Dill + Tarragon
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 111 recipes, and they share 236 flavor molecules: the top 1% of all ingredient pairs.
Do dill and tarragon go together?
Yes. 111 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 236 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 1% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
Almost everything tarragon carries, dill has too: 236 of tarragon's 270 flavor molecules also occur in dill. Among the shared key aromas are 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise) and estragole (anise, licorice).
What each one brings
dill
The woody side. Woody notes make up 5% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 2% for tarragon. It carries 106 molecules tarragon doesn't have.
tarragon
Much the same character. It carries 34 molecules dill doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Fennel: the best fit for both, top 1% of pairs with dill, top 1% with tarragon.
- Chervil: top 3% of pairs with dill, top 1% with tarragon.
- Parsley: top 1% of pairs with dill, top 1% with tarragon.
- Lemon: top 1% of pairs with dill, top 1% with tarragon.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with dill and tarragon
Mostly mains: 15 of the 22 recipes with a course label are mains.
Can you swap one for the other?
Only partly. Almost all of tarragon's flavor molecules (236 of 270) are also found in dill, but dill has 106 that tarragon lacks. Tarragon gives you part of dill's character without most of its woody side. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 236 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 106 only in dill and the 34 only in tarragon.
Dill and tarragon questions
Do dill and tarragon go together?
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 111 recipes, and they share 236 flavor molecules: the top 1% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do dill and tarragon taste good together?
Almost everything tarragon carries, dill has too: 236 of tarragon's 270 flavor molecules also occur in dill. Among the shared key aromas are 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise) and estragole (anise, licorice).
What goes with dill and tarragon?
Fennel is the best third ingredient: top 1% of pairs with dill and top 1% with tarragon. Chervil and parsley also fit both.
What can you make with dill and tarragon?
Mostly mains: 15 of the 22 recipes with a course label are mains. Common dishes include Avocado and Shrimp, Baby Beets with Beet Greens, Borani-e Khiar, Buglama.
Can I use tarragon instead of dill?
Only partly. Almost all of tarragon's flavor molecules (236 of 270) are also found in dill, but dill has 106 that tarragon lacks. Tarragon gives you part of dill's character without most of its woody side. 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: Dill vs Tarragon. https://compkitchen.com/compare/dill-vs-tarragon. Accessed 2026-11-04.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_dill_vs_tarragon_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Dill vs Tarragon},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/dill-vs-tarragon},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-04}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.