Butter + Provolone cheese
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 102 recipes, and they share 56 flavor molecules: the top 12% of all ingredient pairs.
Do butter and provolone cheese go together?
Yes. 102 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 56 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 12% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
They overlap on 56 flavor molecules: 46% of provolone cheese's 122. Among the shared key aromas are gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy) and ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
What each one brings
butter
The fresh, green side. Green notes make up 14% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 11% for provolone cheese. It carries 140 molecules provolone cheese doesn't have.
provolone cheese
The fruit. Fruity notes make up 31% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 24% for butter. It carries 66 molecules butter doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Swiss cheese: the best fit for both, top 8% of pairs with butter, top 1% with provolone cheese.
- Cream cheese: top 8% of pairs with butter, top 1% with provolone cheese.
- Mozzarella cheese: top 12% of pairs with butter, top 1% with provolone cheese.
- Romano cheese: top 12% of pairs with butter, top 1% with provolone cheese.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with butter and provolone cheese
Almost always mains: 9 of the 10 recipes with a course label are mains.
Can you swap one for the other?
Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: butter has 140 molecules provolone cheese doesn't, and provolone cheese has 66 that butter 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 56 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 140 only in butter and the 66 only in provolone cheese.
Butter and provolone cheese questions
Do butter and provolone cheese go together?
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 102 recipes, and they share 56 flavor molecules: the top 12% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do butter and provolone cheese taste good together?
They overlap on 56 flavor molecules: 46% of provolone cheese's 122. Among the shared key aromas are gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy) and ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
What goes with butter and provolone cheese?
Swiss cheese is the best third ingredient: top 8% of pairs with butter and top 1% with provolone cheese. Cream cheese and mozzarella cheese also fit both.
What can you make with butter and provolone cheese?
Almost always mains: 9 of the 10 recipes with a course label are mains. Common dishes include Brunch Recipe - A Meal in One Dish, Caramelized Onion-Avocado Pizza, Cheese and Beer Soup, Deli-Style Philly Steak Sandwich.
Can I use provolone cheese instead of butter?
Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: butter has 140 molecules provolone cheese doesn't, and provolone cheese has 66 that butter 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: Butter vs Provolone Cheese. https://compkitchen.com/compare/butter-vs-provolone-cheese. Accessed 2026-11-05.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_butter_vs_provolone_cheese_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Butter vs Provolone Cheese},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/butter-vs-provolone-cheese},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-05}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.