Name: Crab Orleans Casserole
Ingredients: 1/2 cup chopped onion; 1/2 cup chopped celery; 1/2 cup chopped green pepper; 2 tablespoons butter or margarine; 1 10-3/4-ounce can condensed cream of mushroom soup; 1/2 cup chicken broth; 3 cups cooked rice; 1 pound lump crab meat; 2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped; 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning; 1 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper; 1 tablespoon lemon juice; 1 3-ounce can French fried onions (optional); Tartar sauce (optional)

Why it works: Mushroom and chicken are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,172 recipes. Both carry 1-butyl acetate, which smells fruity, banana. 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.

Mushroom + chickentop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,172 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-butyl acetate (fruity, banana).
Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together16,012 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Chicken + ricetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,769 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,525 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,518 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Lump crab meat: Provides the main seafood flavor and tender, flaky texture as the centerpiece of the casserole.
Cooked rice: Adds bulk and a soft, absorbent body that holds the creamy sauce together.
Condensed cream of mushroom soup: Forms the creamy binding sauce that moistens the rice and crab and carries the savory flavor.
Chicken broth: Thins the soup base and adds moisture and savory depth to the filling.
Hard-cooked eggs: Add richness and help bind the filling as they set during baking.
Butter: Softens the vegetables and adds fat and rich flavor to the base.

The step that matters

Bake until hot and bubbly. The casserole must heat through fully so the eggs in the filling are set and the dish is safe to eat. Underbaking leaves the center loose and watery, while overbaking can dry out the rice and crab.

Swap the onion

The recipe marks onion as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (celery, pepper, butter, cream, mushroom, chicken, rice):

Potatofits better
Capsicumfits about as well
Spinachfits about as well
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against celery, pepper, butter, cream, mushroom, chicken, rice. 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
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Shrimp	100g cooked	99
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Mushroom	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Soup	not in our table	0
Meat	not in our table	0
Sauce	not in our table	0

Crab Orleans Casserole