Cinnamon + Olive
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 3,501 recipes, and they share 233 flavor molecules: the top 11% of all ingredient pairs.
Do cinnamon and olive go together?
Yes. 3,501 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 233 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 11% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
More than half of cinnamon's flavor molecules (233 of 324) also occur in olive. Among the shared key aromas are eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal) and alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
What each one brings
cinnamon
The herbal side. Herbal notes make up 12% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 7% for olive. It carries 91 molecules olive doesn't have.
olive
The fruit. Fruity notes make up 17% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 12% for cinnamon. It carries 133 molecules cinnamon doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Nutmeg: the best fit for both, top 1% of pairs with cinnamon, top 12% with olive.
- Clove: top 1% of pairs with cinnamon, top 10% with olive.
- Star anise: top 1% of pairs with cinnamon, top 10% with olive.
- Cardamom: top 1% of pairs with cinnamon, top 8% with olive.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with cinnamon and olive
Mostly mains: 322 of the 636 recipes with a course label are mains (from a sample of 3,000 recipes that use both).
Can you swap one for the other?
Only partly. Most of cinnamon's flavor molecules (233 of 324) are also found in olive, but olive has 133 that cinnamon lacks. Cinnamon gives you part of olive's character without most of its fruit. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 233 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 91 only in cinnamon and the 133 only in olive.
Cinnamon and olive questions
Do cinnamon and olive go together?
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 3,501 recipes, and they share 233 flavor molecules: the top 11% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do cinnamon and olive taste good together?
More than half of cinnamon's flavor molecules (233 of 324) also occur in olive. Among the shared key aromas are eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal) and alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
What goes with cinnamon and olive?
Nutmeg is the best third ingredient: top 1% of pairs with cinnamon and top 12% with olive. Clove and star anise also fit both.
What can you make with cinnamon and olive?
Mostly mains: 322 of the 636 recipes with a course label are mains (from a sample of 3,000 recipes that use both). Common dishes include Apple Cinnamon Muffins, Apple Blintzes with Caramel Sauce and Cinnamon, Apple Cinnamon Raisin Latkes, Applesauce Cinnamon Muffins.
Can I use olive instead of cinnamon?
Only partly. Most of cinnamon's flavor molecules (233 of 324) are also found in olive, but olive has 133 that cinnamon lacks. Cinnamon gives you part of olive'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: Cinnamon vs Olive. https://compkitchen.com/compare/cinnamon-vs-olive. Accessed 2026-11-04.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_cinnamon_vs_olive_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Cinnamon vs Olive},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/cinnamon-vs-olive},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-04}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.