Name: Kale and Bean Soup
Ingredients: 1 Tbsp. of olive or canola oil; 6 to 8 cloves of garlic ( crushed or minced); 1 large onion, chopped; 4 cups of kale chopped if fresh ( you can use frozen 2 or 3 pkgs. or if canned use 2 to 3 cans ); 4 cups of chicken or veggie broth; 2-15 oz. cans of white beans, any kind; 1 can of stewed tomatoes or chopped fresh tomatoes; 1 tsp. dried thyme; 1 tsp. rosemary; salt and pepper to taste; 1 cup of chopped parsley

Why it works: Olive and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,539 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. 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.

Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,539 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Beans + tomatotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,713 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Clove + thymetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,108 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Kale + beanstop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together92 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Kale + thymetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together93 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

White beans: Add body and creaminess, especially when part of them is blended into the soup.
Kale: Adds leafy texture and earthy flavour that softens as it wilts and simmers.
Chicken or veggie broth: Provides the liquid base and savoury flavour for the whole soup.
Stewed tomatoes: Contribute acidity and body, balancing the richness of the beans and broth.
Garlic: Adds aroma and savoury depth when softened gently in the oil.

The step that matters

Blending the remaining beans and broth. Blend until completely smooth, or the thickened portion will leave grainy or lumpy pieces in the soup. Blending in a separate step also lets the starch from the beans thicken the liquid evenly before it is stirred back in.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, onion, kale, chicken, beans, tomato, thyme):

Garlicfits better
Cuminfits better
Capersfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, onion, kale, chicken, beans, tomato, thyme. 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
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Spinach	1 cup raw (30g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Olive	1 large (4g)	4
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Rosemary	1 tsp dried (1.2g)	4
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Bean	not in our table	0

Kale and Bean Soup