Why it works: Butter and cream match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 41,494 recipes mention both. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
The recipe
6 servingsIngredients
Contains: 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.
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken cubes and cook, stirring, 6 to 8 minutes until golden and cooked through to 165°F (74°C) in the thickest piece. Transfer the chicken and any juices to a plate.
Reduce the heat to medium. Sprinkle the flour into the pan drippings and stir constantly for 1 minute.
Slowly whisk in the chicken broth, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in the ketchup and simmer about 5 minutes until slightly thickened.
Stir in the heavy cream and simmer gently for about 5 minutes. Do not let it boil hard.
Return the chicken and its juices to the sauce and simmer 3 to 5 minutes until heated through and the sauce is smooth.
Wrap the flour tortillas in foil and warm them in the oven for about 10 minutes, or warm each one in a dry skillet for 20 seconds per side.
Serve the chicken in the cream sauce with the warm tortillas on the side.
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.
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Butter + creamtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together41,494 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + flourtop 6% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together122,858 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Chicken + buttertop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together13,869 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Flour + ketchuptop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,426 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Cream + ketchuptop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together279 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Butter and flour share little aroma chemistry, yet 122,858 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
The Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
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