Name: Broccoli, Cheddar and Potato Soup
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Yield: (6 servings)
Ingredients: 1 small onion; 2 carrots; 2 celery stalks; 2 cloves garlic; 1 tbsp butter; 2 tbsp flour; 2 1/2 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth); 1 cup skim milk; 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced small; salt and fresh pepper; 4 cups (about 2 heads) broccoli florets, chopped into small pieces; 1-1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar

Why it works: Carrot and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. 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.

Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together10,173 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Carrot + clovetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,873 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together21,601 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Celery + clovetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,668 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

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 (onion, carrot, celery, garlic, butter, flour, chicken):

Parsleyfits better
Thymefits better
Cuminfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, carrot, celery, garlic, butter, flour, chicken. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Cheddar Cheese	1 oz (28g)	113
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Broccoli	1 cup chopped (156g)	55
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Celery Stalks	1 stalk (40g)	6
Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Broccoli, Cheddar and Potato Soup