Nutmeg + Plum
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 185 recipes, and they share 234 flavor molecules: the top 14% of all ingredient pairs.
Do nutmeg and plum go together?
Yes. 185 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 234 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 14% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
More than half of nutmeg's flavor molecules (234 of 301) also occur in plum. 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 5% for plum. It carries 67 molecules plum doesn't have.
plum
The fruit. Fruity notes make up 25% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 10% for nutmeg. It carries 147 molecules nutmeg doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Cinnamon: the best fit for both, top 1% of pairs with nutmeg, top 5% with plum.
- Clove: top 1% of pairs with nutmeg, top 8% with plum.
- Allspice: top 1% of pairs with nutmeg, top 9% with plum.
- Cardamom: top 1% of pairs with nutmeg, top 8% with plum.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with nutmeg and plum
Mostly desserts: 6 of the 11 recipes with a course label are desserts.
Can you swap one for the other?
Only partly. Most of nutmeg's flavor molecules (234 of 301) are also found in plum, but plum has 147 that nutmeg lacks. Nutmeg 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 234 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 67 only in nutmeg and the 147 only in plum.
Nutmeg and plum questions
Do nutmeg and plum go together?
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 185 recipes, and they share 234 flavor molecules: the top 14% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do nutmeg and plum taste good together?
More than half of nutmeg's flavor molecules (234 of 301) also occur in plum. Among the shared key aromas are eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal) and alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
What goes with nutmeg and plum?
Cinnamon is the best third ingredient: top 1% of pairs with nutmeg and top 5% with plum. Clove and allspice also fit both.
What can you make with nutmeg and plum?
Mostly desserts: 6 of the 11 recipes with a course label are desserts. Common dishes include Plum Pudding, Plum Streusel Coffee Cake, Plum Tart, Plum and Peach Grills.
Can I use plum instead of nutmeg?
Only partly. Most of nutmeg's flavor molecules (234 of 301) are also found in plum, but plum has 147 that nutmeg lacks. Nutmeg 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: Nutmeg vs Plum. https://compkitchen.com/compare/nutmeg-vs-plum. Accessed 2026-11-04.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_nutmeg_vs_plum_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Nutmeg vs Plum},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/nutmeg-vs-plum},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-04}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.