

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lettuce, sugar, vinegar, cream, pepper):

Mustardfits better
Beetrootfits better
Capsicumfits better
Chivethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lettuce, sugar, vinegar, cream, 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.