Name: Russian Mushroom and Potato Soup
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Yield: 12 servings
Ingredients: 5 tablespoons butter, divided; 2 leeks, chopped; 2 large carrots, sliced; 6 cups chicken broth; 2 teaspoons dried dill weed; 2 teaspoons salt; 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper; 1 bay leaf; 2 pounds potatoes, peeled and diced; 1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced; 1 cup half-and-half; 1/4 cup all-purpose flour; fresh dill weed, for garnish (optional)

Why it works: Carrot and dill match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 321 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. 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.

Carrot + dilltop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together321 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Leek + carrottop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,310 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together423 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,172 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-butyl acetate (fruity, banana).
Carrot + potatotop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,107 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

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

Swap the dill

The recipe marks dill as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, leek, carrot, chicken, pepper, potato, mushroom):

Thymefits better
Parsleyfits better
Marjoramfits better
Dillthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, leek, carrot, chicken, pepper, potato, mushroom. 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
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Mushrooms	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Bay Leaf	1 leaf (0.6g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Russian Mushroom and Potato Soup