Name: Beet and Fennel Soup with Kefir
Yield: Makes 4 servings
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1 cup chopped onion; 1 cup chopped fennel bulb; 1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds; 2 large (2 1/2-to 3-inch-diameter) beets, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes; 2 cups low-salt chicken broth; 1 cup unflavored kefir; Additional unflavored kefir; Fennel fronds (for garnish)

Why it works: Chicken and kefir work together. They rank in the top 27% of all ingredient pairs, and 5 recipes mention both. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓

The recipe

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

Contains: milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped fennel bulb
1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds
2 large (2 1/2-to 3-inch-diameter) beets, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 cup unflavored kefir
Additional unflavored kefir
Fennel fronds (for garnish)

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

By epicurious. 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.

Chicken + kefirtop 27% of all pairs

Aroma overlaplow

Mentioned together5 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Onion + chickentop 4% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together17,808 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Olive + chickentop 4% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together10,796 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid hexyl ester (sweet, green).
Olive + fenneltop 5% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together1,262 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Olive + oniontop 5% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together26,431 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl butyrate (apple, fruity).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, fennel, chicken, kefir):

Tomatobetter flavor fit
Capsicumbetter flavor fit
Potatobetter flavor fit
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, fennel, chicken, kefir. 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).

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