ingredient vs element

ingredient and element both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
ingredient	Yes	No	No	No
element	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, element is a hypernym of ingredient; that is, element is a word with a broader meaning than ingredient:

ingredient: a component of a mixture or compound
element: an artifact that is one of the individual parts of which a composite entity is made up; especially a part that can be separated from or attached to a system

Other hypernyms of ingredient include component, constituent.

As nouns, ingredient and element are synonyms defined as:

Other synonyms of ingredient include component, constituent, factor.

ingredient (noun)	element (noun)
a component of a mixture or compound	an artifact that is one of the individual parts of which a composite entity is made up; especially a part that can be separated from or attached to a system
an abstract part of something	an abstract part of something
food that is a component of a mixture in cooking	the most favorable environment for a plant or animal
	a straight line that generates a cylinder or cone
	the situation in which you are happiest and most effective
	any of the more than 100 known substances (of which 92 occur naturally) that cannot be separated into simpler substances and that singly or in combination constitute all matter
	one of four substances thought in ancient and medieval cosmology to constitute the physical universe