Name: Slow Cooker Jambalaya Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Yield: 8+ servings
Ingredients: 1 lb. cooked ham, cut into bite-size pieces; 1 large onion, chopped; 1 large bell pepper, seeded and chopped (any color); 1 1/2 cups chopped celery; 4 cloves garlic, minced; 28 oz. can diced tomatoes; 5 cups chicken broth; 2 Tb. olive oil; 1/4 cup chopped parsley; 1 Tb. fresh thyme leaves; 1 1/2 tsp. salt; 3/4 tsp. ground pepper; 1/4 - 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper; 1 1/2 lbs. raw shrimp; 2 cups long grain rice

Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. 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.

Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,076 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Celery + tomatotop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,377 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together16,012 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, onion, pepper, celery, garlic, tomato, chicken):

Thymefits better
Parsleyfits better
Basilfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, onion, pepper, celery, garlic, tomato, chicken. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Pork	100g cooked	242
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Shrimp	100g cooked	99
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Slow Cooker Jambalaya Recipe