Name: Chicken and Asparagus with Melted Gruyère
Ingredients: 8 oz asparagus , trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces; ⅔ cup reduced-sodium chicken broth; 2 tsp + ¼ cup all-purpose flour, divided; 4 each boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1 – 1¼ lb), trimmed; ¼ tsp salt; ½ tsp freshly ground pepper; 1 tbsp canola oil; 1 shallot, thinly sliced; ½ cup white wine; ⅓ cup reduced-fat sour cream; 1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon; 2 tsp lemon juice; ⅔ cup shredded gruyère cheese; Place a steamer basket in a large saucepan, add 1 inch of water and bring to a boil.; Add asparagus; cover and steam for 3 minutes.; Uncover, remove from the heat and set aside.; Whisk broth and 2 teaspoons flour in a small bowl until smooth. Set aside.; Place the remaining ¼ cup flour in a shallow dish.; Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and dredge both sides in the flour, shaking off any excess.; Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.; Add the chicken and cook until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes per side, adjusting heat as needed to prevent scorching.; Transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm.; Add shallot, wine and the reserved broth mixture to the pan; cook over medium heat, stirring, until thickened, about 2 minutes.; Reduce heat to medium-low; stir in sour cream, tarragon, lemon juice and the reserved asparagus until combined.; Return the chicken to the pan and turn to coat with the sauce.; Sprinkle cheese on top of each piece of chicken, cover and continue cooking until the cheese is melted, about 2 minutes.

Why it works: Asparagus and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 137 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. 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.

Asparagus + shallottop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together137 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Flour + shallottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,081 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Asparagus + peppertop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,968 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Canola oil + shallottop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together65 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Shallot + white winetop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together881 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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

Swap the asparagus

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, flour, pepper, canola oil, shallot, white wine, cream):

Chivefits better
Spinachfits better
Welsh onionfits about as well
Asparagusthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, flour, pepper, canola oil, shallot, white wine, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Asparagus	6 spears (90g)	27
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Shallot	1 tbsp minced (10g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Tarragon	1 tsp dried (0.5g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0
Sauce	not in our table	0

Chicken and Asparagus with Melted Gruyère