Perfect Pairings & Recipes for
Spaghetti

Discover the best flavour pairings for spaghetti based on data analysis of thousands of recipes. Find perfect ingredient matches & delicious recipes.

Spaghetti conjures the evocative embrace of wheat and the kiss of starch, yet its initial sweetness is only the opening note. Beneath lies a complex tapestry of grass, malt, and the warm aroma of toast, contributing remarkable depth. The artistry of the kitchen unfolds when we pair spaghetti with ingredients that let these nuances sing.

To chart these harmonies, we analysed thousands of ingredients, each deconstructed across 150 distinct flavour dimensions, pinpointing the notes that best complement this ingredient’s profile. Our exploration reveals, for instance, how the fresh, minty eucalyptol in sage can awaken spaghetti, and how herbes de Provence's rosmarinic notes forge a beautiful synergy with its grainy sweetness.

An ingredient's flavour comes from its core characteristics, like maillard, floral, and nectarous, combined with its unique aroma notes (outer bars). When pairing ingredients, aim to include a broad variety of core characteristics for a balanced dish. And choose aroma notes that complement each other for a harmonious combination.

The Flavour Code

To understand how flavour notes harmonise, we analysed more than 50,000 popular ingredient combinations. By exploring these pairings, we identified specific flavour notes that frequently occur together, indicating they share a harmonious relationship.

The Flavours That Harmonise With Wheat Notes

Our analysis shows that the flavour of wheat is strongly associated with the flavour of rosemary. This suggests we should look for ingredients with a rosemary flavour, such as herbes de Provence, when pairing with the wheaty accents of spaghetti.

The recipe below provides inspiration for pairing spaghetti with herbes de Provence.

Harmonious Flavours Of Spaghetti

Just as our analysis revealed that wheat and rosemary flavour accents often complement each other, we can identify the full profile of flavours that harmonise with each of the flavours present in spaghetti. For instance, the starchy notes of spaghetti are strongly associated with buttery and milky notes.

The aroma notes associated with the various aroma notes of spaghetti can be seen highlighted in the pink bars below.

Matching Flavour Profiles

The flavour profile of sage offers many of the aromas complementary to spaghetti, including sage and rosemary aroma notes. Because the flavour profile of sage has many of the of the features that are complementary to spaghetti, they are likely to pair very well together.

The chart above shows the unique profile of sage across 150 dimensions of flavour, while the recipes below offer inspiration for bringing these flavours together with spaghetti.

Recipes That Pair Spaghetti With Sage

Linked Flavour Notes

Looking at the aroma accents that are most strongly associated with the various flavours of spaghetti, we can identify other ingredients that are likely to pair well.

The left side of the chart above highlights the aroma notes of spaghetti, along with the complementary aromas associated with each note. While the right side shows some of the ingredients that share many of the notes complementary to spaghetti.

What To Drink With Spaghetti

The rosemary notes in pays d’oc make it a perfect pairing with spaghetti. Likewise, the rosemary flavours in cabernet/shiraz create a match made in heaven. Explore a variety of ingredients below that beautifully complement the unique character of spaghetti below.

Which Vegetables Go With Spaghetti?

Choose vegetables that enrich its starchiness or enrich its warm aroma. Red chilli offers vibrant, clean counterpoints, its verdant freshness lifting the palate. Poblano pepper add a gentle, oniony brightness, while pepperoncini introduces a sophisticated, anise-tinged elegance.

Alternatively, embrace vegetables that harmonise with spaghetti's toastiness. The addition of green olive, with its subtle oily notes, can complement the malt beautifully. Salad greens bridges earthiness and citrus zest, while greens lends a creamy tanginess.

How Flavonomics Works

We've pioneered a unique, data-driven approach to decode the intricate art of flavour pairing. Our goal is to move beyond intuition and uncover the science of why certain ingredients harmonise beautifully. This rigorous methodology allows us to provide you with insightful and reliable pairing recommendations.

Our analysis begins with over 50,000 carefully selected recipes from acclaimed chefs like Galton Blackiston, Marcello Tully, and Pierre Lambinon. This premium dataset ensures our model distils genuine culinary excellence and creativity.

Each ingredient from these recipes is deconstructed across 150 distinct flavour dimensions, creating a unique numerical "flavour fingerprint." This quantification allows us to apply advanced analytical methods to identify complex patterns between flavour notes.

We identify popular ingredient combinations that frequently appear in our recipe database. Regression analysis is then performed on these pairings to statistically validate and pinpoint truly harmonious flavours.

These insights drive our predictive model, which allows us to take any ingredient (e.g., Spaghetti), analyse its detailed flavour profile, and accurately reveal its complementary flavours and perfect ingredient partners.