Onion + Licorice
Not a natural pairing: they share little aroma and few recipes use both, which puts them in the top 50% of all ingredient pairs.
Do onion and licorice go together?
Not really. 4 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 12 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 50% of every ingredient pair we score.
What they have in common
They overlap on 12 flavor molecules: 34% of licorice's 35. Among the shared key aromas are guaiacol (smoky, sweet) and phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey). Most of what they share is background chemistry many foods carry, so the overlap does little for the smell.
What each one brings
onion
The sulfurous side. Sulfurous notes make up 13% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 0% for licorice. It carries 353 molecules licorice doesn't have.
licorice
The caramel side. Caramel notes make up 13% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 5% for onion. It carries 23 molecules onion doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Garlic: the best fit for both, top 1% of pairs with onion, bottom 39% with licorice.
- Flaxseed: top 15% of pairs with onion, top 21% with licorice.
- Fennel: top 11% of pairs with onion, top 31% with licorice.
- Star anise: top 13% of pairs with onion, top 29% with licorice.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with onion and licorice
Almost always mains: 1 of the 1 recipes with a course label are mains.
Can you swap one for the other?
Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: onion has 353 molecules licorice doesn't, and licorice has 23 that onion doesn't. Treat them as partners, not stand-ins. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 12 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 353 only in onion and the 23 only in licorice.
Onion and licorice questions
Do onion and licorice go together?
Not a natural pairing: they share little aroma and few recipes use both, which puts them in the top 50% of all ingredient pairs.
What do onion and licorice have in common?
They overlap on 12 flavor molecules: 34% of licorice's 35. Among the shared key aromas are guaiacol (smoky, sweet) and phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey). Most of what they share is background chemistry many foods carry, so the overlap does little for the smell.
What goes with onion and licorice?
Garlic is the best third ingredient: top 1% of pairs with onion and bottom 39% with licorice. Flaxseed and fennel also fit both.
What can you make with onion and licorice?
Almost always mains: 1 of the 1 recipes with a course label are mains. Common dishes include Bak Kut Teh.
Can I use licorice instead of onion?
Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: onion has 353 molecules licorice doesn't, and licorice has 23 that onion doesn't. Treat them as partners, not stand-ins. 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: Onion vs Licorice. https://compkitchen.com/compare/onion-vs-licorice. Accessed 2026-11-06.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_onion_vs_licorice_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Onion vs Licorice},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/onion-vs-licorice},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-06}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.