Name: Icelandic Meat Soup
Ingredients: 600 g (1 lb 8 oz) lamb meat of a shoulder or leg, without bones and fat salt and pepper; 3-4 large potatoes; 1 leek; 3 carrots; 1 yellow turnip (rutabaga); 80 g (3 oz) root celery; ½ cup rice; 2-3 tbsp chopped herbs (parsley, chives, spring onion)

Why it works: Leek and turnip match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,046 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Icelandic Meat Soup

Time60 minutes

Ingredients

600 g (1 lb 8 oz) lamb meat of a shoulder or leg, without bones and fat salt and pepper
3-4 large potatoes
1 leek
3 carrots
1 yellow turnip (rutabaga)
80 g (3 oz) root celery
½ cup rice
2-3 tbsp chopped herbs (parsley, chives, spring onion)

Directions

Prepare

Cut meat into small cubes.
Heat 1 quart water to a boil, add meat and a few of the bones, and bring to a boil again.
Wash the meat, water, and bones in a clean sink.

Simmer the broth

Place meat, bones, and 1 ½ quart water into a large, clean pan.
Bring to the boil, skim, and cook at a moderate heat for about 60 minutes.
Remove bones and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Add vegetables and rice

Clean vegetables, cut into pieces, and add to the pot.
Bring to boil, skim, add rice, and cook for 20 minutes.
Season to taste with salt and pepper if needed.

Serve

Add herbs to the soup just before it is served.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

778Calories

37 gProtein

22 gFat

109 gCarbs

Counts 11 of 13 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 11 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Lamb	100g cooked	294
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Turnip	1 medium (122g)	34
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Chive	1 tbsp (3g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Meat	not in our table	0
Rutabaga	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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.

Leek + turniptop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,046 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together10,173 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together8,002 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,418 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Leek + carrottop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,310 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Lamb meat: Releases savory flavor and collagen into the broth while its meat turns tender.
Potatoes: Their starch softens during cooking and gives the soup body.
Rice: Its starch slightly thickens the broth as it cooks.
Carrots: Add natural sweetness and color to the broth.
Leek: Adds a mild, onion-like aroma to the broth.
Yellow turnip (rutabaga): Adds mild sweetness and a firm texture that holds up during simmering.

The step that matters

Skimming and a moderate simmer. Skimming foam as the liquid comes to a boil removes impurities, keeping the broth clean-tasting and clear. Cooking at a moderate heat, rather than a hard boil, keeps the meat tender and the broth from turning cloudy.

Swap the rutabaga

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lamb, potato, leek, carrot, turnip, celery, rice):

Parsnipfits better
Lettucefits better
Asparagusfits better
Rutabagathe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lamb, potato, leek, carrot, turnip, celery, rice. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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Icelandic Meat Soup