Name: White Chicken Chili Recipe
Cook time: 1 h 55 min
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients: 3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, thighs, or a mixture of both; Freshly ground black pepper; 1 tablespoon vegetable oil; 2 medium jalapeños , stemmed and finely chopped; 2 medium poblano chiles , stemmed and medium dice; 1 medium red bell pepper , cored, seeded, and medium dice; 1 medium red onion , medium dice; 4 medium garlic cloves , minced; 1 tablespoon ground cumin; 1 teaspoon kosher salt , plus more as needed; 1 teaspoon chili powder; 4 cups (1 quart) chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth; 2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans , drained and rinsed; 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (from about 2 medium limes); 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (about 3 1/2 ounces); 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro; 2 medium scallions , thinly sliced (white and light green parts only)

Why it works: Cumin and lime match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,216 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. 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.

Cumin + limetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,216 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Cumin + beanstop 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).
Pepper + limetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,491 recipes

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

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

Swap the clove

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

Corianderfits better
Turmericfits better
Oreganofits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, pepper, onion, garlic, cumin, beans, lime. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Lime	juice of 1 lime (44ml)	11
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Cannellini Bean	not in our table	0

White Chicken Chili Recipe