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Pairing

Black currant + Red currant

A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 72 recipes, and they share 140 flavor molecules: the top 1% of all ingredient pairs.

Smell alikestrong
Cooked together72 recipes
Ranktop 1% of pairs
Try them in the pairing tool Black currant Red currant
211black currant only 140shared 4red currant only Black currant · 351 Red currant · 144
Circle size = number of flavor molecules on record. Overlap = molecules they share.

Do black currant and red currant go together?

Yes. 72 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 140 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 1% of every ingredient pair we score.

Why they work

Almost everything red currant carries, black currant has too: 140 of red currant's 144 flavor molecules also occur in black currant. Among the shared key aromas are isoamyl acetate (banana, pear) and ethyl benzoate (fruity, sweet).

What each one brings

black currant

The roast. Roasted notes make up 5% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 3% for red currant. It carries 211 molecules red currant doesn't have.

red currant

The fresh, green side. Green notes make up 14% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 9% for black currant. It carries 4 molecules black currant doesn't have.

Add a third ingredient

  • Raspberry: the best fit for both, top 5% of pairs with black currant, top 1% with red currant.
  • Blackberry: top 4% of pairs with black currant, top 5% with red currant.
  • Thyme: top 7% of pairs with black currant, top 5% with red currant.
  • Gooseberry: top 5% of pairs with black currant, top 7% with red currant.

Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.

Recipes with black currant and red currant

Almost always desserts: 1 of the 1 recipes with a course label are desserts.

Individual Summer Puddings

See recipes with both →

Can you swap one for the other?

Only partly. Almost all of red currant's flavor molecules (140 of 144) are also found in black currant, but black currant has 211 that red currant lacks. Red currant gives you part of black currant's character without most of its roast. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.

All 140 shared molecules

See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 211 only in black currant and the 4 only in red currant.

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Black currant and red currant questions

Do black currant and red currant go together?

A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 72 recipes, and they share 140 flavor molecules: the top 1% of all ingredient pairs.

Why do black currant and red currant taste good together?

Almost everything red currant carries, black currant has too: 140 of red currant's 144 flavor molecules also occur in black currant. Among the shared key aromas are isoamyl acetate (banana, pear) and ethyl benzoate (fruity, sweet).

What goes with black currant and red currant?

Raspberry is the best third ingredient: top 5% of pairs with black currant and top 1% with red currant. Blackberry and thyme also fit both.

What can you make with black currant and red currant?

Almost always desserts: 1 of the 1 recipes with a course label are desserts. Common dishes include Individual Summer Puddings.

Can I use red currant instead of black currant?

Only partly. Almost all of red currant's flavor molecules (140 of 144) are also found in black currant, but black currant has 211 that red currant lacks. Red currant gives you part of black currant's character without most of its roast. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.

Compare other ingredients

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2

Two ingredients gives the full side-by-side breakdown; add a third to see a similarity matrix across all of them (up to 6).

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
Plain text
Compound Kitchen (2026). Compound similarity analysis: Black Currant vs Red Currant. https://compkitchen.com/compare/black-currant-vs-red-currant. Accessed 2026-11-04.
BibTeX
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_black_currant_vs_red_currant_2026,
  title  = {Compound similarity analysis: Black Currant vs Red Currant},
  author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
  year   = {2026},
  url    = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/black-currant-vs-red-currant},
  note   = {Accessed: 2026-11-04}
}

Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.