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Pairing

Cranberry + Onion

107cranberry only 227shared 138oniononly Cranberry · 334 Onion · 365
Circle size = number of flavor molecules on record. Overlap = molecules they share.

166 recipes mention both · top 12% 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 moleculesstrong
Mentioned together166 recipes
Ranktop 12% of pairs
Try them in the pairing tool Cranberry Onion

Do cranberry and onion go together?

Many recipes mention both. 166 recipes in our collection mention both, and they share 227 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 12% of a large random sample of ingredient pairs.

Add a third ingredient

  • Potato: the best fit for both, top 6% of pairs with cranberry, top 2% with onion.
  • Tomato: top 4% of pairs with cranberry, top 4% with onion.
  • Garlic: top 13% of pairs with cranberry, top 1% with onion.
  • Ginger: top 4% of pairs with cranberry, top 5% with onion.

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

Recipes with cranberry and onion

Almost always mains: 37 of the 41 recipes with a course label are mains.

Mini Ham, Swiss, Rye Sandwiches with Cranberry Onion RelishCranberry-Jalapeno ChutneyCreamed Cranberry Bean SoupEndive and Apple Salad with Cranberry VinaigretteFinnish Carrot Pancake with Cranberry SauceHam Burgundy Sauce with Onion Rice

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

The count of 166 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. Cranberry and onion 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

More than half of cranberry's flavor molecules (227 of 334) also occur in onion. Among the shared key aromas are ethyl butyrate (apple, fruity) and coumarin (sweet, hay). Shared chemistry is a reason to try a pair, not a promise that it works on the plate.

All 227 shared molecules

See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 107 only in cranberry and the 138 only in onion.

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Cranberry and onion questions

Do cranberry and onion go together?

166 recipes in our collection mention both, and they share 227 flavor molecules, which puts them in the top 12% of random ingredient pairs.

What do cranberry and onion have in common?

More than half of cranberry's flavor molecules (227 of 334) also occur in onion. Among the shared key aromas are ethyl butyrate (apple, fruity) and coumarin (sweet, hay). Shared chemistry is a reason to try a pair, not a promise that it works on the plate.

What goes with cranberry and onion?

Potato is the best third ingredient: top 6% of pairs with cranberry and top 2% with onion. Tomato and garlic also fit both.

What can you make with cranberry and onion?

Almost always mains: 37 of the 41 recipes with a course label are mains. Common dishes include Mini Ham, Swiss, Rye Sandwiches with Cranberry Onion Relish, Cranberry-Jalapeno Chutney, Creamed Cranberry Bean Soup, Endive and Apple Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette.

Can I use onion instead of cranberry?

No. Cranberry and onion 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.

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Compare other ingredients

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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: Cranberry vs Onion. https://compkitchen.com/compare/cranberry-vs-onion. Accessed 2026-11-15.
BibTeX
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_cranberry_vs_onion_2026,
  title  = {Compound similarity analysis: Cranberry vs Onion},
  author = {{CompKitchen}},
  year   = {2026},
  url    = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/cranberry-vs-onion},
  note   = {Accessed: 2026-11-15}
}

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