Name: Dill Cucumber Salad
Ingredients: ½ cup reduced-fat sour cream; 2 Tbsp cider vinegar; 1 tsp sugar; ¾ tsp garlic powder; ¾ tsp dill weed; ½ tsp salt; 3 medium cucumber , sliced; ½ cup sliced onion

Why it works: Garlic and onion 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 ↓

Dill Cucumber Salad

Timeat least 1 hour

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dressing

Combine sour cream, vinegar, sugar, garlic powder, dill, and salt.

Assemble and chill

Add cucumbers and onion, and toss to coat.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Serve

Serve with slotted spoon.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

220Calories

19 gProtein

1 gFat

34 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Cider	not in our table	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 Wikibooks Cookbook.

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.

Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Dill + cucumbertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together530 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Garlic + cucumbertop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,556 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Cider + vinegartop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,431 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
Cucumber + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,050 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

Reduced-fat sour cream: Forms a creamy, tangy dressing that coats the vegetables.
Cucumber: Provides the crisp, watery body of the salad.
Cider vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the cream.
Onion: Contributes sharp aroma and a bit of bite.

The step that matters

Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Salt and vinegar draw water out of the cucumber, so the dressing thins as it sits. Chilling lets the flavors meld and keeps the cucumbers crisp. Serving too soon leaves the dressing thin and the flavors sharp.

Swap the dill

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, cider, vinegar, sugar, garlic, cucumber, onion):

Tarragonfits about as well
Peppermintfits about as well
Dillthe original
Cuminfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against cream, cider, vinegar, sugar, garlic, cucumber, onion. 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.

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Dill Cucumber Salad