Learn How to Make Homemade Vanilla Extract, and you’ll never have to buy it again. Watch my video and print out the recipe in this post for step-by-step instructions. This vanilla extract is perpetual and will last indefinitely.
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Table of Contents
- Making Homemade Extracts
- Step-by-Step Instructions
- Why Vodka for My Extract?
- What If I Don’t Want to Use Alcohol for My Extract?
- More Ideas for the Traditional Foods Pantry
- Homemade Vinegar Recipes
- Download Your Free 36-Page Pantry List
- The Modern Pioneer Cookbook
- The Modern Pioneer Cookbook
- Join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy
- Kitchen Academy Videos
- How to Make Homemade Vanilla Extract Recipe
- Shop for items used in this blog post or video
Making Homemade Extracts
Making homemade extracts is probably one of the easiest things to do. Vanilla Extract is probably the simplest, and it lasts the longest. Some call it a perpetual extract. Ina Garten, the best-selling cookbook author, once said that the beans used in her extract are almost 20 years old. Now that certainly warrants the perpetual label!
Step-by-Step Instructions
In my video, I walk you through the easy steps involved in making Vanilla Extract. You’ll simply cut the beans in half, split them down the middle, or do both. Next, you’ll place them in a quart-sized or one-liter jar and then fill it with vodka.
Why Vodka for My Extract?
I like to use vodka when making Vanilla Extract or any extract for that matter. Vodka is colorless and basically tasteless and odorless, so it lets the vanilla flavor shine through. However, you can also try other spirits, including rum or bourbon.
What If I Don’t Want to Use Alcohol for My Extract?
Remember that when you use a Homemade Extract, you will most likely use it in baking. The heat of the oven will help the alcohol dissipate and leave the lovely extract flavor behind.
However, if you are concerned about the high-proof alcohol used in making an extract, you have options. To replace the vodka or other high-proof alcohol in any extract recipe, simply substitute the alcohol called for with three parts liquid glycerine and one part water. Now, keep in mind that glycerine is, in essence, alcohol, but with a much lower alcohol content than 80-100 proof spirits.
One other option when making extracts is to use a low-alcohol wine mixed with glycerine to make your extract. To learn how to make homemade wine and use it with glycerin to make a low-alcohol extract, please visit my sweet friend Heidi over at Rain Country Homestead.
More Ideas for the Traditional Foods Pantry
Now that you’ve learned how to make homemade Vanilla Extract, be sure to try your hand at making more Homemade Extracts and other essentials for stocking your Traditional Foods Pantry.
- How to Make Homemade Extracts – Flavored Extracts – Baking Basics
Homemade Vinegar Recipes
Making vinegars can be fun too, and they look great next to the homemade extracts in your pantry. I recommend starting out with a homemade Apple Cider Vinegar, but depending on the season, fruit scrap vinegars would be perfect too.
Download Your Free 36-Page Pantry List
For an extensive list of the traditional foods you can make and purchase to stock your pantry, be sure to download my free 36-page Traditional Foods Pantry List. This comprehensive eBook is full of links to recipe videos, helpful articles, and more!
The Modern Pioneer Cookbook
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Kitchen Academy Videos
Let’s Talk Akkermansia: A Tiny Helper for Big Gut Health
Discover how Akkermansia muciniphila supports gut and immune health—and how traditional foods help this mighty microbe thrive.
How to Eat a Mediterranean Diet with a Keto Twist
Explore a Mediterranean-Keto twist with a full sample menu focused on healthy fats, quality proteins, and low-carb veggies.
Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy 2025 Member Update
I chat about what’s in store for my Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy in 2025.
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How to Make Homemade Vanilla Extract
Equipment
- 1 quart-sized jar or 1 liter-sized jar
Ingredients
Instructions
- Add vanilla beans to the clean jar and cover with vodka.
- Allow the beans to steep in vodka for six months in a dark pantry or cupboard.
- After six months, remove some of the vanilla extract and decant it into a clean bottle.
- Add new vodka to the original jar containing the vanilla beans, and return the jar to the pantry or cupboard to steep for another six months.
- Every six months, continue this process of decanting some vanilla extract into a separate bottle and topping off the jar containing the vanilla beans with additional alcohol. By following this process, your vanilla extract will basically last indefinitely.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Shop for items used in this blog post or video
Favorite Homemade Vanilla Supplies
Favorite Kitchen Supplies
- Favorite Aprons
- Spice Grinder
- Countertop Burner (On my kitchen island in many recipe videos.)
- Handheld Vacuum Sealing System
- Vacuum Lids
- Whisk
- Silica Gel Packets (Helps keep moisture from building up in your mix)
- Cast Iron Dutch Oven
- 8-Quart Slow-Cooker
- Fat Separator (Clever kitchen device to help you decant bone broth)
- Flour Sack Towels
- pH Strips (Helps you check on the acidity of your vinegar)
Amazon Shop and Shopping Guide
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How long will the vanilla beans last in the vodka without replacing ?
Thank you.
Hi Linda,
This is a great question. I have not had to replace mine in years. Ina Garten claims that her beans have been perpetual and she has kept her vanilla extract going for over 25 years! Who knows!! Love, Mary