Clove + Pistachio
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 120 recipes, and they share 213 flavor molecules: the top 9% of all ingredient pairs.
Do clove and pistachio go together?
Yes. 120 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 213 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 9% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
Almost everything pistachio carries, clove has too: 213 of pistachio's 239 flavor molecules also occur in clove. Among the shared key aromas are alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine) and beta-pinene (pine, resin).
What each one brings
clove
The fruit. Fruity notes make up 17% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 9% for pistachio. It carries 98 molecules pistachio doesn't have.
pistachio
The tartness. Sour notes make up 19% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 12% for clove. It carries 26 molecules clove doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Cardamom: the best fit for both, top 1% of pairs with clove, top 1% with pistachio.
- Cashew nut: top 8% of pairs with clove, top 1% with pistachio.
- Cinnamon: top 1% of pairs with clove, top 5% with pistachio.
- Nutmeg: top 1% of pairs with clove, top 3% with pistachio.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with clove and pistachio
Mostly mains: 2 of the 3 recipes with a course label are mains.
Can you swap one for the other?
Only partly. Almost all of pistachio's flavor molecules (213 of 239) are also found in clove, but clove has 98 that pistachio lacks. Pistachio gives you part of clove's character without most of its fruit. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 213 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 98 only in clove and the 26 only in pistachio.
Clove and pistachio questions
Do clove and pistachio go together?
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 120 recipes, and they share 213 flavor molecules: the top 9% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do clove and pistachio taste good together?
Almost everything pistachio carries, clove has too: 213 of pistachio's 239 flavor molecules also occur in clove. Among the shared key aromas are alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine) and beta-pinene (pine, resin).
What goes with clove and pistachio?
Cardamom is the best third ingredient: top 1% of pairs with clove and top 1% with pistachio. Cashew nut and cinnamon also fit both.
What can you make with clove and pistachio?
Mostly mains: 2 of the 3 recipes with a course label are mains. Common dishes include Israeli Baklava, Kashmiri Pulao, Pork and Chicken Terrine.
Can I use pistachio instead of clove?
Only partly. Almost all of pistachio's flavor molecules (213 of 239) are also found in clove, but clove has 98 that pistachio lacks. Pistachio gives you part of clove'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: Clove vs Pistachio. https://compkitchen.com/compare/clove-vs-pistachio. Accessed 2026-11-05.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_clove_vs_pistachio_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Clove vs Pistachio},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/clove-vs-pistachio},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-05}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.