Name: Rice Pilaf Recipe
Cook time: 40 min
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients: 2 cups long-grain white rice; 2 tablespoons unsalted butter; 1/2 medium yellow onion , finely chopped; 1 medium garlic clove , finely chopped; 2 cups stock or low-sodium chicken broth; 1/4 cup water; 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt , plus more as needed; 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Rice Pilaf Recipe

4 to 6 servings

Cook40 min

Ingredients

2 cups long-grain white rice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 medium yellow onion , finely chopped
1 medium garlic clove , finely chopped
2 cups stock or low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup water
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt , plus more as needed
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

529Calories

37 gProtein

16 gFat

58 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By chow. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Garlic + parsleytop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,308 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Rice + chickentop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,769 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Clove + parsleytop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,768 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Garlic + chickentop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,850 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).

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 (rice, butter, onion, garlic, chicken, parsley):

Thymefits better
Cuminfits better
Capersfits better
Clovethe original

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

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.