Ham and Rice Casserole

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.

1. Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together18,518 recipes

   Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

2. Rice + milktop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together7,374 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

3. Rice + celerytop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together2,169 recipes

   Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

4. Rice + mushroomtop 9% of all pairs
   Smell alikestrong
   Cooked together1,515 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

5. Peas + mushroomtop 9% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together890 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

What each ingredient does

Cooked rice

Forms the bulk of the casserole and absorbs flavor from the sauce.

Cream of mushroom soup

Provides the binding sauce and moisture that keeps the casserole creamy.

Milk

Thins the soup into a pourable sauce that moistens the rice and ham.

Cooked ham

Adds savory, salty flavor to the dish.

Crushed ritz crackers

Form a crisp, browned topping when baked with butter.

Swap the peas

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, ham, celery, onion, cream, mushroom, milk):

1. Beansfits better
2. Chestnutfits better
3. Sesamefits about as well
4. Peasthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against rice, ham, celery, onion, cream, mushroom, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.