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Chicken Cheddar Quinoa Bites

A delicious and kid-friendly, protein-packed dish perfect for the lunch box

By tastykitchen · From Open Recipes · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Quinoa and chicken work together. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 143 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-octenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 12
Prep10 min
Cook25 min

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk (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.

  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and set out a 12-cup muffin tin.

  2. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, salt and hot sauce until smooth.

  3. Add the cooked quinoa, shredded chicken, thawed peas and shredded cheddar to the bowl and stir until evenly combined.

  4. Divide the mixture among the 12 muffin cups, pressing it down firmly so each cup is packed.

  5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the eggs are set, the cheese is golden and the centers reach 165°F (74°C).

  6. Let the bites cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then loosen the edges with a knife and lift them out.

By tastykitchen. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

  1. Quinoa + chickentop 7% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together143 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-octenal (fatty, green).

  2. Chicken + cheddar cheesetop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,312 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Chicken + peastop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,528 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  4. Peas + cheddar cheesetop 7% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together183 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Quinoa + peastop 8% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together26 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-octenal (fatty, green).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the peas

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (quinoa, chicken, cheddar cheese, egg, sauce):

  1. Beansbetter flavor fit
  2. Sesamebetter flavor fit
  3. Peanutabout as good a flavor fit
  4. Peasthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against quinoa, chicken, cheddar cheese, egg, sauce. 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).