Why it works: Ketchup and sauce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,099 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Coca-Cola Chicken I
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the sauce
Put jam and ketchup in a bowl and mix well with a spoon.
Add Coca-Cola, garlic powder, soy sauce, and onion soup powder, then mix with a spoon.
Bake and serve
Put the chicken in a casserole dish and pour the mixture over it.
Cover the casserole dish and bake at 350°F for 1 ½ hours.
Remove the cover and bake the chicken uncovered for another ½ hour.
Serve with rice.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 100g cooked | 165 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Tomato | 1 medium (123g) | 22 |
| Apricot | 1 medium (35g) | 17 |
| Soy Sauce | 1 tbsp (15ml) | 9 |
| Garlic | 1 clove (3g) | 4 |
| Soup | 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.
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.
-
Ketchup + saucetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,099 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together29,058 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
-
Chicken + garlictop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,850 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).
-
Chicken + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,814 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
-
Apricot + garlictop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together260 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chicken
- Provides the main protein; long covered baking keeps the meat moist and tender.
- Apricot jam
- Adds sweetness and body to the sauce and helps it caramelise and brown in the oven.
- Ketchup
- Adds tomato acidity and sweetness, giving the sauce depth and a glossy finish.
- Coca-cola
- Adds sugar and acidity that sweeten the sauce and help it thicken and darken as it reduces.
- Soy sauce
- Adds salty, savoury depth that balances the sweetness of the jam and cola.
- Onion soup powder
- Supplies salt and savoury onion flavour to season the chicken and sauce.
The step that matters
Uncovering for the final half hour. Covered baking traps steam and keeps the sauce thin, so removing the cover lets moisture evaporate and the sugars in the jam and cola caramelise into a thicker, browned glaze.
Swap the apricot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, ketchup, garlic, sauce, onion):
- Avocadofits better
- Limefits better
- Lemonfits better
- Apricotthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, ketchup, garlic, sauce, onion. 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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