Name: Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya
Yield: Makes 10 servings
Ingredients: 12 ounces applewood-smoked bacon, diced; 1 1/2 pounds smoked fully cooked sausage (such as linguiça), halved lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick semi-circles; 1 pound andouille sausages, quartered lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch cubes; 1/2 pound tasso or smoked ham (such as Black Forest), cut into 1/2-inch cubes; 1 1/2 pounds onions, chopped (4 to 5 cups); 2 large celery stalks, chopped; 1 8-to 10-ounce red bell pepper, coarsely chopped; 1 8-to 10-ounce green bell pepper, coarsely chopped; 6 large skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1- to 11/2-inch pieces; 2 tablespoons paprika; 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme; 1 tablespoon chili powder; 1/4 teaspoon (or more) cayenne pepper; 3 10-ounce cans diced tomatoes and green chiles; 2 1/2 cups beef broth; 3 cups (19 to 20 ounces) long-grain white rice; 8 green onions, chopped (about 2 cups); Chopped fresh Italian parsley

Why it works: Celery and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,193 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. 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.

Celery + thymetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,193 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,585 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Celery + tomatotop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,377 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Chicken + beeftop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,148 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Thyme + tomatotop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,370 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

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

Swap the onion

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

Carrotfits better
Capsicumfits better
Potatofits about as well
Onionthe original

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

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Sausage	100g cooked	301
Beef	100g cooked	250
Pork	100g cooked	242
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bacon	1 slice cooked (8g)	43
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Celery Stalks	1 stalk (40g)	6
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1

Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya