Name: Tex-Mex Chicken and Rice Casserole
Ingredients: ½ cup chopped onion (1 medium); 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1 x 6.9-ounce package chicken-flavored rice and vermicelli mix; 1 x 14-ounce can chicken broth; 2 cups water; 2 cups chopped cooked chicken or turkey; 1 cup chopped seeded tomatoes (2 medium); 3 tablespoons canned diced green chile peppers, drained; 1 teaspoon dried basil, crushed; 1½ teaspoons chili powder; ⅛ teaspoon ground cumin; ⅛ teaspoon black pepper; ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese (2 ounces)

Why it works: Olive and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,539 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. 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.

Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,539 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Tomato + basiltop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,979 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Tomato + cumintop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,272 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Olive + basiltop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,063 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Pepper + basiltop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,294 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

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

What each ingredient does

Rice and vermicelli mix: Provides the starch that absorbs the broth and forms the body of the casserole.
Chicken broth: Supplies the cooking liquid that the rice absorbs, adding savory flavor throughout.
Chicken or turkey: Adds the main protein, giving the casserole its substance and bulk.
Tomatoes: Contribute moisture and mild acidity that brightens the savory rice.
Cheddar cheese: Melts over the top and browns lightly, adding richness and a golden surface.
Onion: Softens in oil to build a sweet, savory base for the dish.

The step that matters

Simmer covered without lifting the lid. The rice absorbs the liquid as it steams. Lifting the lid lets steam escape, so the grains can end up unevenly cooked or wet. The liquid is not meant to be fully absorbed at this stage, and it finishes absorbing during baking.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, chicken, rice, tomato, pepper, basil, cumin):

Capsicumfits better
Eggplantfits better
Spinachfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, chicken, rice, tomato, pepper, basil, cumin. 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
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Cheddar Cheese	1 oz (28g)	113
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1
Water	not in our table	0

Tex-Mex Chicken and Rice Casserole