Cinnamon + Ginger
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 6,380 recipes, and they share 268 flavor molecules: the top 1% of all ingredient pairs.
Do cinnamon and ginger go together?
Yes. 6,380 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 268 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 1% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
Almost everything cinnamon carries, ginger has too: 268 of cinnamon's 324 flavor molecules also occur in ginger. Among the shared key aromas are estragole (anise, licorice) and beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
What each one brings
cinnamon
The tartness. Sour notes make up 15% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 12% for ginger. It carries 56 molecules ginger doesn't have.
ginger
The floral side. Floral notes make up 16% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 10% for cinnamon. It carries 165 molecules cinnamon doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Clove: the best fit for both, top 1% of pairs with cinnamon, top 1% with ginger.
- Cardamom: top 1% of pairs with cinnamon, top 1% with ginger.
- Allspice: top 1% of pairs with cinnamon, top 1% with ginger.
- Nutmeg: top 1% of pairs with cinnamon, top 5% with ginger.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with cinnamon and ginger
Spread across courses: desserts lead with 289 of the 588 recipes with a course label, then mains (212) (from a sample of 3,000 recipes that use both).
Can you swap one for the other?
Only partly. Most of cinnamon's flavor molecules (268 of 324) are also found in ginger, but ginger has 165 that cinnamon lacks. Cinnamon gives you part of ginger's character without most of its floral side. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 268 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 56 only in cinnamon and the 165 only in ginger.
Cinnamon and ginger questions
Do cinnamon and ginger go together?
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 6,380 recipes, and they share 268 flavor molecules: the top 1% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do cinnamon and ginger taste good together?
Almost everything cinnamon carries, ginger has too: 268 of cinnamon's 324 flavor molecules also occur in ginger. Among the shared key aromas are estragole (anise, licorice) and beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
What goes with cinnamon and ginger?
Clove is the best third ingredient: top 1% of pairs with cinnamon and top 1% with ginger. Cardamom and allspice also fit both.
What can you make with cinnamon and ginger?
Spread across courses: desserts lead with 289 of the 588 recipes with a course label, then mains (212) (from a sample of 3,000 recipes that use both). Common dishes include Ginger-Cinnamon Tea, Hot Buttered Cider with Ginger and Cinnamon, Ginger Snaps, Ginger Bread.
Can I use ginger instead of cinnamon?
Only partly. Most of cinnamon's flavor molecules (268 of 324) are also found in ginger, but ginger has 165 that cinnamon lacks. Cinnamon gives you part of ginger's character without most of its floral 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: Cinnamon vs Ginger. https://compkitchen.com/compare/cinnamon-vs-ginger. Accessed 2026-11-03.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_cinnamon_vs_ginger_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Cinnamon vs Ginger},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/cinnamon-vs-ginger},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-03}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.