Name: Chicken Chili I
Ingredients: 1 (16 ounce) package dried navy beans; 4 (14½ ounce) cans chicken broth; 1 onion, chopped; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 1 teaspoon ground black pepper; 1 tablespoon dried oregano; 1 tablespoon ground cumin; ½ teaspoon ground cloves; 5 cups chopped, cooked chicken meat; 2 (4 ounce) cans diced green chile peppers; 1 cup water; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

Why it works: Oregano and cumin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 983 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. 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.

Oregano + cumintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together983 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Beans + cumintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,188 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,082 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Garlic + oreganotop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,756 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

What each ingredient does

Dried navy beans: Provide the bulk and starch that thicken the chili as they cook down.
Chicken broth: Supplies the cooking liquid that softens the beans and carries the spices.
Cooked chicken meat: Adds the main protein and meaty substance to the chili.
Diced green chile peppers: Contribute mild heat and a fresh, vegetal flavor to the broth.
Onion: Adds savory sweetness and aromatic depth as it softens in the pot.

The step that matters

Simmering the beans until tender. Dried beans must cook long enough to soften fully; the salt is added only later, after the chicken and chilies go in, so the beans are not hardened by it early on, and under-cooked beans stay firm and starchy.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beans, chicken, onion, garlic, pepper, oregano, cumin):

Turmericfits better
Rosemaryfits better
Corianderfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beans, chicken, onion, garlic, pepper, oregano, 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
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Navy Bean	1/2 cup (91g) cooked	127
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Cloves	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Oregano	1 tsp dried (1.8g)	5
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Meat	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

Chicken Chili I

Chicken Chili I

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Simmer the beans

Finish the chili

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)