Name: Light Vegetable Broth
Ingredients: 6 1/2 quart water; 2 cup white wine or unsweetened ap; 6 celery, thickly sliced; 6 carrots, scrubbed and; coarsely chopped; 2 large potatoes, scrubbed and; coarsely chopped; 3 med zucchini, thickly sliced; 2 large onions, chopped; 1 leek, white part only, clean; thickly sliced; 5 to 6 cloves garlic, crushed; 1/2 lbs mushrooms, cleaned & left wh; 10 peppercorns; large sprigs fresh parsley; large sprigs fresh thyme; 2 bay leaves

Why it works: Celery and carrot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. 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.

Celery + carrottop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together10,173 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Carrot + leektop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,310 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Celery + leektop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,093 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Celery: Adds savoury, aromatic flavour to the broth as it simmers.
Carrots: Contribute gentle sweetness and body to the finished broth.
Onions: Release sugars and savoury depth during long, slow simmering.
Mushrooms: Add earthy, umami richness that deepens the broth's flavour.
White wine: Adds acidity and brightness that lift the flavours of the vegetables.
Potatoes: Release starch that gives the broth a slightly fuller body.

The step that matters

Simmer gently, do not boil hard. A rolling boil can cloud the broth and break down vegetables into bitter, muddy flavours. Keeping the heat low and the pot covered gives a clear, well-flavoured stock over the long cook.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (white wine, celery, carrot, potato, onion, leek, garlic):

Thymefits better
Parsleyfits better
Marjoramfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against white wine, celery, carrot, potato, onion, leek, garlic. 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
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Mushroom	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Bay Leaf	1 leaf (0.6g)	2
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Water	not in our table	0

Light Vegetable Broth