Tomato + Clove
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 3,474 recipes, and they share 238 flavor molecules: the top 12% of all ingredient pairs.
Do tomato and clove go together?
Yes. 3,474 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 238 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 12% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
More than half of clove's flavor molecules (238 of 311) also occur in tomato. Among the shared key aromas are ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel) and alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
What each one brings
tomato
The fresh, green side. Green notes make up 14% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 8% for clove. It carries 272 molecules clove doesn't have.
clove
The herbal side. Herbal notes make up 11% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 8% for tomato. It carries 73 molecules tomato doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Cinnamon: the best fit for both, top 11% of pairs with tomato, top 1% with clove.
- Oregano: top 2% of pairs with tomato, top 4% with clove.
- Allspice: top 13% of pairs with tomato, top 1% with clove.
- Basil: top 1% of pairs with tomato, top 4% with clove.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with tomato and clove
Almost always mains: 697 of the 858 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 clove's flavor molecules (238 of 311) are also found in tomato, but tomato has 272 that clove lacks. Clove gives you part of tomato's character without most of its fresh, green side. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 238 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 272 only in tomato and the 73 only in clove.
Tomato and clove questions
Do tomato and clove go together?
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 3,474 recipes, and they share 238 flavor molecules: the top 12% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do tomato and clove taste good together?
More than half of clove's flavor molecules (238 of 311) also occur in tomato. Among the shared key aromas are ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel) and alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
What goes with tomato and clove?
Cinnamon is the best third ingredient: top 11% of pairs with tomato and top 1% with clove. Oregano and allspice also fit both.
What can you make with tomato and clove?
Almost always mains: 697 of the 858 recipes with a course label are mains (from a sample of 3,000 recipes that use both). Common dishes include Tomato Catsup, Green Tomato Pickles, Tomato Sauce, Green Tomato Pickle.
Can I use clove instead of tomato?
Only partly. Most of clove's flavor molecules (238 of 311) are also found in tomato, but tomato has 272 that clove lacks. Clove gives you part of tomato's character without most of its fresh, green 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: Tomato vs Clove. https://compkitchen.com/compare/tomato-vs-clove. Accessed 2026-11-04.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_tomato_vs_clove_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Tomato vs Clove},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/tomato-vs-clove},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-04}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.