Olive + Cinnamon
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 3,501 recipes, and they share 233 flavor molecules: the top 11% of all ingredient pairs.
Do olive and cinnamon go together?
Yes. 3,501 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 233 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 11% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
More than half of cinnamon's flavor molecules (233 of 324) also occur in olive. Among the shared key aromas are eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal) and alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
What each one brings
olive
The fruit. Fruity notes make up 17% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 12% for cinnamon. It carries 133 molecules cinnamon doesn't have.
cinnamon
The herbal side. Herbal notes make up 12% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 7% for olive. It carries 91 molecules olive doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Nutmeg: the best fit for both, top 12% of pairs with olive, top 1% with cinnamon.
- Clove: top 10% of pairs with olive, top 1% with cinnamon.
- Star anise: top 10% of pairs with olive, top 1% with cinnamon.
- Cardamom: top 8% of pairs with olive, top 1% with cinnamon.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with olive and cinnamon
Mostly mains: 322 of the 636 recipes with a course label are mains (from a sample of 3,000 recipes that use both).
Can you swap one for the other?
Only partly. Most of cinnamon's flavor molecules (233 of 324) are also found in olive, but olive has 133 that cinnamon lacks. Cinnamon gives you part of olive's character without most of its fruit. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 233 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 133 only in olive and the 91 only in cinnamon.
Olive and cinnamon questions
Do olive and cinnamon go together?
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 3,501 recipes, and they share 233 flavor molecules: the top 11% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do olive and cinnamon taste good together?
More than half of cinnamon's flavor molecules (233 of 324) also occur in olive. Among the shared key aromas are eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal) and alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
What goes with olive and cinnamon?
Nutmeg is the best third ingredient: top 12% of pairs with olive and top 1% with cinnamon. Clove and star anise also fit both.
What can you make with olive and cinnamon?
Mostly mains: 322 of the 636 recipes with a course label are mains (from a sample of 3,000 recipes that use both). Common dishes include Apple Cinnamon Muffins, Apple Blintzes with Caramel Sauce and Cinnamon, Apple Cinnamon Raisin Latkes, Applesauce Cinnamon Muffins.
Can I use cinnamon instead of olive?
Only partly. Most of cinnamon's flavor molecules (233 of 324) are also found in olive, but olive has 133 that cinnamon lacks. Cinnamon gives you part of olive'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: Olive vs Cinnamon. https://compkitchen.com/compare/olive-vs-cinnamon. Accessed 2026-11-04.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_olive_vs_cinnamon_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Olive vs Cinnamon},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/olive-vs-cinnamon},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-04}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.