Apple + Rice
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 1,311 recipes, and they share 286 flavor molecules: the top 13% of all ingredient pairs.
Do apple and rice go together?
Yes. 1,311 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 286 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 13% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
More than half of rice's flavor molecules (286 of 428) also occur in apple. Among the shared key aromas are trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty) and gamma-undecalactone (peach, sweet).
What each one brings
apple
The fruit. Fruity notes make up 27% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 13% for rice. It carries 236 molecules rice doesn't have.
rice
The fresh, green side. Green notes make up 13% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 8% for apple. It carries 142 molecules apple doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Cinnamon: the best fit for both, top 4% of pairs with apple, top 4% with rice.
- Grape: top 1% of pairs with apple, top 10% with rice.
- Pear: top 1% of pairs with apple, top 15% with rice.
- Cranberry: top 3% of pairs with apple, top 9% with rice.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with apple and rice
Mostly mains: 86 of the 138 recipes with a course label are mains.
Can you swap one for the other?
Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: apple has 236 molecules rice doesn't, and rice has 142 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 286 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 236 only in apple and the 142 only in rice.
Apple and rice questions
Do apple and rice go together?
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 1,311 recipes, and they share 286 flavor molecules: the top 13% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do apple and rice taste good together?
More than half of rice's flavor molecules (286 of 428) also occur in apple. Among the shared key aromas are trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty) and gamma-undecalactone (peach, sweet).
What goes with apple and rice?
Cinnamon is the best third ingredient: top 4% of pairs with apple and top 4% with rice. Grape and pear also fit both.
What can you make with apple and rice?
Mostly mains: 86 of the 138 recipes with a course label are mains. Common dishes include Apple Rice Pudding, 1928 Apple Rice Pudding, A Chartreuse of Apples and Rice, Apple Almond Rice.
Can I use rice instead of apple?
Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: apple has 236 molecules rice doesn't, and rice has 142 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 Rice. https://compkitchen.com/compare/apple-vs-rice. Accessed 2026-11-04.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_apple_vs_rice_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Apple vs Rice},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/apple-vs-rice},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-04}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.