Cranberry + Plum
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 21 recipes, and they share 263 flavor molecules: the top 7% of all ingredient pairs.
Do cranberry and plum go together?
Yes. 21 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 263 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 7% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
More than half of cranberry's flavor molecules (263 of 334) also occur in plum. Among the shared key aromas are 2,4-decadienal (seaweed) and methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
What each one brings
cranberry
The fresh, green side. Green notes make up 12% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 9% for plum. It carries 71 molecules plum doesn't have.
plum
The fruit. Fruity notes make up 25% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 14% for cranberry. It carries 118 molecules cranberry doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Pear: the best fit for both, top 4% of pairs with cranberry, top 1% with plum.
- Peach: top 5% of pairs with cranberry, top 1% with plum.
- Apple: top 3% of pairs with cranberry, top 2% with plum.
- Apricot: top 9% of pairs with cranberry, top 1% with plum.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with cranberry and plum
Mostly mains: 4 of the 6 recipes with a course label are mains.
Can you swap one for the other?
Only partly. Most of cranberry's flavor molecules (263 of 334) are also found in plum, but plum has 118 that cranberry lacks. Cranberry gives you part of plum's character without most of its fruit. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 263 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 71 only in cranberry and the 118 only in plum.
Cranberry and plum questions
Do cranberry and plum go together?
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 21 recipes, and they share 263 flavor molecules: the top 7% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do cranberry and plum taste good together?
More than half of cranberry's flavor molecules (263 of 334) also occur in plum. Among the shared key aromas are 2,4-decadienal (seaweed) and methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
What goes with cranberry and plum?
Pear is the best third ingredient: top 4% of pairs with cranberry and top 1% with plum. Peach and apple also fit both.
What can you make with cranberry and plum?
Mostly mains: 4 of the 6 recipes with a course label are mains. Common dishes include Pepper-crusted Lamb with Plum Chutney, Plum Cool Down, Eight-Bean Chili, Estonian Bread Soup.
Can I use plum instead of cranberry?
Only partly. Most of cranberry's flavor molecules (263 of 334) are also found in plum, but plum has 118 that cranberry lacks. Cranberry gives you part of plum's character without most of its fruit. 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: Cranberry vs Plum. https://compkitchen.com/compare/cranberry-vs-plum. Accessed 2026-11-04.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_cranberry_vs_plum_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Cranberry vs Plum},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/cranberry-vs-plum},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-04}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.