Name: Carne Asada Steak Sandwich with Avocado Salad
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 10 min
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons cayenne pepper; 6 tablespoons paprika; 3 tablespoons ground black pepper; 1 tablespoon ground cumin; 3 tablespoons onion powder; 3 tablespoons garlic powder; 1 tablespoon ground allspice; 1 tablespoon ground dried thyme; 1/4 cup olive oil; 4 pounds flat iron steaks; 3 avocados - peeled, pitted, and cubed; 1/4 cup chopped green onions; 1 large red bell pepper, diced; 1 red onion, diced; 1/4 cup chopped cilantro; 2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped; 1/4 cup fresh lime juice; 2 tablespoons olive oil; sea salt and ground black pepper to taste; 2 (1 pound) French baguettes; 1/2 pound thinly sliced Cheddar cheese

Why it works: Allspice and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,077 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

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.

Allspice + thymetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,077 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Cumin + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,082 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Cumin + avocadotop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together415 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
Garlic + olivetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

Swap the allspice

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, cumin, onion, garlic, thyme, olive, avocado):

Oreganofits better
Corianderfits better
Parsleyfits better
Allspicethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, cumin, onion, garlic, thyme, olive, avocado. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Avocado	1 medium (150g)	240
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Cheddar Cheese	1 oz (28g)	113
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Lime	juice of 1 lime (44ml)	11
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Allspice	1 tsp ground (1.9g)	5
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Carne Asada Steak Sandwich with Avocado Salad