Nutmeg vs. Cloves: Seed Kernel vs. Flower Bud, and How to Swap Them

Nutmeg and cloves share pumpkin pies, spice cakes and Cincinnati chili, but they aren’t related and they don’t taste alike. Nutmeg is the dried seed kernel of a tree in the nutmeg family; a clove is the dried flower bud of a tree in the myrtle family. And cloves are much stronger: the bud can be up to a fifth essential oil, most of it eugenol, while nutmeg’s oil is led by pinenes and sabinene.¹²³ So think of them as partners, not stand-ins.

Side by side

The oil rows come from different sources (FAO for nutmeg, Britannica and PROSEA for cloves) and different samples. They show that cloves carry several times more oil, built around a different compound, but they don’t pin down an exact multiple.

How they taste, and why

It comes down to chemistry. Clove bud oil is mostly eugenol,² the compound behind cloves’ hot, medicinal edge. Nutmeg oil is mostly monoterpenes, with α- and β-pinene and sabinene as the big ones, and only a small share of aromatic ethers like myristicin.³⁵ Neither source lists eugenol among nutmeg’s main constituents.

Nutmeg tastes warm, woody and faintly sweet, and only turns harsh when you overdo it. Cloves are sharper, sweet-warm and medicinal, with a numbing, bitter edge if you use a lot. You’ll often see cloves described as having menthol and camphor notes. Nothing in the oil chemistry above backs that up, so take it as one taster’s impression.

Telling them apart

Whole, they look nothing alike. A clove is a little nail shape: a bud 1 to 2 cm long, a tubular calyx topped by a ball of unopened petals. A nutmeg is the hard kernel of a seed, about 6 to 7 g apiece.⁴ Ground, cloves are noticeably darker than nutmeg.

Where they meet

They share the warm-spice shelf more than a flavor:

• Cincinnati chili. Saveur’s recipe uses cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg together.⁸
• Allspice blends. The Spice House’s homemade stand-in for allspice is 2 parts cinnamon, 1 part nutmeg and 1 part ground cloves.⁹
• Pumpkin pie spice. Here they split up in at least one brand: McCormick’s lists cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice, and no cloves.¹⁰ Check the label on your jar.

Where each one goes alone

Nutmeg. Grated nutmeg flavors confectionery in small amounts in most countries, and goes into meat dishes and soups in western Europe. FAO’s tables list eggnog, ice cream and milk pudding, plus sausages and soups among industrial uses. A pinch also belongs in white sauces and creamed vegetables.

Cloves. Cloves flavor lots of foods, especially meats and baked goods, and go into food whole or ground. Stud a ham with whole cloves, or simmer them in mulled wine or cider. Whole cloves suit any liquid you’re going to strain.

Can one stand in for the other?

Only roughly, because neither one has the other’s main aroma compound. The ratios below come from our nutmeg substitutes and clove substitutes pages and keep their labels: Attributed quotes a named source, Method is a starting point where no published number exists, and Computed has a measurable basis.

Cloves in place of nutmeg. Healthline says to use half as much ground cloves.¹¹ Expect it to taste of cloves. It works best where nutmeg is one warm spice among several, not in a nutmeg-led custard or white sauce. For those, mace is the closer swap (see mace vs. nutmeg).

Nutmeg in place of cloves. The Spice House says a mix of cinnamon and nutmeg recreates the essence of cloves.¹² You’ll also see a rule that nutmeg alone can replace cloves at a fixed ratio; we found no source for it. If clove flavor matters, ground allspice gets you closer, since its oil is also led by eugenol (see allspice vs. cloves).

Whole to ground. McCormick’s conversions put half a nutmeg at 1 teaspoon ground, and 3 whole cloves at 1/4 teaspoon ground.¹³ Those convert within each spice, not between them.

Safety

Nutmeg. As a seasoning, nutmeg isn’t dangerous, the National Capital Poison Center says.¹⁴ The trouble is large amounts. The Tennessee Poison Center says psychogenic effects have been reported at 15 to 20 g of ground nutmeg, about two to three tablespoons,¹⁵ and the Missouri Poison Center reports doses of 5 to 30 g among people who take it to get high.⁴ The two figures describe different things, so we show them as given. Nutmeg is also one of the few spices named in the EU’s aflatoxin limits.⁶ There’s more on the nutmeg page.

Cloves. We found no regulator or clinical source that sets a level where cloves eaten in food become a concern. Clove oil is a different story: the European Medicines Agency’s monograph on it as a traditional herbal medicine says it’s not recommended for children and adolescents under 18.⁷ Don’t use clove oil in place of ground cloves in a recipe.

What isn’t known

• The oil figures come from different sources and samples, so the multiple between them isn’t fixed.
• No dated price comparison.

Related

• Nutmeg, nutmeg substitutes, fresh vs. ground nutmeg, too much nutmeg
• Cloves, clove substitutes, ground vs. whole cloves, too much clove
• Allspice vs. cloves, allspice vs. nutmeg, cinnamon vs. nutmeg, cloves vs. cinnamon, mace vs. nutmeg
• Pumpkin pie spice, garam masala