Name: Cheating Swedish Meatballs
Ingredients: 1 can cream of mushroom soup; 1/2 can milk; 1 bag frozen meatballs; 1 package egg noodles, cooked

Why it works: Mushroom and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,231 recipes. Both carry 1-hexanal, which smells fruit. The science ↓

Cheating Swedish Meatballs

Ingredients

1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 can milk
1 bag frozen meatballs
1 package egg noodles, cooked

Directions

Make the sauce

In a saucepan, mix soup with milk.
Once that is creamy, add the frozen meatballs.

Cook and serve

Cover and cook until meatballs are heated through.
Serve over cooked egg noodles.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

293Calories

17 gProtein

19 gFat

15 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 6 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Mushroom	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Soup	not in our table	0
Meatball	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.

Mushroom + milktop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,231 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).
Cream + mushroomtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,500 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Cream + milktop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together29,399 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together88,785 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Mushroom + eggtop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,987 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Cream of mushroom soup: Forms the creamy sauce base and provides savory flavor and body.
Milk: Thins the soup into a smooth, pourable sauce.
Frozen meatballs: Provide the main protein and are warmed through in the sauce.
Egg noodles: Soak up the sauce and give the dish a starchy base to serve on.

“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.