Name: Feel Better Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients: egg noodles; 1-2 cup frozen peas; spinach (optional); 1-1.5 cup dry white wine or vermouth; carrots (baby or sliced); 2 box low sodium chicken broth; chicken bouillon cubes (optional); 1 bay leaf (for herb bouquet); 1 teaspoon dried thyme (for herb bouquet); 4 whole cloves or allspice berries (for herb bouquet); 3 clove large smashed unpeeled garlic (for herb bouquet); celery; 1 onion; Italian parsley; 8 bone-in chicken thighs; water; salt; black pepper; garlic powder; dried thyme (for seasoning); red pepper flakes (optional); crusty bread (optional); potatoes (optional)

Why it works: Thyme and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,108 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. 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.

Thyme + clovetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,108 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Carrot + thymetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,563 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Carrot + clovetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,873 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Spinach + carrottop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together870 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Spinach + thymetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together431 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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

Swap the spinach

The recipe marks spinach as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, peas, white wine, carrot, chicken, thyme, clove):

Leekfits better
Shallotfits better
Capsicumfits about as well
Spinachthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, peas, white wine, carrot, chicken, thyme, clove. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Pea	1/2 cup (72g)	62
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Spinach	1 cup raw (30g)	7
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Allspice	1 tsp ground (1.9g)	5
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Vermouth	not in our table	0
Laurel	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0
Capsicum	not in our table	0

Feel Better Chicken Noodle Soup