Name: Chicken Verde Tacos
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 50 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 1 Tablespoon FOR THE SALSA VERDE:; 1 pound Vegetable Oil; 1 whole Tomatillos, Husks Removed And Cut In Half; 2 cloves Medium Onion, Chopped; 1 whole Garlic, Minced; 1 whole Serrano Chili Pepper (with Or Without Seeds, Based On Preference), Finely Diced; 1 cup Poblano Chili Pepper, Washed And Sees Removed, Diced; 1 cup Chicken Broth; 1 teaspoon Water; 2 Tablespoons Salt; 2 Tablespoons Chopped Cilantro; 1-½ pound Lime Juice; ½ teaspoons FOR THE CHICKEN TACOS:; ½ teaspoons Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts; 1 teaspoon Salt; 1-½ cup Pepper; 8 whole Cumin; 1 cup Salsa Verde

Why it works: Lime and cumin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,216 recipes mention both. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

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.

Lime + cumintop 1% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together1,216 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together5,082 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Pepper + limetop 2% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together3,491 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Clove + cumintop 4% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together1,306 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, garlic, pepper, chicken, lime, cumin):

Corianderbetter flavor fit
Turmericbetter flavor fit
Oreganobetter flavor fit
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, garlic, pepper, chicken, lime, cumin. 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).

Chicken Verde Tacos