Clove + Onion
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 16,901 recipes, and they share 214 flavor molecules: the top 13% of all ingredient pairs.
Do clove and onion go together?
Yes. 16,901 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 214 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 13% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
More than half of clove's flavor molecules (214 of 311) also occur in onion. Among the shared key aromas are 2-nonanone (fruity, floral) and coumarin (sweet, hay).
What each one brings
clove
The fruit. Fruity notes make up 17% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 9% for onion. It carries 97 molecules onion doesn't have.
onion
The sulfurous side. Sulfurous notes make up 13% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 2% for clove. It carries 151 molecules clove doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Allspice: the best fit for both, top 1% of pairs with clove, top 13% with onion.
- Cinnamon: top 1% of pairs with clove, top 16% with onion.
- Ginger: top 1% of pairs with clove, top 9% with onion.
- Garlic: top 10% of pairs with clove, top 1% with onion.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with clove and onion
Almost always mains: 1,332 of the 1,587 recipes with a course label are mains (from a sample of 3,000 recipes that use both).
Can you swap one for the other?
Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: clove has 97 molecules onion doesn't, and onion has 151 that clove 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 214 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 97 only in clove and the 151 only in onion.
Clove and onion questions
Do clove and onion go together?
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 16,901 recipes, and they share 214 flavor molecules: the top 13% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do clove and onion taste good together?
More than half of clove's flavor molecules (214 of 311) also occur in onion. Among the shared key aromas are 2-nonanone (fruity, floral) and coumarin (sweet, hay).
What goes with clove and onion?
Allspice is the best third ingredient: top 1% of pairs with clove and top 13% with onion. Cinnamon and ginger also fit both.
What can you make with clove and onion?
Almost always mains: 1,332 of the 1,587 recipes with a course label are mains (from a sample of 3,000 recipes that use both). Common dishes include American Onion Soup, Beef and Onion Stew, Bolivian Onion Soup, Catfish with Apple-Fennel Salad and Pickled Pearl Onions.
Can I use onion instead of clove?
Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: clove has 97 molecules onion doesn't, and onion has 151 that clove 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: Clove vs Onion. https://compkitchen.com/compare/clove-vs-onion. Accessed 2026-11-03.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_clove_vs_onion_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Clove vs Onion},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/clove-vs-onion},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-03}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.