Cinnamon + Mustard
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 1,581 recipes, and they share 227 flavor molecules: the top 7% of all ingredient pairs.
Do cinnamon and mustard go together?
Yes. 1,581 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 227 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 7% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
Almost everything mustard carries, cinnamon has too: 227 of mustard's 283 flavor molecules also occur in cinnamon. Among the shared key aromas are guaiacol (smoky, sweet) and methyleugenol (clove, spice).
What each one brings
cinnamon
The herbal side. Herbal notes make up 12% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 5% for mustard. It carries 97 molecules mustard doesn't have.
mustard
The sulfurous side. Sulfurous notes make up 8% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 2% for cinnamon. It carries 56 molecules cinnamon doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Allspice: the best fit for both, top 1% of pairs with cinnamon, top 2% with mustard.
- Horseradish: top 6% of pairs with cinnamon, top 1% with mustard.
- Nutmeg: top 1% of pairs with cinnamon, top 8% with mustard.
- Clove: top 1% of pairs with cinnamon, top 8% with mustard.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with cinnamon and mustard
Mostly mains: 76 of the 128 recipes with a course label are mains.
Can you swap one for the other?
Fairly well, for flavor. Each carries most of the other's flavor molecules (70% of cinnamon's and 80% of mustard's are shared). This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 227 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 97 only in cinnamon and the 56 only in mustard.
Cinnamon and mustard questions
Do cinnamon and mustard go together?
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 1,581 recipes, and they share 227 flavor molecules: the top 7% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do cinnamon and mustard taste good together?
Almost everything mustard carries, cinnamon has too: 227 of mustard's 283 flavor molecules also occur in cinnamon. Among the shared key aromas are guaiacol (smoky, sweet) and methyleugenol (clove, spice).
What goes with cinnamon and mustard?
Allspice is the best third ingredient: top 1% of pairs with cinnamon and top 2% with mustard. Horseradish and nutmeg also fit both.
What can you make with cinnamon and mustard?
Mostly mains: 76 of the 128 recipes with a course label are mains. Common dishes include English Mustard Pickle, Mixed Mustard Pickles, Mustard Pickles, Mustard and Pepper.
Can I use mustard instead of cinnamon?
Fairly well, for flavor. Each carries most of the other's flavor molecules (70% of cinnamon's and 80% of mustard's are shared). 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: Cinnamon vs Mustard. https://compkitchen.com/compare/cinnamon-vs-mustard. Accessed 2026-11-04.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_cinnamon_vs_mustard_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Cinnamon vs Mustard},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/cinnamon-vs-mustard},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-04}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.