Name: Garlic Lemon Marinade
Ingredients: ⅓ cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice; 8 cloves garlic , smashed and minced; 1 ½ tsp salt; 1 ½ tsp freshly-ground black pepper; 1 lemon , finely zested; ¼ cup vegetable oil

Why it works: Lemon and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Garlic Lemon Marinade

Ingredients

⅓ cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice
8 cloves garlic , smashed and minced
1 ½ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp freshly-ground black pepper
1 lemon , finely zested
¼ cup vegetable oil

Directions

Process all ingredients in a blender until smooth.
Keep refrigerated for up to 1 ½ weeks. Shake well before using.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

141Calories

1 gProtein

14 gFat

6 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 5 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	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.

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.

Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together27,047 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Garlic + peppertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,090 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Lemon + garlictop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,893 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Clove + garlictop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,368 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Garlic: Provides pungent aroma and flavour that carries through the marinade.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens flavour and helps tenderise the surface of food.
Vegetable oil: Carries fat-soluble flavour and helps the marinade coat food evenly.