Raisin + Sage
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 26 recipes, and they share 104 flavor molecules: the top 22% of all ingredient pairs.
Do raisin and sage go together?
Yes. 26 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 104 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 22% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
Almost everything raisin carries, sage has too: 104 of raisin's 129 flavor molecules also occur in sage. Among the shared key aromas are 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy) and isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
What each one brings
raisin
The tartness. Sour notes make up 18% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 15% for sage. It carries 25 molecules sage doesn't have.
sage
The herbal side. Herbal notes make up 16% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 6% for raisin. It carries 207 molecules raisin doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Cinnamon: the best fit for both, top 1% of pairs with raisin, top 7% with sage.
- Nutmeg: top 6% of pairs with raisin, top 3% with sage.
- Chestnut: top 6% of pairs with raisin, top 2% with sage.
- Rosemary: top 19% of pairs with raisin, top 1% with sage.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with raisin and sage
Almost always mains: 1 of the 1 recipes with a course label are mains.
Can you swap one for the other?
Only partly. Most of raisin's flavor molecules (104 of 129) are also found in sage, but sage has 207 that raisin lacks. Raisin gives you part of sage'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 104 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 25 only in raisin and the 207 only in sage.
Raisin and sage questions
Do raisin and sage go together?
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 26 recipes, and they share 104 flavor molecules: the top 22% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do raisin and sage taste good together?
Almost everything raisin carries, sage has too: 104 of raisin's 129 flavor molecules also occur in sage. Among the shared key aromas are 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy) and isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
What goes with raisin and sage?
Cinnamon is the best third ingredient: top 1% of pairs with raisin and top 7% with sage. Nutmeg and chestnut also fit both.
What can you make with raisin and sage?
Almost always mains: 1 of the 1 recipes with a course label are mains. Common dishes include Focaccia — Four Ways.
Can I use sage instead of raisin?
Only partly. Most of raisin's flavor molecules (104 of 129) are also found in sage, but sage has 207 that raisin lacks. Raisin gives you part of sage'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: Raisin vs Sage. https://compkitchen.com/compare/raisin-vs-sage. Accessed 2026-11-04.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_raisin_vs_sage_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Raisin vs Sage},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/raisin-vs-sage},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-04}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.