Name: Chilled Chicken with Dill Sauce
Ingredients: 8 x boneless chicken breast *; 1/2 cup italian salad dressing (diet; 2 tbsp water; 1 tbsp lime juice; 1 tbsp white wine vinegar; 1 x clove garlic, crushed; 8 x lime wedges; dill sauce; 1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt; 1/4 cup low-fat cottage cheese; 1 1/2 tbsp lime juice; 1 1/2 tbsp chopped green onion; 1/2 tbsp dried whole dillweed; 1/8 tbsp white pepper

Why it works: Lime and dill match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 106 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. 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.

Lime + dilltop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together106 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Lime + clovetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together909 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Lime + garlictop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,411 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Chicken + garlictop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,850 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).
Clove + dilltop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together187 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken breast: Provides the lean protein that is flattened so it cooks evenly and quickly on the grill.
Italian salad dressing: Its oil and acid flavour the chicken and help keep the surface moist during marinating.
Lime juice: Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and tenderises the surface of the chicken.
Plain low-fat yogurt: Gives the dill sauce a creamy, tangy body with acidity that balances the herbs.
Cottage cheese: Adds body and creaminess to the dill sauce.
Dried dillweed: Provides the herbal aroma that defines the dill sauce.

The step that matters

Discarding the marinade and grilling over medium coals. The marinade has contacted raw chicken, so it is discarded rather than served. Medium heat for a set time lets the thin chicken cook through and brown without drying out at the surface.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, lime, white wine, vinegar, garlic, dill, sauce):

Tarragonfits better
Corianderfits better
Thymefits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, lime, white wine, vinegar, garlic, dill, sauce. 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
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Cottage Cheese	1/2 cup (113g) 2%	98
Green Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Lime	juice of 1 lime (44ml)	11
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salad Dressing	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0
Sauce	not in our table	0

Chilled Chicken with Dill Sauce