Name: Debi's Potato Soup
Ingredients: 4 tbsp butter, melted; ½ tsp crushed basil; 2 tsp salt; 2 cups cold milk; 2 cups hot potato water; 2 onions, chopped (or 2 tbsp minced); 8 potatoes, cooked, peeled and cubed; 2 tbsp chopped parsley; 4 tbsp flour; ½ tsp pepper; 4 cups scalded milk

Why it works: Basil and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,351 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. 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.

Basil + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,351 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Basil + peppertop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,294 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,855 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Potatoes: Provide body and starch, giving the soup its substance and thickness.
Flour: Thickens the soup as its starch swells in the hot liquid.
Butter: Adds fat for richness and a smooth, rounded mouthfeel.
Milk: Supplies creaminess and liquid that carries the soup's body.
Onions: Add aroma and mild sweetness as they cook down.

The step that matters

Blend the flour with cold milk before adding hot liquids. Cold liquid keeps the flour particles separated so they do not clump. Starch thickens as it heats, so stirring while the soup thickens gives an even, smooth texture.

Swap the basil

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, milk, potato, onion, parsley, flour, pepper):

Thymefits better
Garlicfits better
Marjoramfits better
Basilthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, milk, potato, onion, parsley, flour, 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0

Debi's Potato Soup