Why it works: Spinach and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,130 recipes. Both carry octanal, which smells fat, soap. The science ↓
Cream of Spinach Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the spinach until tender, then mash it through a colander.
Add the mashed spinach to the soup stock and bring to a boil.
Stir in the cream and cornstarch to thicken, then season to taste.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
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Spinach + creamtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,130 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Spinach
- Provides the main body, color and green flavor of the soup.
- Cream
- Adds richness and smooth mouthfeel to the soup.
- Soup stock
- Forms the liquid base that carries the flavor of the soup.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the liquid into a smooth, body-rich soup when heated.
The step that matters
Stir in the cornstarch with the cream before thickening. Cornstarch must be heated in liquid to gelatinize and thicken; if it is added without enough heat or stirring it can clump or stay thin. Keep the soup at a simmer while stirring so the starch thickens evenly.
“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.
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