Skip to main content
Pairing

Basil + Red wine

298basilonly 76shared 207red wineonly Basil · 374 Red wine · 283
Circle size = number of flavor molecules on record. Overlap = molecules they share.

251 recipes mention both · top 8% of pairs

CompKitchen is a free flavor-pairing site: it compares the aroma molecules two foods share and how often cooks put them together. No account needed.

Overlap, weighted to rarer moleculesmoderate
Mentioned together251 recipes
Ranktop 8% of pairs
Try them in the pairing tool Basil Red wine

Do basil and red wine go together?

Many recipes mention both. 251 recipes in our collection mention both, and they share 76 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 8% of a large random sample of ingredient pairs.

Add a third ingredient

  • Rosemary: the best fit for both, top 1% of pairs with basil, top 3% with red wine.
  • Thyme: top 1% of pairs with basil, top 4% with red wine.
  • Tomato: top 2% of pairs with basil, top 3% with red wine.
  • Oregano: top 1% of pairs with basil, top 8% with red wine.

Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.

Recipes with basil and red wine

Mostly mains: 48 of the 63 recipes with a course label are mains.

Awesome Red Wine Pot RoastBaked Spaghetti Squash with Homemade Red Wine SauceBasil Brad's Marinade of LoveBeef Roast in Red Wine (Carni Arrosto al Vino Rosso)Braised oxtail with basil dumplingsChicken Simmered with Tomato and Fennel

These have the ingredient list only, without the method. Where we have the original source, the recipe page links to it.

The count of 251 includes every recipe our index matched to both foods, some through an alternative or a related ingredient. This list is shorter because it shows only recipes whose ingredient lines name both. Open a few to see how they are used.

Search recipes with both →

Can you swap one for the other?

No. Basil and red wine are different kinds of food, so neither stands in for the other, whatever molecules they share. Treat them as partners, not stand-ins. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.

See the scienceshared molecules, aroma labels and where this pair ranks

What they have in common

They overlap on 76 flavor molecules: 27% of red wine's 283. Among the shared key aromas are damascenone (apple, rose) and 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy). Shared chemistry is a reason to try a pair, not a promise that it works on the plate.

All 76 shared molecules

See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 298 only in basil and the 207 only in red wine.

See the full list with Pro Sign in

Basil and red wine questions

Do basil and red wine go together?

251 recipes in our collection mention both, and they share 76 flavor molecules, which puts them in the top 8% of random ingredient pairs.

What do basil and red wine have in common?

They overlap on 76 flavor molecules: 27% of red wine's 283. Among the shared key aromas are damascenone (apple, rose) and 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy). Shared chemistry is a reason to try a pair, not a promise that it works on the plate.

What goes with basil and red wine?

Rosemary is the best third ingredient: top 1% of pairs with basil and top 3% with red wine. Thyme and tomato also fit both.

What can you make with basil and red wine?

Mostly mains: 48 of the 63 recipes with a course label are mains. Common dishes include Awesome Red Wine Pot Roast, Baked Spaghetti Squash with Homemade Red Wine Sauce, Basil Brad's Marinade of Love, Beef Roast in Red Wine (Carni Arrosto al Vino Rosso).

Can I use red wine instead of basil?

No. Basil and red wine are different kinds of food, so neither stands in for the other, whatever molecules they share. Treat them as partners, not stand-ins. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.

Get the holiday dishes as a printable chart

The classics for turkey, stuffing, potatoes, pies and more, plus every twist that passed our rule, on one page for the fridge. Free when you join the Sunday newsletter.

One email on Sundays. Unsubscribe anytime.

Compare other ingredients

1
2

Two ingredients gives the full side-by-side breakdown; add a third to see a similarity matrix across all of them (up to 6).

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
Plain text
CompKitchen (2026). Compound similarity analysis: Basil vs Red Wine. https://compkitchen.com/compare/basil-vs-red-wine. Accessed 2026-11-15.
BibTeX
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_basil_vs_red_wine_2026,
  title  = {Compound similarity analysis: Basil vs Red Wine},
  author = {{CompKitchen}},
  year   = {2026},
  url    = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/basil-vs-red-wine},
  note   = {Accessed: 2026-11-15}
}

Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719458 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.