Skip to main content
Pairing

Cranberry + Thyme

106cranberryonly 228shared 75thyme only Cranberry · 334 Thyme · 303
Circle size = number of flavor molecules on record. Overlap = molecules they share.

43 recipes mention both · top 5% of pairs

CompKitchen is a free flavor-pairing site: it compares the aroma molecules two foods share and how often cooks put them together. No account needed.

Overlap, weighted to rarer moleculesstrong
Mentioned together43 recipes
Ranktop 5% of pairs
Try them in the pairing tool Cranberry Thyme

Do cranberry and thyme go together?

Some recipes mention both. 43 recipes in our collection mention both, and they share 228 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 5% of a large random sample of ingredient pairs.

Add a third ingredient

  • Marjoram: the best fit for both, top 7% of pairs with cranberry, top 1% with thyme.
  • Rosemary: top 4% of pairs with cranberry, top 1% with thyme.
  • Sage: top 5% of pairs with cranberry, top 1% with thyme.
  • Orange: top 2% of pairs with cranberry, top 3% with thyme.

Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.

Recipes with cranberry and thyme

Almost always mains: 12 of the 12 recipes with a course label are mains.

Cranberry Orange Gin Fizz with ThymeLemon-Thyme Cranberry SauceFinnish Carrot Pancake with Cranberry SauceBaked Brie with Herbed Pastry and Rum Cranberry CompoteCranberry Bean, Broccoli Rabe and Bacon SaladGoat's cheese & cranberry tartlets

Some of these have the ingredient list only, without the method. Where we have the original source, the recipe page links to it.

The count of 43 includes every recipe our index matched to both foods, some through an alternative or a related ingredient. This list is shorter because it shows only recipes whose ingredient lines name both. Open a few to see how they are used.

Search recipes with both →

Can you swap one for the other?

No. Cranberry and thyme are different kinds of food, so neither stands in for the other, whatever molecules they share. Treat them as partners, not stand-ins. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.

See the scienceshared molecules, aroma labels and where this pair ranks

What they have in common

More than half of thyme's flavor molecules (228 of 303) also occur in cranberry. Among the shared key aromas are eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal) and linalool (floral, citrus). Shared chemistry is a reason to try a pair, not a promise that it works on the plate.

All 228 shared molecules

See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 106 only in cranberry and the 75 only in thyme.

See the full list with Pro Sign in

Cranberry and thyme questions

Do cranberry and thyme go together?

43 recipes in our collection mention both, and they share 228 flavor molecules, which puts them in the top 5% of random ingredient pairs.

What do cranberry and thyme have in common?

More than half of thyme's flavor molecules (228 of 303) also occur in cranberry. Among the shared key aromas are eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal) and linalool (floral, citrus). Shared chemistry is a reason to try a pair, not a promise that it works on the plate.

What goes with cranberry and thyme?

Marjoram is the best third ingredient: top 7% of pairs with cranberry and top 1% with thyme. Rosemary and sage also fit both.

What can you make with cranberry and thyme?

Almost always mains: 12 of the 12 recipes with a course label are mains. Common dishes include Cranberry Orange Gin Fizz with Thyme, Lemon-Thyme Cranberry Sauce, Finnish Carrot Pancake with Cranberry Sauce, Baked Brie with Herbed Pastry and Rum Cranberry Compote.

Can I use thyme instead of cranberry?

No. Cranberry and thyme are different kinds of food, so neither stands in for the other, whatever molecules they share. Treat them as partners, not stand-ins. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.

Get the holiday dishes as a printable chart

The classics for turkey, stuffing, potatoes, pies and more, plus every twist that passed our rule, on one page for the fridge. Free when you join the Sunday newsletter.

One email on Sundays. Unsubscribe anytime.

Compare other ingredients

1
2

Two ingredients gives the full side-by-side breakdown; add a third to see a similarity matrix across all of them (up to 6).

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
Plain text
CompKitchen (2026). Compound similarity analysis: Cranberry vs Thyme. https://compkitchen.com/compare/cranberry-vs-thyme. Accessed 2026-11-14.
BibTeX
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_cranberry_vs_thyme_2026,
  title  = {Compound similarity analysis: Cranberry vs Thyme},
  author = {{CompKitchen}},
  year   = {2026},
  url    = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/cranberry-vs-thyme},
  note   = {Accessed: 2026-11-14}
}

Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719458 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.