Lemon + Raisin
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 3,742 recipes, and they share 111 flavor molecules: the top 14% of all ingredient pairs.
Do lemon and raisin go together?
Yes. 3,742 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 111 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 14% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
Almost everything raisin carries, lemon has too: 111 of raisin's 129 flavor molecules also occur in lemon. Among the shared key aromas are decanal (soap, orange peel) and 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
What each one brings
lemon
The herbal side. Herbal notes make up 17% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 6% for raisin. It carries 247 molecules raisin doesn't have.
raisin
The tartness. Sour notes make up 18% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 13% for lemon. It carries 18 molecules lemon doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Cinnamon: the best fit for both, top 7% of pairs with lemon, top 1% with raisin.
- Cardamom: top 1% of pairs with lemon, top 8% with raisin.
- Saffron: top 1% of pairs with lemon, top 7% with raisin.
- Nutmeg: top 5% of pairs with lemon, top 6% with raisin.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with lemon and raisin
Almost always desserts: 5 of the 6 recipes with a course label are desserts.
Can you swap one for the other?
Only partly. Almost all of raisin's flavor molecules (111 of 129) are also found in lemon, but lemon has 247 that raisin lacks. Raisin gives you part of lemon's character without most of its herbal side. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 111 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 247 only in lemon and the 18 only in raisin.
Lemon and raisin questions
Do lemon and raisin go together?
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 3,742 recipes, and they share 111 flavor molecules: the top 14% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do lemon and raisin taste good together?
Almost everything raisin carries, lemon has too: 111 of raisin's 129 flavor molecules also occur in lemon. Among the shared key aromas are decanal (soap, orange peel) and 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
What goes with lemon and raisin?
Cinnamon is the best third ingredient: top 7% of pairs with lemon and top 1% with raisin. Cardamom and saffron also fit both.
What can you make with lemon and raisin?
Almost always desserts: 5 of the 6 recipes with a course label are desserts. Common dishes include Breakfast Bread Pudding, Crumb Mince Meat, Huckleberry Pie, Mincemeat.
Can I use raisin instead of lemon?
Only partly. Almost all of raisin's flavor molecules (111 of 129) are also found in lemon, but lemon has 247 that raisin lacks. Raisin gives you part of lemon's character without most of its herbal side. 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: Lemon vs Raisin. https://compkitchen.com/compare/lemon-vs-raisin. Accessed 2026-11-04.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_lemon_vs_raisin_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Lemon vs Raisin},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/lemon-vs-raisin},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-04}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.