Easy Homemade Vanilla Extract

*This post contains some affiliate links. Please see my full Disclosure Statement.

Why have I not made this sooner? I never realized how easy making vanilla was!

Once you make this, you will never go back to buying expensive vanilla extract! Plus this is such a wonderful gift for the holidays!

It's only 2 ingredients! Vanilla beans and vodka.

I purchased the little 5 oz. bottles at IKEA for about a $1 each. There are so many on Amazon to chose from like these. (click on the picture to take you there.)

I might purchase these bottles next time. They are 4 oz. bottles for about $1.25 each. But I'm thinking the mouth of the bottle might be better for pouring vanilla. Just a thought.

The vanilla beans are Tahitian Grade B beans for making extract. I purchased 2 packs of 30 for $26.99 each. I put 4 beans in each bottle, making 15 bottles of extract.

Then I purchased the cheapest vodka I could find. This bottle was $9.99 per bottle. I bought 2 bottles and went through a bottle and a half, so I have plenty to make more or refill my vanilla.

Lastly, I purchased the 2" x2" square Avery Labels. They came in a pack of 300, so I will have more than enough. It's super easy to print the labels. If you go to their site, punch in the label #, it sets you all up to type up the label. They printed perfectly!

According to my calculations, these little gifts cost me just under $6.00 each. Granted the labels were more of an upfront cost and wouldn't need to be purchased each time. That would bring the total cost down to about $5.50 per bottle.

Alright, now let's put these all together!

First, cut your vanilla beans. I chose to not cut mine all the way through, leaving the tip together.

You can also use kitchen shears to cut the beans. I did both.

cutting vanilla beans with kitchen shears

Next, drop your beans into the jars. I used 4 beans per bottle.

The next step is to add the vodka. I use a little funnel to make it easier.

Then seal them up, shake and add your labels. I chose to create a front and back label. Here is a photo of my back label. This is helpful, because it gives all the directions. I like adding the date it was bottled. They should steep for about 2 months before using.