Name: Grilled Cilantro Pesto Chicken Sandwiches
Prep time: 2 h
Cook time: 10 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 2 Tablespoons Pine Nuts, Coarsely Chopped; 2 cloves Garlic, Peeled; 1-½ cup Loosely Packed Fresh Cilantro Leaves And Tender Stems; ½ cups Loosely Packed Fresh Italian Parsley Leaves And Tender Stems; 1 dash Salt And Pepper, to taste; ¼ cups Extra Virgin Olive Oil; 2 pounds Sliced Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast (cut Into Tender Sized Pieces That Will Fit Onto Skewers); 6 whole Sandwich Buns; 6 slices Mozzarella (or Sub 1 Cup Shredded For The 6 Slices); ¼ cups Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese; 6 slices Tomato, (optional Baked Or Fresh)

Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. 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.

Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Garlic + olivetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Garlic + parsleytop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,308 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,062 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

Swap the nuts

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pine, clove, garlic, parsley, pepper, olive, chicken):

Chickpeafits better
Cashew nutfits better
Lentilsfits better
Nutsthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pine, clove, garlic, parsley, pepper, olive, chicken. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Pine Nut	1 oz (28g)	191
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Parmesan Cheese	1 oz (28g)	110
Mozzarella Cheese	1 oz (28g)	85
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Grilled Cilantro Pesto Chicken Sandwiches