Apple + Cabbage
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 235 recipes, and they share 270 flavor molecules: the top 12% of all ingredient pairs.
Do apple and cabbage go together?
Yes. 235 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 270 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 12% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
More than half of cabbage's flavor molecules (270 of 391) also occur in apple. Among the shared key aromas are 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea) and 2-octenal (fatty, green).
What each one brings
apple
The fruit. Fruity notes make up 27% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 12% for cabbage. It carries 252 molecules cabbage doesn't have.
cabbage
The sulfurous side. Sulfurous notes make up 11% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 2% for apple. It carries 121 molecules apple doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Pear: the best fit for both, top 1% of pairs with apple, top 17% with cabbage.
- Radish: top 12% of pairs with apple, top 3% with cabbage.
- Turnip: top 14% of pairs with apple, top 2% with cabbage.
- Plum: top 2% of pairs with apple, top 14% with cabbage.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with apple and cabbage
Mostly salads: 4 of the 8 recipes with a course label are salads.
Can you swap one for the other?
Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: apple has 252 molecules cabbage doesn't, and cabbage has 121 that apple 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 270 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 252 only in apple and the 121 only in cabbage.
Apple and cabbage questions
Do apple and cabbage go together?
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 235 recipes, and they share 270 flavor molecules: the top 12% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do apple and cabbage taste good together?
More than half of cabbage's flavor molecules (270 of 391) also occur in apple. Among the shared key aromas are 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea) and 2-octenal (fatty, green).
What goes with apple and cabbage?
Pear is the best third ingredient: top 1% of pairs with apple and top 17% with cabbage. Radish and turnip also fit both.
What can you make with apple and cabbage?
Mostly salads: 4 of the 8 recipes with a course label are salads. Common dishes include Cabbage and Apple Salad, Apple Beet Borscht, Broccoli Cabbage Slaw, Fruit and Cabbage Salad.
Can I use cabbage instead of apple?
Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: apple has 252 molecules cabbage doesn't, and cabbage has 121 that apple 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: Apple vs Cabbage. https://compkitchen.com/compare/apple-vs-cabbage. Accessed 2026-11-03.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_apple_vs_cabbage_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Apple vs Cabbage},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/apple-vs-cabbage},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-03}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.