Name: Ham and Mushroom Skillet
Ingredients: 3/4 cup chopped onion; 1/3 cup diced green pepper; 1 8-ounce can sliced mushrooms, drained; 2 tablespoons butter or margarine; 2 10-3/4-ounce cans condensed cream of chicken soup; 2 cups diced cooked ham; 3 cups cooked rice; 1/4 cup diced pimiento; 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper; 1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

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).
Chicken + ricetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,769 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,525 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Onion + chickentop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,814 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Cream of chicken soup: Provides a creamy, saucy base that binds the rice and ham together.
Cheddar cheese: Melts over the top to add richness and a savory, gooey layer.
Cooked rice: Adds bulk and soaks up the sauce, giving the skillet a hearty texture.
Butter: Softens the onion, green pepper and mushrooms and adds richness.
Cooked ham: Supplies the main savory, meaty flavor and chewy texture.

The step that matters

Stirring the soup until smooth and hot. Condensed soup can clump or scorch on the bottom of the pan if it is not stirred as it heats. Smoothing it before adding the other ingredients gives an even, creamy sauce.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, mushroom, butter, cream, chicken, ham, rice):

Potatofits about as well
Capsicumfits about as well
Asparagusfits about as well
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, mushroom, butter, cream, chicken, ham, 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
Pork	100g cooked	242
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Cheddar Cheese	1 oz (28g)	113
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Mushrooms	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Soup	not in our table	0

Ham and Mushroom Skillet