Name: Best-ever Chunky Guacamole
Prep time: 10 min
Yield: Serves 8
Ingredients: 1 large ripe tomato; 3 avocados , very ripe but not bruised; juice 1 large lime; handful coriander , leaves and stalks chopped, plus a few leaves, roughly chopped, to serve; 1 small red onion , finely chopped; 1 chilli , red or green, deseeded and finely chopped; tortilla chips , to serve

Why it works: Lime and coriander match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,536 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Best-ever Chunky Guacamole

Serves 8

Prep10 min

Ingredients

1 large ripe tomato
3 avocados , very ripe but not bruised
juice 1 large lime
handful coriander , leaves and stalks chopped, plus a few leaves, roughly chopped, to serve
1 small red onion , finely chopped
1 chilli , red or green, deseeded and finely chopped
tortilla chips , to serve

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

457Calories

9 gProtein

26 gFat

56 gCarbs

Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 5 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Avocado	1 medium (150g)	240
Tortilla Chip	1 medium flour (45g)	140
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Lime	juice of 1 lime (44ml)	11
Coriander	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By bbcgoodfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

Lime + coriandertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,536 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Avocado + limetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,117 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Avocado + coriandertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,094 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Tomato + coriandertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,967 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Tomato + avocadotop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,385 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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 (tomato, avocado, lime, coriander):

Capsicumfits better
Cucumberfits better
Lettucefits better
Onionthe original

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

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.