Dill + Star anise
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 12 recipes, and they share 234 flavor molecules: the top 7% of all ingredient pairs.
Do dill and star anise go together?
Yes. 12 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 234 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 7% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
Almost everything star anise carries, dill has too: 234 of star anise's 266 flavor molecules also occur in dill. Among the shared key aromas are 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise) and estragole (anise, licorice).
What each one brings
dill
The tartness. Sour notes make up 15% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 12% for star anise. It carries 108 molecules star anise doesn't have.
star anise
The herbal side. Herbal notes make up 16% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 14% for dill. It carries 32 molecules dill doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Fennel: the best fit for both, top 1% of pairs with dill, top 1% with star anise.
- Carrot: top 1% of pairs with dill, top 1% with star anise.
- Tarragon: top 1% of pairs with dill, top 2% with star anise.
- Cinnamon: top 8% of pairs with dill, top 1% with star anise.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with dill and star anise
We have no browsable recipe that lists both dill and star anise.
Can you swap one for the other?
Only partly. Almost all of star anise's flavor molecules (234 of 266) are also found in dill, but dill has 108 that star anise lacks. Star anise gives you part of dill's character without most of its tartness. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 234 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 108 only in dill and the 32 only in star anise.
Dill and star anise questions
Do dill and star anise go together?
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 12 recipes, and they share 234 flavor molecules: the top 7% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do dill and star anise taste good together?
Almost everything star anise carries, dill has too: 234 of star anise's 266 flavor molecules also occur in dill. Among the shared key aromas are 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise) and estragole (anise, licorice).
What goes with dill and star anise?
Fennel is the best third ingredient: top 1% of pairs with dill and top 1% with star anise. Carrot and tarragon also fit both.
Can I use star anise instead of dill?
Only partly. Almost all of star anise's flavor molecules (234 of 266) are also found in dill, but dill has 108 that star anise lacks. Star anise gives you part of dill's character without most of its tartness. 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: Dill vs Star Anise. https://compkitchen.com/compare/dill-vs-star-anise. Accessed 2026-11-05.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_dill_vs_star_anise_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Dill vs Star Anise},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/dill-vs-star-anise},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-05}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.