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Chili IV

"My mother was given this recipe by a friend years ago. I've made it for many occasions...perfect for Super Bowl parties (Go Rams!) or taking to work. I have yet to prepare it without getting multiple requests for the recipe. It's a great recipe to freeze or make ahead -- it tastes great the second day!"

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Cumin and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 3,272 recipes mention both. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

The recipe

8 servings
Cook45 min

Ingredients

Directions

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

  1. Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef, break it up, and cook about 8 minutes until browned. Season with the salt and black pepper, then drain off excess fat.

  2. Stir in the chili powder and ground cumin and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.

  3. Stir in the condensed French onion soup, tomato paste, tomato sauce and unsweetened cocoa, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.

  4. Pour in the cola-flavored carbonated beverage and stir well to combine.

  5. Rinse and drain the kidney beans, then add them to the pot and stir.

  6. Bring the chili to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Partly cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened.

  7. Check that the ground beef reaches 160°F (71°C) in the thickest part before serving. Adjust the seasoning to taste and serve hot.

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. Cumin + tomatotop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together3,272 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Beef + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together17,091 recipes

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

  3. Beef + tomatotop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together5,445 recipes

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

  4. Pepper + tomatotop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together17,913 recipes

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

  5. Cumin + kidney beanstop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together349 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the cocoa

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, onion, cumin, pepper, tomato, sauce, kidney beans):

  1. Beansbetter flavor fit
  2. Lima beansbetter flavor fit
  3. Chickpeabetter flavor fit
  4. Cocoathe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, onion, cumin, pepper, tomato, sauce, kidney beans. 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).