Turkey Cheese Soup

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. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
   Smell alikestrong
   Cooked together10,173 recipes

   Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

2. Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together21,601 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

3. Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together18,518 recipes

   Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

4. Butter + cheddar cheesetop 8% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together2,436 recipes

   Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

5. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together124,287 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Butter

Fat that softens the vegetables and forms the base for the flour.

Flour

Thickens the broth and half & half into a smooth, creamy base.

Turkey or chicken broth

Forms the liquid body of the soup.

Half & half

Adds richness and creaminess, and thickens with the flour as it cooks.

Cheddar cheese

Melts into the soup to add flavor and a smooth, rich texture.

The step that matters

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, carrot, celery, butter, flour, turkey, cheddar cheese):

1. Parsleyfits better
2. Thymefits better
3. Turmericfits better
4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, carrot, celery, butter, flour, turkey, cheddar cheese. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.