Name: Beetroot, Bacon & Spring Onions
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 5 min
Yield: Serves 6 with leftovers
Ingredients: 900g cooked and peeled beetroot; 1 bunch spring onions , sliced on the diagonal; 100g cubetti di pancetta or diced streaky bacon rashers; 1 tsp olive oil; 200ml tub crème fraîche; 2-3 tbsp freshly grated horseradish , or horseradish sauce from a jar; juice ½ lemon

Why it works: Beetroot and horseradish match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 209 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Beetroot, Bacon & Spring Onions

Serves 6 with leftovers

Prep15 min

Cook5 min

Ingredients

900g cooked and peeled beetroot
1 bunch spring onions , sliced on the diagonal
100g cubetti di pancetta or diced streaky bacon rashers
1 tsp olive oil
200ml tub crème fraîche
2-3 tbsp freshly grated horseradish , or horseradish sauce from a jar
juice ½ lemon

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

218Calories

5 gProtein

17 gFat

14 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 7 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bacon	1 slice cooked (8g)	43
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Beetroot	not in our table	0
Horseradish	not in our table	0
Sauce	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.

Beetroot + horseradishtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together209 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Onion + horseradishtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,784 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Olive + lemontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,922 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Beetroot + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,261 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + olivetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together29,779 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beetroot, onion, olive, horseradish):

Avocadofits better
Limefits better
Cherryfits about as well
Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beetroot, onion, olive, horseradish. 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.