Name: Crockpot Cabbage Soup
Ingredients: 1/2 head cabbage; 1 whole white onion or 2 whole yellow onions; 3 cloves garlic; 16 ounces tomato sauce, more if you wish

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 ↓

Crockpot Cabbage Soup

Ingredients

1/2 head cabbage
1 whole white onion or 2 whole yellow onions
3 cloves garlic
16 ounces tomato sauce, more if you wish

Directions

Prepare

Cut up the cabbage into small pieces.
Dice the onions (preferably in long thin pieces).
Grate the garlic into the crockpot using a cheese grater.
Fill the crockpot 3/4 of the way with water.

Cook

Cook on high for 3-4 hours.
Add the tomato sauce (and more water, if needed).
Add any seasonings you like for flavor.
Cook on low for 2 more hours or until you have reached your desired consistency.
Eat your heart out.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

125Calories

6 gProtein

1 gFat

27 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Broccoli	1 cup chopped (156g)	55
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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).
Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,076 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Cabbage + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,001 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Cabbage + garlictop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together635 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,633 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Cabbage: Forms the bulk of the soup and becomes tender during long slow cooking.
Onions: Add sweetness and savory depth as they soften in the broth.
Garlic: Adds pungent aroma that mellows and deepens with cooking.
Tomato sauce: Adds acidity and body, giving the soup its color and richer flavor.

Swap the clove

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

Cuminfits better
Capersfits better
Corianderfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, onion, garlic, tomato, 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.