Name: Grilled Lamb Kebabs + Tzatziki
Ingredients: 1 pound plain yogurt (regular or lowfat); 1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for brushing grill; 1 teaspoon lemon zest; 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons); 5 tablespoons fresh whole rosemary leaves, chopped; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 2 pounds top round lamb; 1 red onion; 14 ounces Greek yogurt (Ina recommends Fage Total; I recommend whatever you like best, and yes, I use full fat, always); 1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled and seeded; 1/4 cup sour cream; 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice; 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar; 1 tablespoon minced fresh dill; 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic; 2 teaspoons kosher salt; 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Why it works: Lemon and rosemary match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 845 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. 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.

Lemon + rosemarytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together845 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Olive + rosemarytop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,590 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together27,047 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Rosemary + peppertop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,324 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Olive + cucumbertop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,611 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

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 (yogurt, olive, lemon, rosemary, pepper, lamb, cucumber):

Eggplantfits better
Tomatofits better
Spinachfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against yogurt, olive, lemon, rosemary, pepper, lamb, cucumber. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Lamb	100g cooked	294
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Rosemary	1 tsp dried (1.2g)	4
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Grilled Lamb Kebabs + Tzatziki