Onion + Clove
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 16,901 recipes, and they share 214 flavor molecules: the top 13% of all ingredient pairs.
Do onion and clove go together?
Yes. 16,901 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 214 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 13% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
More than half of clove's flavor molecules (214 of 311) also occur in onion. Among the shared key aromas are 2-nonanone (fruity, floral) and coumarin (sweet, hay).
What each one brings
onion
The sulfurous side. Sulfurous notes make up 13% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 2% for clove. It carries 151 molecules clove doesn't have.
clove
The fruit. Fruity notes make up 17% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 9% for onion. It carries 97 molecules onion doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Allspice: the best fit for both, top 13% of pairs with onion, top 1% with clove.
- Cinnamon: top 16% of pairs with onion, top 1% with clove.
- Ginger: top 9% of pairs with onion, top 1% with clove.
- Garlic: top 1% of pairs with onion, top 10% with clove.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with onion and clove
Almost always mains: 1,332 of the 1,587 recipes with a course label are mains (from a sample of 3,000 recipes that use both).
Can you swap one for the other?
Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: onion has 151 molecules clove doesn't, and clove has 97 that onion doesn't. Treat them as partners, not stand-ins. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 214 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 151 only in onion and the 97 only in clove.
Onion and clove questions
Do onion and clove go together?
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 16,901 recipes, and they share 214 flavor molecules: the top 13% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do onion and clove taste good together?
More than half of clove's flavor molecules (214 of 311) also occur in onion. Among the shared key aromas are 2-nonanone (fruity, floral) and coumarin (sweet, hay).
What goes with onion and clove?
Allspice is the best third ingredient: top 13% of pairs with onion and top 1% with clove. Cinnamon and ginger also fit both.
What can you make with onion and clove?
Almost always mains: 1,332 of the 1,587 recipes with a course label are mains (from a sample of 3,000 recipes that use both). Common dishes include American Onion Soup, Beef and Onion Stew, Bolivian Onion Soup, Catfish with Apple-Fennel Salad and Pickled Pearl Onions.
Can I use clove instead of onion?
Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: onion has 151 molecules clove doesn't, and clove has 97 that onion doesn't. Treat them as partners, not stand-ins. 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: Onion vs Clove. https://compkitchen.com/compare/onion-vs-clove. Accessed 2026-11-04.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_onion_vs_clove_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Onion vs Clove},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/onion-vs-clove},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-04}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.