Name: Jiffy Chicken and Rice Skillet
Ingredients: 2/3 cup chopped onion; 2/3 cup chopped green bell pepper; 1 tablespoon butter or margarine; 3 cups cooked chicken, cut in large pieces; 1 14-1/2- to 16-ounce can tomatoes (2 cups); 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce; 1/2 cup chicken broth or water; 1 1/2 teaspoons salt; 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic salt; 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper; 1/4 teaspoon thyme leaves; 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper; 1 teaspoon ground ginger; Onion Rice:; 1/4 cup finely chopped onion; 1 cup uncooked rice; 1 tablespoon butter or margarine; 2 cups chicken broth; 1 teaspoon salt

Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. 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.

Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,076 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,585 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Garlic + thymetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,608 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Tomato + thymetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,370 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken: Provides the main protein and bulk of the dish.
Tomatoes: Add moisture, acidity and body to the sauce.
Tomato sauce: Thickens the sauce and deepens its tomato flavor.
Rice: Absorbs the broth as it simmers, becoming tender and fluffy.
Chicken broth: Adds savory flavor and liquid for cooking the rice and sauce.
Green bell pepper: Softens while cooking, adding sweetness and vegetable flavor to the sauce.

The step that matters

Simmering the rice until the liquid is absorbed. Once the rice is covered and simmering, lifting the lid or stirring releases steam and can leave grains unevenly cooked or wet. Keeping the heat low lets the starch absorb the liquid gently so the rice ends up tender.

Swap the thyme

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, pepper, butter, chicken, tomato, sauce, garlic):

Thymethe original
Cuminfits about as well
Parsleyfits about as well
Oreganofits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, pepper, butter, chicken, tomato, sauce, 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
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Green Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0

Jiffy Chicken and Rice Skillet