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Homemade vanilla extract with vodka

Name: Homemade vanilla extract with vodka
Yield: 250 ml
Cuisine: Slovak
Ingredients: 3-5 Vanilla beans; 250 ml Liquor; as needed Canning jars

Make 250 ml of homemade vanilla extract with 3–5 vanilla beans and vodka. Prep takes five minutes, then let it steep in the dark for eight weeks.

Slovak cuisine · Translated from Slovak · October 24, 2026

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Recipe at a glance

Prep time: 5 min
Servings: 250 ml
Difficulty: Easy

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Make homemade vanilla extract with vanilla beans and alcohol using just two ingredients and five minutes of hands-on work. Place the beans, along with the scraped-out seeds if desired, in a small bottle, cover with vodka, and let the extract steep in a dark kitchen cabinet for eight weeks. The homemade version costs less than store-bought and contains real vanilla, while many inexpensive products are flavored only with vanillin, which can be made from sources such as wood lignin. Use the extract in cakes, cream fillings, and desserts.

Ingredients

Vanilla beans 3-5
Liquor 250 ml
Canning jars as needed

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Instructions

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Place the vanilla beans in a small bottle. If desired, scrape out the seeds and add the beans separately.
Pour vodka over the beans and let steep for 8 weeks in a dark place, such as a kitchen cabinet.

Tip: Split the beans lengthwise before adding them so the alcohol can reach the seeds. Shake the bottle once a week, and top it off with vodka as you use the extract—the beans will continue to release flavor.

Nutrition facts

Approximate values per 100 g, calculated from the ingredients

Energy: 231 kcal
Protein: 0.0 g
Carbohydrates: 0.0 g
of which sugars: 0.0 g
Fat: 0.0 g
of which saturates: 0.0 g
Fiber: 0.0 g
Salt: 0.0 g

Calculated from the raw ingredients, without frying oil. Where an amount is “to taste”, typical amounts are used. Food composition: USDA FoodData Central and product labels.

This recipe was translated from the Slovak original: Vanilkový extrakt z vanilkových strukov a alkoholu