Name: Cathy's Chicken Wings
Ingredients: 32 chicken wings; 6 to 8 tbsp melted butter; 1½ cups bread crumbs; ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese; 1 tsp salt or lemon pepper; 1 tsp garlic powder

Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Cathy's Chicken Wings

Oven400°F

Time30 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the wings

Discard tip of wing, cut remaining wing in 2 pieces.
Dip chicken in melted butter.

Coat and bake

Combine bread crumbs, cheese, salt and garlic powder in a plastic bag.
Shake wings in crumb mixture.
Place chicken on greased 15 to 10 inch baking sheet and bake in a preheated 400°F oven for 30 minutes.
Serve hot.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

854Calories

55 gProtein

24 gFat

102 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 8 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Parmesan Cheese	1 oz (28g)	110
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

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.

Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Chicken + garlictop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,850 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).
Butter + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,163 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Lemon + garlictop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,893 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Chicken + breadtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,258 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity).

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken wings: Provide the protein and meaty base that the coating clings to and cooks around.
Melted butter: Carries the crumb coating and adds richness and moisture so the crust browns.
Bread crumbs: Form a crisp, golden outer crust when baked.
Parmesan cheese: Adds savoury flavour and helps the coating brown in the oven.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, butter, bread, parmesan cheese, garlic):

Plumfits about as well
Grapefits about as well
Coconutfits about as well
Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, butter, bread, parmesan cheese, 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.