Name: Chicken Stew with Dumplings
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients: 1 (3 pound) rotisserie chicken; 2 tablespoons butter; 1 onion, diced; 2 ribs celery, sliced thin; 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour; 2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth; 1 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper; 1/2 teaspoon dried basil; 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme; 3/4 pound new potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch dice; 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables; 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour; 2 teaspoons baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 3 tablespoons butter; 3/4 cup milk, or more as needed; 2 tablespoons dried dill

Why it works: Basil and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,768 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. 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.

Basil + thymetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,768 recipes

Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).
Celery + thymetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,193 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,585 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Pepper + basiltop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,294 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together16,012 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, butter, celery, flour, pepper, basil, thyme):

Carrotfits better
Capsicumfits better
Leekfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, butter, celery, flour, pepper, basil, thyme. 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
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Vegetable	1 tbsp (14g)	120
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Chicken Stew with Dumplings