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Making your own Vanilla Extract Recipe is so simple and makes the best handmade gift. There are even free printable labels in this post for your own bottles! If you have a pressure cooker, I’ll even teach you to make Instant Pot vanilla extract.
In 2010, in an effort to find cost savings everywhere, I decided to make homemade Christmas and holidays presents. Among the many things I crafted that year, making this vanilla extract recipe was the most successful.
Eleven years later, and it is still one of the most requested gifts from friends and family.
This homemade vanilla extract makes everything taste better. It is the defining tasted in Old-Fashioned Chocolate Fudge. It makes these Overnight Cinnamon Rolls almost over the top, and there is a chance you’ll take one bite of these Fudgy Gluten-Free Chocolate Brownies and punch a wall. Hard.
Is it Cheaper to Make Your Own Vanilla Extract?
Heck yes, it is! With the price of vanilla beans these days, store-bought extract is very spendy. By making your own, you control the ingredients and can even reuse the vanilla beans (see notes below).
And while you’re making the best vanilla extract ever, try your hand at Homemade Peppermint Extract.
Vanilla Extract Ingredients
This vanilla extract recipe uses just two ingredients:
- Vanilla Beans
- Alcohol (see notes below)
What kind of alcohol is used in vanilla extract?
I have used both vodka and bourbon in the past and strongly prefer vodka. I felt that the bourbon took forever to “turn” into a finished product. The taste in cooking and baking wasn’t much different and given the cost, I continually find myself returning to using vodka.
When choosing alcohol to use in this recipe, there is no need to use a top-shelf product. Frankly, I purchase the Costco Kirkland Signature brand vodka for my extract and it works great at a low price. It even comes in a plastic bottle with a screw top. Fancy 🙂
Where to Buy Vanilla Beans
When purchasing vanilla beans, you’ll find the cost savings come by buying in bulk. Many grocery stores charge $7-9 per bean! I purchase mine on Amazon (these are my new favorite), but restaurant supply stores are also good resources.
Store the beans that you are not using in a cool dry place. I double wrap mine in freezer ziploc bags and keep them in our pantry.
Can You Reuse Vanilla Beans for Extract?
Yes, you can! With the rising cost of vanilla beans, I never discard them once a batch of vanilla has been finished. You can put a piece of vanilla bean in each gift bottle for a cool visual look. I simply keep them in the brewing bottles, add another bean or two, and start a new batch of extract.
Additionally, you could use spent beans for flavoring London Fog Lattes, homemade strawberry ice cream, Raspberry Lemon Creme Brulee, or vanilla sugar.
How to Make Instant Pot Vanilla Extract
*You’ll find a printable recipe card and non-instant pot instructions at the bottom of this post.
Chop the vanilla beans in half, place them in an 8 oz or pint canning jar. Add vodka. Add the lid and ring and tighten to fingertip tight.
Place 1 cup of water in the Instant Pot and place a wire rack inside. Add the jars.
Put the lid on the Instant Pot, set the vent to “sealing” and press Manual>high pressure>30 minutes. If you have any questions about Instant Pot cooking terms, check out this post on Instant Pot Recipes for Beginners.
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.
Some people find the vanilla ready to use after a month or so, but I highly recommend you let this product wait and mature. The longer you allow it to sit, the more intense the overall flavor will be. The Instant Pot merely jumpstarts the extract process; it doesn’t make it immediately ready to use.
How Long Does Vanilla Extract Last?
Booze is a long-term preservative, so your homemade vanilla extract is safe to consume for years after making it. Just like a fine wine, this vanilla extract recipe is going to get better with age.
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.
How to Store Homemade Vanilla Extract
You’ll want to keep your extract in a cool dark place. When you’re ready to decant it to other bottles for gifting, an amber or blue glass bottle can help protect the integrity of the product. These are the brown bottles you’ll see in my photos.
WANT PRINTABLE LABELS FOR YOUR OWN EXTRACT?
Click this link to print the template I use. The label template uses Avery print to edge round labels in kraft brown (Avery 22808).
More Homemade Recipes Like This
Vanilla Extract Recipe {How to Make Vanilla Extract}
Instructions
Traditional Long Steep Instructions
- For every cup of vodka or bourbon, use 4 vanilla beans4 vanilla beans (per), 1 cup vodka or bourbon
- Cut each vanilla bean down the middle to access the insides. Put them in an air-tight container with a screw on lid (I use mason jars), and put in a sunny window for a week. Shake daily.
- After a week is up, transfer to a cool dark location like a pantry or closet. Shake every few days to help distribute the vanilla flavor and to activate the infusing action.
- The vanilla will be ready when the liquor has turned very dark and smells strongly of vanilla and not alcohol.
How to Make Instant Pot Vanilla Extract
- Chop the vanilla beans in half, place in an 8 oz or pint canning jar. Add vodka. Add the lid and ring and tighten to fingertip tight.
- Place 1 cup of water in the Instant Pot and place a wire rack inside. Add the jars.
- 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.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
i have been doing this for years. i use rum. the flavor is the best, i use a half gallon of rum and a half pound of beans. you can always use the leftover beans to flavor milk for puddings, hot chocolate, etc. i also bum half pint bottles from my drinking friends (or from the glass recycling bin at the dump.)
This is amazing! so glad you posted this.
yeah i would also like to know if you just add more liquor to the already soaked vanilla beans……
I pour the finished vanilla in to small bottles for gifts, and then add more hootch to the bottles with the vanilla beans in it. The beans are good for multiple batches, but I always add a few “fresh” ones to the new batch.
Thanks!!! This is definitely going on my (already a mile long) DIY/”save daddy’s money” list. I have fell in love with your blog. I has really made me appreciate what the Pacific Northwest has to offer!!!! Let’s just say I do not miss the Midwest. 🙂
I love this idea and am going to make this…I appreciate all the steps listed but I am confused as to whether you are reusing the processed vanilla beans to make more when you stated… “As you use the extract, replace with a little bourbon or vodka, and the beans should last for a few years.”
Have you tried making vanilla sugar with your other beans?
How do you store the remaining fresh vanilla beans?
What other creations can you make using the vanilla beans?
I pour the finished vanilla in to small bottles for gifts, and then add more hootch to the bottles with the vanilla beans in it. The beans are good for multiple batches, but I always add a few “fresh” ones to the new batch.
I have made vanilla sugar, see here: https://www.sustainablecooks.com/2011/11/and-yet-another-inexpensive-and-fast.html
I also use them to flavor homemade ice cream.
are you putting the vanilla beans in the final product as well? Or are you just adding some more liquor to the bottled product at the end? or are you reusing the processed vanilla beans to create more?
I pour the finished vanilla in to small bottles for gifts, and then add more hootch to the bottles with the vanilla beans in it. The beans are good for multiple batches, but I always add a few “fresh” ones to the new batch.
If you start this too late to give a finished product as a gift, you can always leave a bean in there and then tell the gift receiver to let it “brew” a bit.
You are a goddess! I can’t wait to try this!!
does it matter if you buy cheap alchol? Or does it have to be the good stuff?
I definitely use the cheap stuff!
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Brandy works too. Homemade is so much better than store bought and a lot cheaper.
I’m not familiar with Brandy (I don’t drink). Is it a strong liquor? I found with the bourbon that it took a lot longer to “turn” vanillay than the vodka.
I want to try this!!! Thanks for the idea!