Name: Loaded Broccoli Cheese and Bacon Soup
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 3 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth; 1 cup Peeled And Chopped Carrots, Diced Small; 1 cup Chopped Celery, Diced Small; 3 cups Peeled And Chopped Potatoes, Diced Small; ½ cups Finely Chopped Onion; 5 cups Broccoli Crowns, Diced Small (about 2 Heads Of Broccoli); 5 strips Bacon, Chopped; 3 Tablespoons Butter; ⅓ cups Flour; 3 cups Milk; 4 cups Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese (about 16 Ounces); 1 teaspoon Salt; ½ teaspoons Pepper; 1 teaspoon Dried Mustard

Why it works: Carrot and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. 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 + celerytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together10,173 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,107 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Potato + broccolitop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together910 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Carrot + broccolitop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,442 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).

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

Swap the broccoli

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, carrot, celery, potato, onion, butter, flour):

Leekfits better
Chivefits better
Parsnipfits better
Broccolithe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, carrot, celery, potato, onion, butter, flour. 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
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Cheddar Cheese	1 oz (28g)	113
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Broccoli	1 cup chopped (156g)	55
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bacon	1 slice cooked (8g)	43
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Loaded Broccoli Cheese and Bacon Soup