Name: Potato and Yam Soup with Bacon and Spinach
Yield: Makes 4 to 6 main-course servings
Ingredients: 6 slices applewood-smoked bacon (about 6 ounces), cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces; 1 large onion, chopped; 2 garlic cloves, pressed; 1 teaspoon dried thyme; 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice; 1 10-ounce yam (red-skinned sweet potato), peeled, quartered lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/3-inch-thick slices; 2 medium yukon gold potatoes (about 10 ounces), quartered lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/3-inch-thick slices; 2 medium red-skinned potatoes (about 10 ounces), quartered lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/3-inch-thick slices; 4 to 5 cups low-salt chicken broth; 1 5-to 6-ounce package baby spinach

Why it works: Yam and potato work together. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 117 recipes mention both. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

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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.

Yam + potatotop 4% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together117 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together29,030 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Yam + sweet potatotop 1% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together99 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Onion + potatotop 2% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together9,019 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Garlic + tomatotop 2% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together14,075 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the sweet potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, garlic, thyme, tomato, yam, potato, chicken):

Okrabetter flavor fit
Capsicumbetter flavor fit
Broccolibetter flavor fit
Sweet potatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, garlic, thyme, tomato, yam, potato, chicken. 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).

Potato and Yam Soup with Bacon and Spinach

The recipe

Ingredients

Directions

Explore the science

The flavor team

Flavor stand-ins for the sweet potato