Potato + Licorice
Not a natural pairing: they share little aroma and few recipes use both, which puts them in the bottom 3% of all ingredient pairs.
Do potato and licorice go together?
Not really. No recipe in our pairing index uses both, and they share 22 flavor molecules. That places them in the bottom 3% of every ingredient pair we score.
What they have in common
More than half of licorice's flavor molecules (22 of 35) also occur in potato. Among the shared key aromas are 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted) and 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy). Most of what they share is background chemistry many foods carry, so the overlap does little for the smell.
What each one brings
potato
The fresh, green side. Green notes make up 11% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 3% for licorice. It carries 437 molecules licorice doesn't have.
licorice
The caramel side. Caramel notes make up 13% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 2% for potato. It carries 13 molecules potato doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Flaxseed: the best fit for both, top 11% of pairs with potato, top 21% with licorice.
- Peanut: top 5% of pairs with potato, top 37% with licorice.
- Fennel: top 8% of pairs with potato, top 31% with licorice.
- Star anise: top 10% of pairs with potato, top 29% with licorice.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with potato and licorice
We have no browsable recipe that lists both potato and licorice.
Can you swap one for the other?
Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: potato has 437 molecules licorice doesn't, and licorice has 13 that potato 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 22 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 437 only in potato and the 13 only in licorice.
Potato and licorice questions
Do potato and licorice go together?
Not a natural pairing: they share little aroma and few recipes use both, which puts them in the bottom 3% of all ingredient pairs.
What do potato and licorice have in common?
More than half of licorice's flavor molecules (22 of 35) also occur in potato. Among the shared key aromas are 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted) and 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy). Most of what they share is background chemistry many foods carry, so the overlap does little for the smell.
What goes with potato and licorice?
Flaxseed is the best third ingredient: top 11% of pairs with potato and top 21% with licorice. Peanut and fennel also fit both.
Can I use licorice instead of potato?
Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: potato has 437 molecules licorice doesn't, and licorice has 13 that potato 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: Potato vs Licorice. https://compkitchen.com/compare/potato-vs-licorice. Accessed 2026-11-06.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_potato_vs_licorice_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Potato vs Licorice},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/potato-vs-licorice},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-06}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.