Name: Root Vegetable Shepherd's Pie Recipe
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients: 2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cut into large dice; 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into large dice; 3/4 cup plain yogurt; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 10 ounces cremini mushrooms, cleaned, stemmed, and quartered; 1/2 medium yellow onion, medium dice; 2 medium carrots, medium dice; 1/2 medium celery root, medium dice; 2 tablespoons tomato paste; 1 teaspoon dried thyme; 2 cups; 2 tablespoons soy sauce; 3 tablespoons water; 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour; 1/2 cup frozen peas

Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. 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.

Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,107 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Pepper + carrottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,555 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Sweet potato + carrottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together302 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together21,601 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 sweet potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, yogurt, pepper, olive, mushroom, onion, carrot):

Tomatofits better
Capsicumfits better
Chivefits better
Sweet potatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, yogurt, pepper, olive, mushroom, onion, carrot. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Pea	1/2 cup (72g)	62
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Mushroom	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0

Root Vegetable Shepherd's Pie Recipe