Lemon + Mace
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 6,315 recipes, and they share 25 flavor molecules: the top 18% of all ingredient pairs.
Do lemon and mace go together?
Yes. 6,315 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 25 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 18% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
More than half of mace's flavor molecules (25 of 34) also occur in lemon. Among the shared key aromas are alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine) and myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
What each one brings
lemon
The tartness. Sour notes make up 13% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 3% for mace. It carries 333 molecules mace doesn't have.
mace
The spice. Spicy notes make up 19% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 3% for lemon. It carries 9 molecules lemon doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Nutmeg: the best fit for both, top 5% of pairs with lemon, top 4% with mace.
- Marjoram: top 1% of pairs with lemon, top 12% with mace.
- Parsley: top 1% of pairs with lemon, top 15% with mace.
- Thyme: top 1% of pairs with lemon, top 14% with mace.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with lemon and mace
Spread across courses: mains lead with 73 of the 154 recipes with a course label, then desserts (56).
Can you swap one for the other?
Only partly. Most of mace's flavor molecules (25 of 34) are also found in lemon, but lemon has 333 that mace lacks. Mace gives you part of lemon's character without most of its tartness. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 25 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 333 only in lemon and the 9 only in mace.
Lemon and mace questions
Do lemon and mace go together?
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 6,315 recipes, and they share 25 flavor molecules: the top 18% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do lemon and mace taste good together?
More than half of mace's flavor molecules (25 of 34) also occur in lemon. Among the shared key aromas are alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine) and myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
What goes with lemon and mace?
Nutmeg is the best third ingredient: top 5% of pairs with lemon and top 4% with mace. Marjoram and parsley also fit both.
What can you make with lemon and mace?
Spread across courses: mains lead with 73 of the 154 recipes with a course label, then desserts (56). Common dishes include Lemon Butter, Lemon Catchup, Lemon Mince Meat, Lemon Pickle or Catsup.
Can I use mace instead of lemon?
Only partly. Most of mace's flavor molecules (25 of 34) are also found in lemon, but lemon has 333 that mace lacks. Mace gives you part of lemon's character without most of its tartness. 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: Lemon vs Mace. https://compkitchen.com/compare/lemon-vs-mace. Accessed 2026-11-04.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_lemon_vs_mace_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Lemon vs Mace},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/lemon-vs-mace},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-04}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.