Why it works: Pumpkin and chicken work together. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and 700 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,3-pentanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 8Ingredients
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.
Stir together the pumpkin puree and mayonnaise in a bowl, then season with a pinch of the salt and a pinch of the black pepper. Cover and refrigerate until serving.
Mix the remaining salt, black pepper, chili powder, cumin, pumpkin pie spice and cayenne pepper in a small bowl.
Pat the chicken breasts dry and cut them into thin strips. Toss the strips with the spice mixture until evenly coated.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken in a single layer, turning once, for 5 to 7 minutes until it reaches 165°F (74°C) in the thickest part.
Warm the flour tortillas in a dry skillet over medium heat for about 30 seconds per side, or until soft and pliable.
Add the diced apples to the same skillet and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until just softened, stirring often.
Spread pumpkin mayo over each tortilla. Fill with chicken, apples, baby arugula and crumbled feta cheese.
Fold or roll each taco and serve right away.
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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Pumpkin + chickentop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together700 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Pepper + cumintop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together4,382 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
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Cumin + chickentop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,937 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Cumin + flourtop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,196 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Chicken + feta cheesetop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together247 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl butyrate (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the arugula
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pumpkin, pepper, cumin, chicken, flour, apple, feta cheese):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Tomatobetter flavor fit
- Spinachbetter flavor fit
- Arugulathe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pumpkin, pepper, cumin, chicken, flour, apple, feta cheese. 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).
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