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Baked Potato Dip

"I got this recipe from a former co-worker. It is so easy and so good! Makes a great potato topper as well! Serve with potato chips."

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Why it works: Cheddar cheese and onion match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 3,669 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

The recipe

4 cups
Prep5 min

Ingredients

Contains: milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. In a large bowl, add the sour cream and stir until smooth and loosened.

  2. Add the shredded Cheddar cheese and stir until evenly combined.

  3. Fold in the bacon bits and chopped green onions, reserving a small pinch of each for garnish if you like.

  4. Transfer the dip to a serving bowl, sprinkle with the reserved bacon bits and green onions, cover, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving cold.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Cheddar cheese + oniontop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together3,669 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Cream + cheddar cheesetop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together1,034 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Cream + oniontop 9% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together10,826 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

Cream and onion share little aroma chemistry, yet 10,826 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

Flavor stand-ins for the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, cheddar cheese):

  1. Potatobetter flavor fit
  2. Onionthe original
  3. Chiveabout as good a flavor fit

Fit is the average pairing score against cream, cheddar cheese. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).