Name: Maple Baked Beans
Yield: Makes 6 servings
Ingredients: 1 pound dried navy or great northern beans; 2 tablespoons brown sugar; 2 teaspoons salt; 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard; 2 tablespoons molasses; 1/4 cup ketchup; 1/2 cup pure maple syrup; 2 thick strips bacon

Why it works: Beans and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 852 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Maple Baked Beans

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

233Calories

4 gProtein

4 gFat

48 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Molasses	1 tbsp (20g)	58
Maple Syrup	1 tbsp (20ml)	52
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Bacon	1 slice cooked (8g)	43
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Bean	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 epicurious. 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.

Beans + mustardtop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together852 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together260 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,430 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Beans + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,733 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,225 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

Swap the beans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, pepper, mustard, molasses, ketchup, maple syrup):

Beansthe original
Walnutfits about as well
Chestnutfits about as well
Almondfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, pepper, mustard, molasses, ketchup, maple syrup. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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