Name: Chicken and Tortellini Stew
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon cornstarch; 1 tablespoon water; 2 tablespoons vegetable oil; 3/4 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into cubes; 1 cup frozen sliced carrots; 1 cup frozen cut green beans; 3/4 cup chopped onion; 6 cups Swanson® Chicken Broth or Natural Goodness™ or Certified Organic Chicken Broth; 1 cup dried cheese-filled tortellini; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Why it works: Carrot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 8,053 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

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.

Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together8,053 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together21,601 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Chicken + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together17,814 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together25,843 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Carrot + green beanstop 10% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together113 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the parsley

The recipe marks parsley as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, carrot, green beans, onion, cheese):

Garlicbetter flavor fit
Celerybetter flavor fit
Thymebetter flavor fit
Parsleythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, carrot, green beans, onion, cheese. 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).

Chicken and Tortellini Stew