Name: Southern Marinated Maple Chicken
Ingredients: 6 chicken breasts; ½ cup maple syrup; ½ cup corn oil; 1 tablespoon garlic; 1 teaspoon ginger; 1 can tomato soup; ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Why it works: Garlic and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,076 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Southern Marinated Maple Chicken

Timeovernight

Ingredients

Directions

Marinate

Mix all ingredients except chicken in a large mixing bowl.
Put chicken in a large plastic bag and pour the mixture over the top.
Refrigerate overnight.

Cook and serve

Grill and serve.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

328Calories

35 gProtein

5 gFat

38 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Corn Oil	1/2 cup kernels (82g)	77
Maple Syrup	1 tbsp (20ml)	52
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Soup	not in our table	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.

Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,076 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Corn + tomatotop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,099 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Garlic + gingertop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,402 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Chicken + garlictop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,850 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).
Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 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

Chicken breasts: Provide the protein that the marinade flavours and that is grilled.
Maple syrup: Adds sweetness and helps the surface brown during grilling.
Corn oil: Carries the flavours of the marinade and keeps the chicken moist.
Tomato soup: Adds body, acidity and savoury flavour to the marinade.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, maple syrup, corn, garlic, tomato, pepper):

Cuminfits better
Basilfits better
Corianderfits better
Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, maple syrup, corn, garlic, tomato, pepper. 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.