Name: Chili Beans
Ingredients: 3 cups uncooked pinto beans; 1-2 lbs pork; 1-2 lbs beef; 1 large onion; 1-2 sticks prepared chili (about ¼ to ½ cup); 1 tablespoon chili powder; 2-3 quarts tomatoes, pureed; 4 tablespoons shortening

Why it works: Beans and tomato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,713 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Chili Beans

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the beans

Cook the beans in water until tender.

Make the chili

In a skillet, fry the onion and meat in shortening until well done.
Melt the chili in bean broth or hot water until smooth.
Add the pureed tomatoes to the meat and bring to a boil.
Stir in the melted chili and chili powder, and cook for a few minutes.
Combine the meat mixture with the beans and let simmer for a few minutes.
Serve hot.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

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 + tomatotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,713 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Pork + beeftop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,690 recipes

Shared aroma: 12-methyltridecanal (tallowy, beefy).
Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,092 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Beans + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,242 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,448 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

What each ingredient does

Pinto beans: Form the bulk of the dish and soften into a tender base that absorbs the sauce.
Pork and beef: Provide savory richness and a meaty texture once fried until well done.
Tomatoes: Supply acidity and liquid, forming the body of the chili sauce.
Prepared chili: Adds concentrated chili flavor and depth to the sauce once melted smooth.
Shortening: Carries heat for frying the onion and meat, adding fat and richness.