This Is How Ina Garten Makes Her Vanilla Extract

When Ina Garten shares a cooking tip, we listen. And then we repeat.

The Barefoot Contessa shared what the “Most Treasured Jar” in her pantry is with the New Yorker and it’s not some rare specialty ingredient you’ll have to seek out and splurge on. Nor is it an example where her tagline, “store bought is fine” will sub in. 

Homemade vanilla extract, one of the easiest and most luscious DIYs Garten has showcased over the years, is highly cherished by the domestic icon. 

“Of all the ingredients in my pantry, my jar of vanilla is my most treasured,” Garten told the New Yorker. “It’s not the ordinary kind of vanilla that you can find at any grocery store; I’m talking about pure vanilla extract and real vanilla beans…Trust me when I say there is nothing ‘plain’ about really good vanilla.” 

Shared over the years on Food Network, her own cookbooks, and social media, Garten’s method for making vanilla extract is often lauded for its simplicity and deliciousness. (It’s also very cost-efficient.) To make the specialty vanilla extract, Garten starts with whole vanilla beans and a canning jar similar in height. She recommends using about two dozen vanilla beans in each jar, which yes, can be expensive, so you’re best off buying them in bulk — Amazon has a variety of vanilla pods, as do restaurant suppliers, like Webstaurant.

Once you’ve added about 18 to 24 vanilla beans to the jar, fill it with vodka. Any type of vodka works, so no need to splurge. Once the jar is topped off, seal it tightly and store the vanilla vodka combination on a shelf away from heat and light for four to six months. Voila, vodka becomes homemade vanilla extract.

But wait, there’s a bonus: Softened vanilla beans, which Garten says are her favorite part of the concoction. 

“I fish a vanilla bean out of the jar, snip off one end, and squeeze the seeds into whatever I’m cooking,” Garten said. “You not only taste deep vanilla in your cake or custard but also see the vanilla seeds.” Vanilla beans can be used in pretty much everything — chocolate cake, creamy icings, cocktails, fragrant steamed fish — whatever your vanilla-loving heart desires. 

Homemade vanilla is the kitchen potion that keeps on going. When Garten is running low, she merely adds more vanilla beans and vodka to the jar. “As I use up the contents of my vanilla jar, I add more beans and vodka,” Garten wrote. “And the ‘brew’ just gets more intense as time goes on.”

In fact, she still uses the same jar she started with more than two decades ago. The result: A deeper, richer vanilla with each batch feeding off the remnants of its predecessors.

Jars of homemade vanilla extract make a great gift to hosts or during the holidays, and can certainly be packaged in much smaller jars once the first batch is made. Start now, and you’ll have homemade vanilla by autumn.