Clove + Sorrel
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 88 recipes, and they share 208 flavor molecules: the top 7% of all ingredient pairs.
Do clove and sorrel go together?
Yes. 88 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 208 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 7% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
Almost everything sorrel carries, clove has too: 208 of sorrel's 224 flavor molecules also occur in clove. Among the shared key aromas are coumarin (sweet, hay) and 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).
What each one brings
clove
The fruit. Fruity notes make up 17% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 10% for sorrel. It carries 103 molecules sorrel doesn't have.
sorrel
The tartness. Sour notes make up 20% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 12% for clove. It carries 16 molecules clove doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Endive: the best fit for both, top 7% of pairs with clove, top 1% with sorrel.
- Lentils: top 8% of pairs with clove, top 1% with sorrel.
- Chervil: top 8% of pairs with clove, top 1% with sorrel.
- Shallot: top 5% of pairs with clove, top 1% with sorrel.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with clove and sorrel
Almost always mains: 1 of the 1 recipes with a course label are mains.
Can you swap one for the other?
Only partly. Almost all of sorrel's flavor molecules (208 of 224) are also found in clove, but clove has 103 that sorrel lacks. Sorrel 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 208 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 103 only in clove and the 16 only in sorrel.
Clove and sorrel questions
Do clove and sorrel go together?
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 88 recipes, and they share 208 flavor molecules: the top 7% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do clove and sorrel taste good together?
Almost everything sorrel carries, clove has too: 208 of sorrel's 224 flavor molecules also occur in clove. Among the shared key aromas are coumarin (sweet, hay) and 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).
What goes with clove and sorrel?
Endive is the best third ingredient: top 7% of pairs with clove and top 1% with sorrel. Lentils and chervil also fit both.
What can you make with clove and sorrel?
Almost always mains: 1 of the 1 recipes with a course label are mains. Common dishes include Fillet of Shad with Puree of Sorrel.
Can I use sorrel instead of clove?
Only partly. Almost all of sorrel's flavor molecules (208 of 224) are also found in clove, but clove has 103 that sorrel lacks. Sorrel 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 Sorrel. https://compkitchen.com/compare/clove-vs-sorrel. Accessed 2026-11-04.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_clove_vs_sorrel_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Clove vs Sorrel},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/clove-vs-sorrel},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-04}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.