Name: Savory Potato Salad
Ingredients: 6 medium potatoes (about 2 lb); 2 stalks celery, finely chopped; 2 scallions, finely chopped; ¼ C red bell pepper, coarsely chopped; ¼ C green bell pepper, coarsely chopped; 1 Tbsp onion, finely chopped; 1 egg, hard boiled, chopped; 6 Tbsp reduced-fat mayonnaise; 1 tsp mustard; ½ tsp salt; ¼ tsp ground black pepper; ¼ tsp dried dill weed

Why it works: Celery and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,169 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. 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.

Celery + mustardtop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,169 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Mustard + dilltop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together560 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Celery + dilltop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together382 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Potato + dilltop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together423 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 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

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, celery, pepper, egg, mustard, dill):

Horseradishfits better
Chivefits better
Lettucefits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, celery, pepper, egg, mustard, dill. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Savory Potato Salad