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Chinese Chicken Casserole Surprise

"Chinese-style ingredients like almonds, water chestnuts, mushrooms, celery and chow mein noodles combine with a creamy broth, soup and milk mixture - and chicken, of course - to form this casserole. The name comes from the fact that people who have it seem to be pleasantly surprised and wonder what is in it. This is a good recipe for potlucks, etc., as it can be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated or frozen until ready to bake."

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 10 ingredients
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Chinese Chicken Casserole Surprise

Why it works: Chicken and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,172 recipes. Both carry 1-butyl acetate, which smells fruity, banana. The science ↓

Chinese Chicken Casserole Surprise

6 servings
Prep30 min
Cook45 min

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

521Calories
51 gProtein
27 gFat
19 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 10 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Chicken100g cooked165
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Cheddar Cheese1 oz (28g)113
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Mushroom1/2 cup sliced (35g)15
Mushrooms1/2 cup sliced (35g)15
Almond1 almond (1.2g)7
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Soupnot in our table0
Water Chestnutnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

  1. Chicken + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,172 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-butyl acetate (fruity, banana).

  2. Almond + water chestnuttop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Water chestnut + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together78 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Mushroom + water chestnuttop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together114 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Mushroom + cheddar cheesetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together705 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

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

Swap the celery

The recipe marks celery as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, cream, mushroom, evaporated milk, almond, water chestnut, cheddar cheese):

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Celerythe original
  3. Nutmegfits about as well
  4. Turmericfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, cream, mushroom, evaporated milk, almond, water chestnut, cheddar cheese. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.