Tomato + Salmon
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 1,439 recipes, and they share 32 flavor molecules: the top 19% of all ingredient pairs.
Do tomato and salmon go together?
Yes. 1,439 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 32 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 19% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
More than half of salmon's flavor molecules (32 of 47) also occur in tomato. Among the shared key aromas are 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic) and trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green). Most of what they share is background chemistry many foods carry, so the overlap does little for the smell.
What each one brings
tomato
The tartness. Sour notes make up 14% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 2% for salmon. It carries 478 molecules salmon doesn't have.
salmon
The fresh, green side. Green notes make up 34% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 14% for tomato. It carries 15 molecules tomato doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Olive: the best fit for both, top 1% of pairs with tomato, top 15% with salmon.
- Avocado: top 2% of pairs with tomato, top 13% with salmon.
- Cucumber: top 4% of pairs with tomato, top 11% with salmon.
- Beans: top 1% of pairs with tomato, top 22% with salmon.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with tomato and salmon
Almost always mains: 245 of the 286 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 478 molecules salmon doesn't, and salmon has 15 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 32 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 478 only in tomato and the 15 only in salmon.
Tomato and salmon questions
Do tomato and salmon go together?
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 1,439 recipes, and they share 32 flavor molecules: the top 19% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do tomato and salmon taste good together?
More than half of salmon's flavor molecules (32 of 47) also occur in tomato. Among the shared key aromas are 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic) and trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green). Most of what they share is background chemistry many foods carry, so the overlap does little for the smell.
What goes with tomato and salmon?
Olive is the best third ingredient: top 1% of pairs with tomato and top 15% with salmon. Avocado and cucumber also fit both.
What can you make with tomato and salmon?
Almost always mains: 245 of the 286 recipes with a course label are mains. Common dishes include Grilled Salmon with Tomato, Cucumber and Caper Salsa, Avocado Blackberry Dressing with Salmon on Frisée and Baby Red Lettuce, Barbecue Salmon Kebabs, Chilean Salmon Ceviche.
Can I use salmon instead of tomato?
Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: tomato has 478 molecules salmon doesn't, and salmon has 15 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 Salmon. https://compkitchen.com/compare/tomato-vs-salmon. Accessed 2026-11-04.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_tomato_vs_salmon_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Tomato vs Salmon},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/tomato-vs-salmon},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-04}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.