Thyme + Red currant
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 121 recipes, and they share 106 flavor molecules: the top 5% of all ingredient pairs.
Do thyme and red currant go together?
Yes. 121 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 106 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 5% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
More than half of red currant's flavor molecules (106 of 144) also occur in thyme. Among the shared key aromas are alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine) and 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
What each one brings
thyme
The herbal side. Herbal notes make up 13% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 7% for red currant. It carries 197 molecules red currant doesn't have.
red currant
The fresh, green side. Green notes make up 14% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 8% for thyme. It carries 38 molecules thyme doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Marjoram: the best fit for both, top 1% of pairs with thyme, top 11% with red currant.
- Black currant: top 7% of pairs with thyme, top 1% with red currant.
- Rosemary: top 1% of pairs with thyme, top 11% with red currant.
- Sage: top 1% of pairs with thyme, top 13% with red currant.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with thyme and red currant
We have no browsable recipe that lists both thyme and red currant.
Can you swap one for the other?
Only partly. Most of red currant's flavor molecules (106 of 144) are also found in thyme, but thyme has 197 that red currant lacks. Red currant gives you part of thyme'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 106 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 197 only in thyme and the 38 only in red currant.
Thyme and red currant questions
Do thyme and red currant go together?
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 121 recipes, and they share 106 flavor molecules: the top 5% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do thyme and red currant taste good together?
More than half of red currant's flavor molecules (106 of 144) also occur in thyme. Among the shared key aromas are alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine) and 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
What goes with thyme and red currant?
Marjoram is the best third ingredient: top 1% of pairs with thyme and top 11% with red currant. Black currant and rosemary also fit both.
Can I use red currant instead of thyme?
Only partly. Most of red currant's flavor molecules (106 of 144) are also found in thyme, but thyme has 197 that red currant lacks. Red currant gives you part of thyme'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: Thyme vs Red Currant. https://compkitchen.com/compare/thyme-vs-red-currant. Accessed 2026-11-04.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_thyme_vs_red_currant_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Thyme vs Red Currant},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/thyme-vs-red-currant},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-04}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.