Apricot + Mustard
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 119 recipes, and they share 230 flavor molecules: the top 17% of all ingredient pairs.
Do apricot and mustard go together?
Yes. 119 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 230 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 17% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
Almost everything mustard carries, apricot has too: 230 of mustard's 283 flavor molecules also occur in apricot. Among the shared key aromas are eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal) and gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
What each one brings
apricot
The fruit. Fruity notes make up 23% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 10% for mustard. It carries 152 molecules mustard doesn't have.
mustard
The sulfurous side. Sulfurous notes make up 8% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 2% for apricot. It carries 53 molecules apricot doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Horseradish: the best fit for both, top 20% of pairs with apricot, top 1% with mustard.
- Lettuce: top 15% of pairs with apricot, top 1% with mustard.
- Peach: top 1% of pairs with apricot, top 15% with mustard.
- Plum: top 1% of pairs with apricot, top 14% with mustard.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with apricot and mustard
Mostly mains: 18 of the 28 recipes with a course label are mains.
Can you swap one for the other?
Only partly. Most of mustard's flavor molecules (230 of 283) are also found in apricot, but apricot has 152 that mustard lacks. Mustard gives you part of apricot's character without most of its fruit. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 230 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 152 only in apricot and the 53 only in mustard.
Apricot and mustard questions
Do apricot and mustard go together?
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 119 recipes, and they share 230 flavor molecules: the top 17% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do apricot and mustard taste good together?
Almost everything mustard carries, apricot has too: 230 of mustard's 283 flavor molecules also occur in apricot. Among the shared key aromas are eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal) and gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
What goes with apricot and mustard?
Horseradish is the best third ingredient: top 20% of pairs with apricot and top 1% with mustard. Lettuce and peach also fit both.
What can you make with apricot and mustard?
Mostly mains: 18 of the 28 recipes with a course label are mains. Common dishes include Apricot Mustard, Cajun-Style Avocado Fritters with Creole Mustard-Apricot Sauce, Apricot Barbecue Sauce, Apricot Chicken Bake.
Can I use mustard instead of apricot?
Only partly. Most of mustard's flavor molecules (230 of 283) are also found in apricot, but apricot has 152 that mustard lacks. Mustard gives you part of apricot's character without most of its fruit. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
Compare other ingredients
Ranks compare this pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. Molecule counts are what the studies and databases we aggregate have reported for each ingredient: a measure of coverage, not a full census. How we score pairs
Cite this analysis
Compound Kitchen (2026). Compound similarity analysis: Apricot vs Mustard. https://compkitchen.com/compare/apricot-vs-mustard. Accessed 2026-11-04.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_apricot_vs_mustard_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Apricot vs Mustard},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/apricot-vs-mustard},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-04}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.