Name: Chicken Cordon Bleu Sandwich
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 25 min
Yield: 4 sandwiches
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons dry bread crumbs; 1 teaspoon butter, melted; 2 tablespoons butter; 1/2 cup diced smoked ham; 1/2 cup diced onion; 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme; 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour; 1/2 cup milk; 1 tablespoon milk; 1/2 cup shredded Gruyere cheese; 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard; salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste; 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or more to taste; 1 pinch ground nutmeg; 1 cup diced cooked chicken breast; 1/4 cup diced dill pickles; 4 (1/2 inch thick) slices toasted French bread; 1/4 cup shredded Gruyere cheese; 1 tablespoon melted butter, divided

Why it works: Onion and thyme are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,171 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. 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.

Onion + thymetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,171 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Bread + hamtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,536 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Butter + gruyere cheesetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together323 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 thyme

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, butter, ham, onion, flour, milk, gruyere cheese):

Nutmegfits about as well
Thymethe original
Garlicfits about as well
Capersfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, butter, ham, onion, flour, milk, gruyere cheese. 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
Pork	100g cooked	242
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Gruyere Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Chicken Cordon Bleu Sandwich