Broccoli + Tomato
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 1,118 recipes, and they share 257 flavor molecules: the top 7% of all ingredient pairs.
Do broccoli and tomato go together?
Yes. 1,118 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 257 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 7% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
Almost everything broccoli carries, tomato has too: 257 of broccoli's 298 flavor molecules also occur in tomato. Among the shared key aromas are 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond) and 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
What each one brings
broccoli
The sulfurous side. Sulfurous notes make up 9% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 3% for tomato. It carries 41 molecules tomato doesn't have.
tomato
The fresh, green side. Green notes make up 14% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 9% for broccoli. It carries 253 molecules broccoli doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Garlic: the best fit for both, top 1% of pairs with broccoli, top 3% with tomato.
- Chickpea: top 1% of pairs with broccoli, top 3% with tomato.
- Beans: top 3% of pairs with broccoli, top 1% with tomato.
- Okra: top 2% of pairs with broccoli, top 3% with tomato.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with broccoli and tomato
Mostly mains: 276 of the 365 recipes with a course label are mains.
Can you swap one for the other?
Only partly. Almost all of broccoli's flavor molecules (257 of 298) are also found in tomato, but tomato has 253 that broccoli lacks. Broccoli 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 257 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 41 only in broccoli and the 253 only in tomato.
Broccoli and tomato questions
Do broccoli and tomato go together?
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 1,118 recipes, and they share 257 flavor molecules: the top 7% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do broccoli and tomato taste good together?
Almost everything broccoli carries, tomato has too: 257 of broccoli's 298 flavor molecules also occur in tomato. Among the shared key aromas are 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond) and 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
What goes with broccoli and tomato?
Garlic is the best third ingredient: top 1% of pairs with broccoli and top 3% with tomato. Chickpea and beans also fit both.
What can you make with broccoli and tomato?
Mostly mains: 276 of the 365 recipes with a course label are mains. Common dishes include Broccoli‑Topped Baked Tomatoes, Roasted Broccoli and Tomato Salad, Tomato-Broccoli Salad, Beef Broccoli Bake.
Can I use tomato instead of broccoli?
Only partly. Almost all of broccoli's flavor molecules (257 of 298) are also found in tomato, but tomato has 253 that broccoli lacks. Broccoli 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: Broccoli vs Tomato. https://compkitchen.com/compare/broccoli-vs-tomato. Accessed 2026-11-04.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_broccoli_vs_tomato_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Broccoli vs Tomato},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/broccoli-vs-tomato},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-04}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.