Clove + Mustard
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 3,829 recipes, and they share 218 flavor molecules: the top 8% of all ingredient pairs.
Do clove and mustard go together?
Yes. 3,829 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 218 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 8% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
More than half of mustard's flavor molecules (218 of 283) also occur in clove. Among the shared key aromas are methyleugenol (clove, spice) and eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
What each one brings
clove
The fruit. Fruity notes make up 17% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 10% for mustard. It carries 93 molecules mustard doesn't have.
mustard
The tartness. Sour notes make up 18% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 12% for clove. It carries 65 molecules clove doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Allspice: the best fit for both, top 1% of pairs with clove, top 2% with mustard.
- Horseradish: top 7% of pairs with clove, top 1% with mustard.
- Cinnamon: top 1% of pairs with clove, top 7% with mustard.
- Capers: top 8% of pairs with clove, top 1% with mustard.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with clove and mustard
Mostly mains: 199 of the 305 recipes with a course label are mains.
Can you swap one for the other?
Fairly well, for flavor. Each carries most of the other's flavor molecules (70% of clove's and 77% of mustard's are shared). This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 218 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 93 only in clove and the 65 only in mustard.
Clove and mustard questions
Do clove and mustard go together?
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 3,829 recipes, and they share 218 flavor molecules: the top 8% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do clove and mustard taste good together?
More than half of mustard's flavor molecules (218 of 283) also occur in clove. Among the shared key aromas are methyleugenol (clove, spice) and eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
What goes with clove and mustard?
Allspice is the best third ingredient: top 1% of pairs with clove and top 2% with mustard. Horseradish and cinnamon also fit both.
What can you make with clove and mustard?
Mostly mains: 199 of the 305 recipes with a course label are mains. Common dishes include Tomato Mustard, Broiled Lamb Chops with Mustard Honey Glaze, English Mustard Pickle, French Mustard.
Can I use mustard instead of clove?
Fairly well, for flavor. Each carries most of the other's flavor molecules (70% of clove's and 77% of mustard's are shared). 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: Clove vs Mustard. https://compkitchen.com/compare/clove-vs-mustard. Accessed 2026-11-03.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_clove_vs_mustard_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Clove vs Mustard},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/clove-vs-mustard},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-03}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.