Tomato + Cider
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 524 recipes, and they share 54 flavor molecules: the top 19% of all ingredient pairs.
Do tomato and cider go together?
Yes. 524 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 54 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 19% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
More than half of cider's flavor molecules (54 of 108) also occur in tomato. Among the shared key aromas are 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic) and damascenone (apple, rose).
What each one brings
tomato
The fresh, green side. Green notes make up 14% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 5% for cider. It carries 456 molecules cider doesn't have.
cider
The fruit. Fruity notes make up 55% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 15% for tomato. It carries 54 molecules tomato doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Apple: the best fit for both, top 13% of pairs with tomato, top 2% with cider.
- Olive: top 1% of pairs with tomato, top 18% with cider.
- Plum: top 6% of pairs with tomato, top 9% with cider.
- Capsicum: top 1% of pairs with tomato, top 17% with cider.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with tomato and cider
Mostly mains: 76 of the 122 recipes with a course label are mains.
Can you swap one for the other?
Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: tomato has 456 molecules cider doesn't, and cider has 54 that tomato 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 54 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 456 only in tomato and the 54 only in cider.
Tomato and cider questions
Do tomato and cider go together?
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 524 recipes, and they share 54 flavor molecules: the top 19% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do tomato and cider taste good together?
More than half of cider's flavor molecules (54 of 108) also occur in tomato. Among the shared key aromas are 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic) and damascenone (apple, rose).
What goes with tomato and cider?
Apple is the best third ingredient: top 13% of pairs with tomato and top 2% with cider. Olive and plum also fit both.
What can you make with tomato and cider?
Mostly mains: 76 of the 122 recipes with a course label are mains. Common dishes include Tomato Catsup, Green Tomato Catsup, Apple Cider Chicken Stew, Basil Tomato Salad.
Can I use cider instead of tomato?
Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: tomato has 456 molecules cider doesn't, and cider has 54 that tomato 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: Tomato vs Cider. https://compkitchen.com/compare/tomato-vs-cider. Accessed 2026-11-04.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_tomato_vs_cider_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Tomato vs Cider},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/tomato-vs-cider},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-04}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.