Name: Chicken Potatoes Gravy
Ingredients: 1 whole chicken; 4 medium potatoes; 2 cups chicken broth; Salt to taste; Pepper to taste; 2 tablespoons butter

Why it works: Chicken and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,756 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-decenal, which smells green, must. The science ↓

Chicken Potatoes Gravy

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Cook the chicken

Boil the chicken in a pot of water until cooked through, about 30-40 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the pot and reserve the broth.
Let the chicken cool before shredding the meat.
Shred the cooled chicken meat.

Make the potatoes

Peel the potatoes.
Dice the peeled potatoes.
Add the diced potatoes to the reserved broth and cook until tender.

Combine and serve

In a separate pan, melt the butter.
Add the shredded chicken to the melted butter and cook until heated through.
Combine the chicken with the potatoes and broth.
Season the mixture with salt and pepper.
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.

Chicken + potatotop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,756 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-decenal (green, must).
Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,305 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,456 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Chicken + buttertop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together13,902 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Chicken + peppertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,958 recipes

Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken: Provides the main protein and meat that is shredded and reheated in butter.
Potatoes: Become tender in the broth, adding starch that thickens and gives body to the dish.
Chicken broth: Cooks the potatoes and carries flavour through the finished dish as the gravy base.
Butter: Adds fat and richness when the shredded chicken is heated in it.