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Peggy's Broccoli Casserole

"I made this recipe by taking two other recipes, then adding and subtracting with my own ingredients. I took it to a friends and family picnic, and everyone loved it."

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Why it works: Broccoli and onion match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 3,292 recipes mention both. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

The recipe

6 servings
Prep10 min
Cook40 min

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

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

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Spread the finished mixture in a 9x13-inch baking dish once it is ready.

  2. Place the frozen broccoli in a pan of boiling water for 3 minutes, then drain well and pat dry with paper towels.

  3. In a large bowl, beat the softened cream cheese, eggs, cream of chicken soup, bacon ranch dressing, sour cream, mayonnaise and flour until smooth.

  4. Stir in the chopped onion and most of the shredded Cheddar cheese, reserving a handful for the top.

  5. Fold the drained broccoli into the cheese mixture until evenly coated, then spread it evenly in the baking dish.

  6. Toss the stuffing mix with the melted butter and scatter it over the top along with the reserved Cheddar.

  7. Bake uncovered for 35 to 40 minutes, until bubbling and the center reaches 160°F (71°C) and the eggs are set.

  8. Let the casserole rest for 5 minutes before serving.

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. Broccoli + oniontop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together3,292 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Chicken + oniontop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together17,808 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  3. Cream cheese + ranchtop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together63 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

  4. Cream cheese + creamtop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together1,087 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

  5. Cream + ranchtop 8% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together19 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (broccoli, cream cheese, egg, cream, chicken, ranch, flour):

  1. Potatobetter flavor fit
  2. Chiveabout as good a flavor fit
  3. Spinachabout as good a flavor fit
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against broccoli, cream cheese, egg, cream, chicken, ranch, flour. 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).