Name: Broccoli and Noodle Supreme
Ingredients: 4 ounces egg noodles cooked; 2 cups fresh broccoli; 1 can cream of mushroom soup; ½ cup sour cream; ⅓ cup Parmesan cheese; ½ teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Why it works: Broccoli and parmesan cheese work together. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 435 recipes mention both. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

The recipe

Time10 minutes

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Cook the noodles and broccoli

Cook noodles in a large saucepan according to package directions.
Add broccoli during the last five minutes of cooking.
Drain noodles and broccoli.

Make the sauce

Combine soup, sour cream, Parmesan cheese, salt, and black pepper in another saucepan.
Mix well and heat for 10 minutes.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.

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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

Broccoli + parmesan cheesetop 5% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together435 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Mushroom + parmesan cheesetop 2% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together1,199 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).
Broccoli + peppertop 6% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together2,747 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Parmesan cheese + peppertop 6% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together5,322 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Mushroom + peppertop 6% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together13,578 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Egg noodles: Provide the starchy body and chewy structure that holds the casserole together.
Cream of mushroom soup: Forms the creamy base of the sauce and adds savoury depth.
Sour cream: Adds tang and a smooth, rich texture to the sauce.
Parmesan cheese: Contributes salty, savoury flavour and helps the sauce thicken as it heats.

“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.