Tomato + Nutmeg
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 879 recipes, and they share 248 flavor molecules: the top 15% of all ingredient pairs.
Do tomato and nutmeg go together?
Yes. 879 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 248 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 15% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
Almost everything nutmeg carries, tomato has too: 248 of nutmeg's 301 flavor molecules also occur in tomato. Among the shared key aromas are 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond) and beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
What each one brings
tomato
The fresh, green side. Green notes make up 14% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 8% for nutmeg. It carries 262 molecules nutmeg doesn't have.
nutmeg
The herbal side. Herbal notes make up 14% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 8% for tomato. It carries 53 molecules tomato doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Cinnamon: the best fit for both, top 11% of pairs with tomato, top 1% with nutmeg.
- Cumin: top 2% of pairs with tomato, top 3% with nutmeg.
- Cardamom: top 8% of pairs with tomato, top 1% with nutmeg.
- Oregano: top 2% of pairs with tomato, top 5% with nutmeg.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with tomato and nutmeg
Mostly mains: 110 of the 138 recipes with a course label are mains.
Can you swap one for the other?
Only partly. Most of nutmeg's flavor molecules (248 of 301) are also found in tomato, but tomato has 262 that nutmeg lacks. Nutmeg gives you part of tomato's character without most of its fresh, green side. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 248 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 262 only in tomato and the 53 only in nutmeg.
Tomato and nutmeg questions
Do tomato and nutmeg go together?
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 879 recipes, and they share 248 flavor molecules: the top 15% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do tomato and nutmeg taste good together?
Almost everything nutmeg carries, tomato has too: 248 of nutmeg's 301 flavor molecules also occur in tomato. Among the shared key aromas are 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond) and beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
What goes with tomato and nutmeg?
Cinnamon is the best third ingredient: top 11% of pairs with tomato and top 1% with nutmeg. Cumin and cardamom also fit both.
What can you make with tomato and nutmeg?
Mostly mains: 110 of the 138 recipes with a course label are mains. Common dishes include Green Tomato Mincemeat, Tomato Soup, Tomato Catsup, Burundian Tomato Sauce.
Can I use nutmeg instead of tomato?
Only partly. Most of nutmeg's flavor molecules (248 of 301) are also found in tomato, but tomato has 262 that nutmeg lacks. Nutmeg gives you part of tomato's character without most of its fresh, green 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: Tomato vs Nutmeg. https://compkitchen.com/compare/tomato-vs-nutmeg. Accessed 2026-11-04.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_tomato_vs_nutmeg_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Tomato vs Nutmeg},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/tomato-vs-nutmeg},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-04}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.