Onion + Lime
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 4,263 recipes, and they share 216 flavor molecules: the top 13% of all ingredient pairs.
Do onion and lime go together?
Yes. 4,263 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 216 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 13% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
More than half of lime's flavor molecules (216 of 299) also occur in onion. Among the shared key aromas are decanal (soap, orange peel) and coumarin (sweet, hay).
What each one brings
onion
The sulfurous side. Sulfurous notes make up 13% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 3% for lime. It carries 149 molecules lime doesn't have.
lime
The herbal side. Herbal notes make up 15% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 4% for onion. It carries 83 molecules onion doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Avocado: the best fit for both, top 5% of pairs with onion, top 1% with lime.
- Cumin: top 6% of pairs with onion, top 1% with lime.
- Lemon grass: top 11% of pairs with onion, top 1% with lime.
- Coriander: top 11% of pairs with onion, top 1% with lime.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with onion and lime
Mostly mains: 477 of the 687 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 lime's flavor molecules (216 of 299) are also found in onion, but onion has 149 that lime lacks. Lime gives you part of onion's character without most of its sulfurous side. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 216 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 149 only in onion and the 83 only in lime.
Onion and lime questions
Do onion and lime go together?
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 4,263 recipes, and they share 216 flavor molecules: the top 13% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do onion and lime taste good together?
More than half of lime's flavor molecules (216 of 299) also occur in onion. Among the shared key aromas are decanal (soap, orange peel) and coumarin (sweet, hay).
What goes with onion and lime?
Avocado is the best third ingredient: top 5% of pairs with onion and top 1% with lime. Cumin and lemon grass also fit both.
What can you make with onion and lime?
Mostly mains: 477 of the 687 recipes with a course label are mains (from a sample of 3,000 recipes that use both). Common dishes include Appleby's Tequila Lime Chicken, Apricot Lime-Glazed Salmon, Avocado Lime Soup with Crème Fraiche and Roasted Pimientos, Beef Fajitas with Lime Sour Cream.
Can I use lime instead of onion?
Only partly. Most of lime's flavor molecules (216 of 299) are also found in onion, but onion has 149 that lime lacks. Lime gives you part of onion's character without most of its sulfurous 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: Onion vs Lime. https://compkitchen.com/compare/onion-vs-lime. Accessed 2026-11-04.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_onion_vs_lime_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Onion vs Lime},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/onion-vs-lime},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-04}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.