Why it works: Chicken and tomato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 6,027 recipes mention both. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 4Ingredients
Contains: fish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Heat the olive oil in a large deep frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken thighs and cook about 4 minutes per side until golden. Transfer the chicken to a plate.
Lower the heat to medium. Add the red onion and cook about 5 minutes until softened. Stir in the garlic, rosemary and anchovy fillets, and cook 1 minute until the anchovies break down.
If using, pour in the red wine and let it bubble for 1 minute. Add the chopped tomatoes and capers, scraping up any browned bits from the pan, then simmer for 5 minutes.
Return the chicken and any juices to the pan, spooning the sauce over. Cover and simmer over low heat for about 12 minutes, until the chicken reaches 165°F (74°C) in the thickest part.
Check the thickest piece of chicken with a thermometer to confirm it reads 165°F (74°C). Serve the chicken hot with the tomato sauce spooned over.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Chicken + tomatotop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together6,027 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together14,164 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together29,030 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Garlic + tomatotop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together14,075 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Olive + garlictop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together23,449 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the capers
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, chicken, rosemary, onion, garlic, anchovy, tomato):
- Thymebetter flavor fit
- Oreganobetter flavor fit
- Basilbetter flavor fit
- Capersthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against olive, chicken, rosemary, onion, garlic, anchovy, tomato. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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