Name: World Recipe Chicken Stock
Ingredients: 2 chicken carcasses; 1 tablespoon olive oil; 2 onions, peeled and cut into large dice; 1 carrot, peeled and cut into large dice; 1 celery stalk, cut into large dice; 3 sprigs fresh thyme; 3 sprigs fresh parsley; 1 small bay leaf; 1 teaspoon black peppercorns; 1 quart water to cover

Why it works: Thyme and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. 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.

Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,057 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together8,053 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together10,173 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,810 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Carrot + thymetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,563 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken carcasses: Provide bones, cartilage and connective tissue that release body and gelatin into the liquid.
Onions: Add sweetness and aromatic depth as they soften in the oil before the water goes in.
Carrot: Adds subtle sweetness and aromatic flavour to the stock base.
Celery stalk: Contributes savoury, herbal aroma to the stock base.
Black peppercorns: Release a mild, warm spice aroma into the simmering liquid.

The step that matters

Simmer gently and skim the surface. A hard boil emulsifies fat and cloudy proteins into the liquid, making the stock greasy and murky. Keeping it at a gentle simmer and skimming foam keeps it clear.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, olive, carrot, celery, thyme, parsley):

Parsnipfits better
Tomatofits better
Potatofits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, olive, carrot, celery, thyme, parsley. 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
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
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

World Recipe Chicken Stock