Name: Crab Scramble Casserole
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon canola oil or butter, melted; 12 eggs; ½ cup fat-free (skim) milk; 1 teaspoon salt; ½ teaspoon white pepper; 1½ teaspoons chopped fresh or ½ teaspoon dried dill weed; 1 cup chopped cooked crabmeat or imitation crabmeat; 1 package (8 ounces) reduced-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel), cut into ½-inch cubes; 2 medium green onions, sliced (2 tablespoons); paprika

Why it works: Canola oil and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,150 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.

Canola oil + oniontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,150 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Dill + oniontop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,639 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Milk + cream cheesetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,393 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Dill + cream cheesetop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together156 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).
Canola oil + cream cheesetop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together78 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl pentanoate (yeast, fruit).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Set into the custard structure that holds the crab and cream cheese together.
Cream cheese: Adds richness and a creamy, moist texture to the set eggs.
Crabmeat: Provides the main seafood flavor and tender pieces throughout the casserole.
Milk: Thins the egg mixture slightly, keeping the custard tender rather than tough.

The step that matters

Bake until the center is set. Eggs keep setting as they cool, so pulling the dish too early leaves a runny middle, while overbaking makes the custard dry and rubbery. Check the center rather than relying only on the timer.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (canola oil, egg, milk, dill, cream cheese, onion):

Garlicfits better
Parsleyfits better
Capersfits better
White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against canola oil, egg, milk, dill, cream cheese, onion. 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
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Cream Cheese	1 oz (28g)	99
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Crab Scramble Casserole