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vegetable sulfury & pungent green & herbal Vegan Gluten-free Dairy-free Nut-free Kosher Halal

Leek

Leek is a vegetable with 262 known flavor compounds. The most distinctive molecule is propenyl propyl disulfide. It pairs most strongly with turnip, sharing 219 flavor compounds. Leek appears in 2,082 recipes, most commonly in tofu cuisine.

vegetable in the onion family
Wikidata Q1807269 (CC0)
Leek — ingredient reference image
262
Flavor Compounds
8
Top Pairings of 856 scored

Flavor Science

Flavor Profile Breakdown

262 compounds

How Leek's 262 known compounds break down by aroma category. Percentages are of compounds with a known label.

sour 43 · 16.4%
other 38 · 14.5%
floral 30 · 11.5%
fruity 26 · 9.9%
green 23 · 8.8%
sulfurous 18 · 6.9%
roasted 17 · 6.5%
herbal 14 · 5.3%
spicy 10 · 3.8%
savory 3 · 1.1%

Most Used In

Tofu (1)

Flavor Compounds

26 of 262 are distinctive to leek — they appear in under 10% of foods. The remainder are the background most foods share.

Ordered by measured impact in leek — concentration against odour threshold where both are published, then by how distinctive the molecule is across the graph. Molecules measured here but not established as odorants sit below those that are.

Molecules volatile enough to reach the nose.
2-methylpentanal diallyl sulfide 1,2-dimethoxybenzene methyl propyl disulfide dipropyl disulfide 1-propanethiol 2,6-dimethoxyphenol 2-pentadecanone ethyl butyrate allyl methyl disulfide pyridine linolenic acid dimethyl trisulfide pentanal 2-undecanone 2-tridecanone 1-propanol 3-octanol 1-octen-3-ol 2-furaldehyde trans-2-hexenal 1-nonanol dimethyl disulfide 2-nonanone 2-heptanone palmitic acid 3-(methylthio)propanal 1-octanol 2-methyl-1-butanol methanethiol +128 more stearic acid inositol lignoceric acid nervonic acid lutein isorhamnetin isoliquiritigenin thiamine hydrochloride taxifolin daidzein squalene genistein quercetin luteolin myricetin phloretin zeaxanthin aconitic acid stigmasterol naringenin inosine guanosine apigenin adenosine l-isoleucine kaempferol pantothenic acid folic acid l-leucine cholesterol caffeine α-tocopherol retinol propenyl propyl disulfide acso diisopropyl trisulfide cycloalliin allyl propyl disulfide silica octan-2-one vitamin u calcium lactate hypoxanthine creatine 4-hydroxyproline chlorophyll b choline daidzin chlorophyll a l-methionine theobromine nicotinic acid d-lactic acid creatinine d-glucose 5-p-coumaroylquinic acid hydantoin 1,3,5-trimethoxybenzene umbelliferone neoglucobrassicin

Best Pairings for Leek

Ranked by how often cooks actually use them together, across 453,403 recipes — the familiar answer first. Each pairing still carries its molecular score and shared-compound count; only the ORDER differs. Counts cover every characterised molecule the two ingredients have in common, not only the aroma-active ones, so they can exceed an ingredient’s aroma-compound count. For the chemistry-first view — where the surprising pairings live — see the molecular network below, the side-by-side comparison, or the Pairing Tool.

Molecular Neighborhood

Leek and its 10 closest compound-sharing relatives. Spoke thickness = shared compounds; circle size = that ingredient's own compound count. Drag to rearrange, scroll to zoom, click to open.

Molecular neighborhood diagram of leek — top 10 ingredients ranked by shared volatile compounds
1
Turnip vegetable root
219 shared compounds
92%
2
Carrot vegetable root
226 shared compounds
72%
3
Celery spice
228 shared compounds
70%
4
Onion vegetable
237 shared compounds
69%
5
Chervil herb
217 shared compounds
89%
6
Beef meat
139 shared compounds
53%
7
Parsnip vegetable root
224 shared compounds
85%
8
Sorrel herb
220 shared compounds
94%

Compare Leek side-by-side

Leek vs Turnip Leek vs Carrot Leek vs Celery Leek vs Onion Leek vs Chervil Leek vs Beef

Recipes with Leek

View all →
Ramp Dip

Ramp Dip

cheese egg wild leek
3 ingr. View →
Chicken Stock

Chicken Stock

chicken leek celery +4
7 ingr. View →
Poached Chicken Pearl Barley

Poached Chicken Pearl Barley

chicken carrot celery +3
6 ingr. View →
Pho Bo

Pho Bo

basil peppermint cilantro +4
7 ingr. View →
Asparagus Vichyssoise with Mint

Asparagus Vichyssoise with Mint

butter leek potato +4
7 ingr. View →
Horseradish Sauce

Horseradish Sauce

egg parsley onion +6
9 ingr. · 9 steps View →
Research basis

Leek is supported by 1,360 peer-reviewed papers

Drawn from PubMed + Europe PMC + food-science journals. Click any title to read the full abstract on the original source.
Show all 1,360 papers →