Name: Hot Pot
Ingredients: potatoes; cooked meat; onions; 1 cup gravy

Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Hot Pot

Ingredients

potatoes
cooked meat
onions
1 cup gravy

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Assemble

Layer cut potatoes in the bottom of an oven-safe dish.
Add a layer of any kind of cooked meat.
Add a layer of chopped onions and pour 1 cup of good gravy over them.
Fill the dish with more potatoes.

Bake

Cover with greased paper and bake at 300°F (150°C) for 9 hours.

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.

Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Potato + meattop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together786 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Meat + oniontop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together6,364 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Potatoes: Form the bulk of the casserole and soften into a starchy, tender layer during baking.
Cooked meat: Adds savory flavor and substance to the layers.
Onions: Contribute sweetness and aroma as they soften in the gravy and oven heat.
Gravy: Provides moisture and seasoning that keeps the layers from drying out during long baking.

The step that matters

Cover with greased paper and bake at 300°F (150°C) for 9 hours. A long, low bake lets potatoes cook through gently and the gravy meld with the layers. The greased paper traps moisture while preventing sticking, so the dish stays tender rather than dry.