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Chili Chicken I

Sautéed chicken strips with bell peppers, onions, cumin, oregano, and chili, finished with lemon juice and parsley.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Cumin and oregano match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 983 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Chili Chicken I

Time10 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the vegetables

  1. Heat 1 tablespoon of virgin olive oil in a large non‑stick skillet over medium heat. Add 2 cloves of minced garlic and cook for 1 minute.

  2. Add the sliced bell pepper strips, sliced onions, 1 teaspoon of ground cumin, 1 ½ teaspoons of leaf oregano, and 2 teaspoons of fresh hot chili pepper or 1 teaspoon of dried hot pepper flakes. Mix well.

  3. Cover the skillet and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes.

Add the chicken and finish

  1. Slice the 12 ounces of skinned, boneless chicken breasts into ½‑inch strips and sprinkle with 3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice.

  2. Add the chicken to the skillet with the vegetables and stir.

  3. Cover and cook over medium heat for an additional 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

  4. Add ¼ teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon of black pepper, then garnish with 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley.

  5. Serve.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

403Calories
35 gProtein
19 gFat
26 gCarbs

Counts 12 of 13 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Chicken100g cooked165
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Oregano1 tsp dried (1.8g)5
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Leafnot in our table0

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.

  1. Cumin + oreganotop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together983 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,082 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Garlic + oreganotop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,756 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 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 breasts
Provides the main protein, which firms up as it cooks through over medium heat.
Bell peppers
Add sweetness and soften during covered cooking, adding moisture and body to the dish.
Onions
Soften and turn sweet as they cook, building a savory base for the dish.
Garlic
Adds pungent aroma that mellows as it cooks briefly in the hot oil.
Fresh lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the flavor of the chicken and vegetables.

The step that matters

Covered cooking of the chicken with the vegetables. Cooking the chicken too long or at too high a heat can make it dry and tough, while the vegetables need enough covered time to soften. Stirring occasionally helps the pieces cook evenly.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, garlic, pepper, onion, cumin, oregano, chicken):

  1. Limefits better
  2. Avocadofits better
  3. Lemonthe original
  4. Cherryfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, garlic, pepper, onion, cumin, oregano, chicken. 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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