Name: Shawna's Southern Fried Chicken Salad
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal; 1/3 cup all-purpose flour; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper; 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper; 1/2 cup buttermilk; 2/3 cup vegetable oil; 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves; 2 cups cooked white rice; 1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper; 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper; 1/4 cup chopped red onion; 1/2 head romaine lettuce - rinsed, dried and shredded; 5 slices bacon; 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar; 1 tablespoon honey; 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Why it works: Chicken and rice are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,769 recipes. Both carry (e,e)-2,4-decadienal, which smells fatty, deep fried. 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.

Chicken + ricetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,769 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Onion + lettucetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,562 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Rice + lettucetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together520 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Chicken + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,814 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Flour + buttermilktop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,721 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, pepper, buttermilk, chicken, rice, lettuce, apple cider vinegar):

Mustardfits better
Spinachfits better
Cucumberfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, pepper, buttermilk, chicken, rice, lettuce, apple cider vinegar. 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
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Honey	1 tbsp (21g)	64
Red Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bacon	1 slice cooked (8g)	43
Red Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Green Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Romaine Lettuce	1 cup shredded (36g)	5
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Shawna's Southern Fried Chicken Salad