Croquettes

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.

1. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together41,516 recipes

   Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

2. Chicken + oniontop 8% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together17,814 recipes

   Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

3. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together68,474 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

4. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together124,287 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

5. Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together42,912 recipes

   Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken

Provides the main body of the filling once cooked and finely minced.

Sweetbreads

Add a soft, tender texture and rich flavor to the minced filling.

Flour

Thickens the cream with butter so the mixture holds its shape for shaping.

Cream

Adds moisture and richness, binding the filling into a smooth mixture.

Yolk of egg

Binds the outer coating so the cracker crumbs stick to each croquette.

The step that matters

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, flour, butter, cream, pepper, egg):

1. Potatofits better
2. Leekfits better
3. Spinachfits better
4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, flour, butter, cream, pepper, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.