Name: Chicken with Tomatoes and Olives
Ingredients: 1 (4 pound) chicken, cut into 8 or 10 pieces (cut into 10 by dividing the breast into quarters); Salt and freshly ground black pepper to season the chicken.; 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil; 1 cup dry white wine; 2 large cloves garlic, minced; ¾ cup strained tomatoes, such as Pomi brand *; 1½ cups (5 ounces) whole green olives, pitted; ¼ teaspoon salt, or more to taste; ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste; Note: Strained tomatoes can be readily found in most supermarkets in either the canned tomato or pasta aisles. Sometimes the product may be referred to by its Italian name “passato” and can be found either bottled or cartoned, as is the case with the Pomi brand.

Why it works: Olive and tomato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 14,164 recipes mention both. 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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together14,164 recipes

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

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together14,075 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Olive + garlictop 3% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together23,449 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Chicken + garlictop 3% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together10,839 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).
Chicken + tomatotop 3% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together6,027 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken: Browning in the skillet builds flavor, while simmering keeps the meat moist and tender.
Dry white wine: Deglazes the pan, lifting browned bits and adding acidity to the sauce.
Strained tomatoes: Form the body of the sauce, adding acidity and a smooth, thickened texture.
Green olives: Add salty, briny flavor that balances the tomato sauce.
Garlic: Adds aroma and pungent flavor to the sauce as it cooks.
Extra virgin olive oil: Conducts heat for browning the chicken and adds fat and flavor.

The step that matters

Browning the chicken. Browning the skin over medium heat creates flavorful Maillard browning. Crowded or wet pieces steam instead of browning, so drying the chicken and leaving space in the pan matters.

Flavor stand-ins for the garlic

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, pepper, olive, white wine, tomato):

Garlicthe original
Thymeabout as good a flavor fit
Basilabout as good a flavor fit

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, pepper, olive, white wine, tomato. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“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.

Chicken with Tomatoes and Olives

The recipe

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the chicken

Make the sauce

Serve