Nutmeg + Cranberry
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 57 recipes, and they share 225 flavor molecules: the top 10% of all ingredient pairs.
Do nutmeg and cranberry go together?
Yes. 57 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 225 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 10% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
More than half of nutmeg's flavor molecules (225 of 301) also occur in cranberry. Among the shared key aromas are eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal) and alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
What each one brings
nutmeg
The herbal side. Herbal notes make up 14% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 7% for cranberry. It carries 76 molecules cranberry doesn't have.
cranberry
The fruit. Fruity notes make up 14% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 10% for nutmeg. It carries 109 molecules nutmeg doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Cinnamon: the best fit for both, top 1% of pairs with nutmeg, top 2% with cranberry.
- Clove: top 1% of pairs with nutmeg, top 8% with cranberry.
- Allspice: top 1% of pairs with nutmeg, top 10% with cranberry.
- Almond: top 4% of pairs with nutmeg, top 4% with cranberry.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with nutmeg and cranberry
Mostly desserts: 9 of the 14 recipes with a course label are desserts.
Can you swap one for the other?
Only partly. Most of nutmeg's flavor molecules (225 of 301) are also found in cranberry, but cranberry has 109 that nutmeg lacks. Nutmeg gives you part of cranberry's character without most of its fruit. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 225 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 76 only in nutmeg and the 109 only in cranberry.
Nutmeg and cranberry questions
Do nutmeg and cranberry go together?
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 57 recipes, and they share 225 flavor molecules: the top 10% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do nutmeg and cranberry taste good together?
More than half of nutmeg's flavor molecules (225 of 301) also occur in cranberry. Among the shared key aromas are eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal) and alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
What goes with nutmeg and cranberry?
Cinnamon is the best third ingredient: top 1% of pairs with nutmeg and top 2% with cranberry. Clove and allspice also fit both.
What can you make with nutmeg and cranberry?
Mostly desserts: 9 of the 14 recipes with a course label are desserts. Common dishes include Cranberry Cake, Cranberry Chews, Cranberry Ginger Tea, Cranberry Muffins I.
Can I use cranberry instead of nutmeg?
Only partly. Most of nutmeg's flavor molecules (225 of 301) are also found in cranberry, but cranberry has 109 that nutmeg lacks. Nutmeg gives you part of cranberry'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: Nutmeg vs Cranberry. https://compkitchen.com/compare/nutmeg-vs-cranberry. Accessed 2026-11-04.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_nutmeg_vs_cranberry_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Nutmeg vs Cranberry},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/nutmeg-vs-cranberry},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-04}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.