Tomato Sauce

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.

1. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together17,923 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

2. Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together20,633 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

3. Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together68,474 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

4. Tomato + saucetop 15% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together5,469 recipes

   Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

5. Onion + saucetop 19% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together10,474 recipes

   Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Onion and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 10,474 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Tomato soup

Forms the liquid base of the sauce and supplies the main tomato flavor.

Green pepper

Adds a fresh, slightly sharp vegetal flavor that cuts through the sweetness of the tomato.

Onion

Adds savory aroma and depth of flavor, which develops further as it is heated.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, pepper, sauce):

1. Capsicumfits better
2. Eggplantfits better
3. Okrafits better
4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, pepper, sauce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.