Name: Dilly Rice Muffins
Ingredients: 1 cup flour; 1 tbsp sugar; 1 tbsp baking powder; 1 egg; 1/2 cup lowfat milk; 2 tbsp vegetable oil; 1/4 cup rice, cooked; 2 tbsp green onion (scallion); -minced; 2 tbsp parsley leaves, freshly; -minced -or-; 2 tbsp parsley flakes, dried; 2 tbsp dill weed, freshly minced; --or-; 2 tsp dried dill

Why it works: Parsley and dill match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 669 recipes. Both carry p-mentha-1,3,8-triene, which smells camphor, herbal. The science ↓

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.

Parsley + dilltop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together669 recipes

Shared aroma: p-mentha-1,3,8-triene (camphor, herbal).
Milk + ricetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,374 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,843 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Rice + oniontop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,433 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Rice + parsleytop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,762 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Flour: Provides the main structure that holds the muffin together as it bakes.
Egg: Binds the batter and adds structure and richness as it sets.
Baking powder: Releases gas during baking, lifting the batter so the muffins rise.
Lowfat milk: Adds moisture and hydrates the flour to form the batter.
Vegetable oil: Adds fat for a tender crumb and moist texture.
Cooked rice: Adds bulk and a soft, slightly chewy texture to the crumb.

The step that matters

Mix just until the batter is blended. Overmixing develops gluten in the flour, which makes muffins tough and tunnelled. Stopping once the flour is just combined keeps them tender.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, egg, milk, rice, parsley, dill):

Shallotfits better
Carrotfits better
Potatofits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, egg, milk, rice, parsley, dill. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1

Dilly Rice Muffins