Name: Watercress Soup
Yield: Makes 10 servings
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter; 1 medium yellow onion, chopped; 2 quarts low-salt chicken broth; 1 pound russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2" cubes; 4 bunches watercress (about 2 pounds), tough stems trimmed, chopped (about 20 cups); 1 1/2 teaspoons (or more) fresh lemon juice; Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper; 1/2 cup chilled heavy cream; 3 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh chives, divided

Why it works: Watercress and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 579 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Watercress Soup

Makes 10 servings

Ingredients

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 quarts low-salt chicken broth
1 pound russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2" cubes
4 bunches watercress (about 2 pounds), tough stems trimmed, chopped (about 20 cups)
1 1/2 teaspoons (or more) fresh lemon juice
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chilled heavy cream
3 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh chives, divided

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

546Calories

39 gProtein

21 gFat

53 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 10 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Watercress	1 cup (34g)	4
Chives	1 tbsp (3g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By epicurious. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

Watercress + lemontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together579 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together27,047 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Potato + watercresstop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together170 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Chicken + potatotop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,756 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-decenal (green, must).

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

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, onion, chicken, potato, watercress, pepper, cream):

Avocadofits better
Lemonthe original
Limefits about as well
Coconutfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, onion, chicken, potato, watercress, pepper, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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