As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Learn how easy and affordable it is to make your own Homemade Peppermint Extract! This homemade mint extract recipe makes wonderful gifts. If you have a pressure cooker, I’ll even teach you to make it in the Instant Pot.
Innocently plant some mint in your garden and within a few weeks, you’ll be a full-fledged mint farmer. Trying to decide what to do with some of that excess? Homemade peppermint extract is the answer you have been looking for.
If you have mint left over after making the extract, try your hand at freezing mint, drying mint, or making mint syrup to keep a delicious stash in your freezer.
Are peppermint oil and extract the same thing?
Nope. Extract has a weaker flavor profile and the oils/flavors are suspended in a liquid. Quality essential oils are only pure oils in a bottle and are more heavily concentrated.
While some people will advocate using essential oils in cooking or in capsule form, this should only be done under strict supervision. Extracts, on the other hand, are safe for internal consumption assuming you don’t have any sensitivity to alcohol.
What Kind of Mint Should I Use?
Honestly? Any kind works fine. The fresh mint available in most stores is actually spearmint and not peppermint. It’s a mad, mad world we live in.
How Do I Use Homemade Peppermint Extract?
Use it in a 1:1 ratio as you would store-bought peppermint extract. It’s great for cooking, in Fantasy Fudge, in Mint Chocolate Ice Cream, or Mojito Mocktails.
Can we be frank about appearance here for a minute? The pressurized leaves are butt-ugly after they have been processed. If giving this as a gift I like to strain the finished extract from the old leaves, decant it to another bottle, and add a few fresh mint leaves.
Want printable labels for your own homemade peppermint extract?
Click this link to get and print the template I use. Labels print to Avery print to edge round labels in kraft brown (Avery 22808).
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes:
- You may notice that the Instant Pot extract still smells of alcohol after the extract process. This is normal and the alcohol smell should fade over the next week.
- I have an 8 quart Instant Pot and chose to use two 8 oz jam jars for this process.
- Some recipes will have directions to place the jars in the Instant Pot uncovered. I find this caused too much evaporation of the vodka during the pressure cooking process.
- Fingertip tight means you tighten the lid and ring and then loosen it just a tiny bit. This should prevent the jar from forming an actual seal. If that does happen, use a bottle opener and pop it loose when it has cooled. There is no harm in it sealing.
- I made multiple batches of this to test it out and found that a longer processing time in the Instant Pot did not result in a more “minty” flavor.
- This homemade mint extract recipe has a pretty infinite shelf-life as long as it is stored with an air-tight lid.
Other Recipes Like This:
Homemade Peppermint Extract
Ingredients
- 3 cups peppermint leaves {packed}
- 1 cup vodka
- 1 cup water {only needed for Instant Pot method}
Instructions
Instant Pot Method:
- Rinse mint leaves and add them to a canning jar. You may need to pack them in with a spoon to get everything to fit.3 cups peppermint leaves
- Pour vodka over the leaves. Add the lid and ring and tighten to fingertip tight.1 cup vodka
- Place 1 cup of water in the Instant Pot and place a wire rack inside. Add the jars.1 cup water
- Put the lid on the Instant Pot, set the vent to “sealing” and press Manual>high pressure>30 minutes.
- Allow for a natural release. Carefully remove the hot jars from the Instant Pot and place on a towel to fully cool.
- Store in a cool dry place and use in a 1:1 ratio as store-bought extracts.
Traditional Method:
- Rinse mint leaves and add them to a canning jar. You may need to pack them in with a spoon to get everything to fit.m3 cups peppermint leaves
- Pour vodka over the leaves. Put a lid on the jar and shake a few times.1 cup vodka
- Store in a cool dark place, shaking once a day for the first few weeks. After that, shake it whenever you think of it.
- The mint extract will be ready when the liquid smells strongly of peppermint and not alcohol.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
If you make this using the Instapot method, is it ready to use that day? Or does it still need to sit for 4-6 weeks?
It still needs to sit, but for a bit less time. Maybe 2-4 weeks. The Instant Pot jumpstarts it.
I followed the instructions but instead of magic pot, I used my pressure cooker. Two things surprised me… 1) the murkiness and deep green colour & 2) how much volume of alcohol was lost in just 30 minutes.
Did you use lids on the jars or cook the alcohol/, mint directly in the pressure cooker? With processing it jars, there is almost no evaporation.
Great info. I’m just really starting my journey into herbs and currently working on an issue in my garden with ants. I can’t use vinegar as the ants are around my plants and that would kill them. So, the next step, oils or extracts. When harvesting, are you taking the bigger leaves, or cutting whole stems off? Also, what do you consider a “few weeks”? I’ve seen recipes that call for 4 to 6 weeks. I really can’t wait that long this year. Any “newbie” tips for someone new to herbs would be welcome.
I am definitely not an herb expert, so I would hate to lead you astray. You could try a peppermint essential oil which will be much more powerful than extract.
If you have a pressure cooker, there is a way to jumpstart the extraction process. Instructions for that are in this post.
If I have a lot of mint growing, I tend to cut off whole stems and then plucking the leaves off.
Oh, I love this, and need to read it again! you have the basics laid out so clearly! Great job,
I’m wondering if you know why the stems are omitted since they still smell great, make up so much of the plant’s volume, and texture isn’t an issue since we don’t have to chew them? I have a potful of mint but not a huge quantity of leaves to make up volume enough for the recipe. I know I can just reduce the volume, but just curious. TIA
Mainly for aesthetics as the stem changes the color of the finished product. If you’d like to leave them in it should be fine.
Thanks for the quick reply. It will be used in my hair rinse so not too picky about how it looks, just how it smells 🙂
Oh yeah, you’re totally fine in that case! 🙂
Another pro tip: when it’s time to strain your finished product, use cheesecloth instead of coffee filters. You might have to layer it into a funnel a few times before pouring into your containers, but it’ll filter out the debris while keeping all of the flavor, scent, color and quality.
Great idea Nick!
Can I use a pressure cooker instead of a instant pot for the non-alcoholic method?
Thank you
Hi Farah, I would assume you mean a stovetop pressure cooker? It should work but I’ll be honest that I don’t know how the cook times would correlate.
My extract turned brown. Is that normal?
How long has it been sitting? Mine is never a true green color.
I followed your directions and now I have mint extract, just as you promised. My question is, is it supposed to be so bitter? Or do I need to cull my leaves more carefully? Thanks for your patience.
Hey Beth, yeah, it’s bitter because of the booze. Not sure if you’ve ever sipped on store-bought extract (I wouldn’t. Gross), but it’s the same.
What kind of mint did you use? Spearmint might add a tiny bit sweeter flavor, but it’s still mint in booze.
At the risk of sounding foolish, how do you rinse your peppermint leaves? Do you soak them in a pan with vinegar and water? Do you rinse them in a colandar? Do you pick the leaves and then rinse them, or do you wash the leaves while they’re still on the stem and then pick them? Sorry to ask what is probably such a basic question, but I seem to have missed this class at school, and I’d like to use some of the rampant peppermint in one of my garden beds to make peppermint extract. I would appreciate any tips you could give me. Thanks.
I put them in a colander and use the spray feature on my kitchen faucet to get into the nooks and crannies. I do this when they’re still on the stem (but after I’ve picked them). Then I remove the leaves!
Thanks for helping out those of us who are “fresh mint impaired.” This recipe is at the top of my list for tomorrow. I’ll let you know how it goes…
Cut the mint in long sprigs and then holding by the cut end dip top first vigorously into tall bucket or tub filled with cold water then shake or tap together bunches to remove excess water