Liquid stevia extract is a relatively easy tincture to make at home, and it is a less expensive alternative to the store bought versions. If you grow your own stevia, you can preserve the leaves while still fresh to make the most potent extract. This is my basic stevia recipe, and it is suitable for kids and pregnant women as the alcohol cooks out.

I get dried stevia leaf from here in bulk, or you can preserve your own.

Homemade Stevia Extract Recipe

A sweet extract made from stevia leaves, useful for sweetening tea, coffee, and baked goods such as cheesecake.

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 30

Total Time 1 12 35

Author Katie Wells

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Servings

Equipment

Ingredients

fresh or dried stevia leaf
enough vodka rum, or Everclear to fill the jar

Instructions

Sterilize the glass jar and lid in boiling water.
Put enough fresh or dried stevia leaf in the jar to fill it 2/3 full.
Pour alcohol of choice over the leaves to fill the jar and put the lid on tightly.
Put in a place where you will see it and let it sit for 36 hours, shaking occasionally.
Strain the liquid into a small saucepan.
Turn the heat on low and bring to a simmer. Do not boil! It will ruin the taste!!!
Simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring constantly and making sure not to boil. It will thicken. When it gets to your desired thickness, remove from heat.
Store in small jar in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.

Notes

Stevia can be grown outside in a garden or in a pot on a sunny window sill.

Like this recipe? Check out my new cookbook, or get all my recipes (over 500!) in a personalized weekly meal planner here!

This can be used in baking recipes like Crock-Pot cheesecake or pumpkin cheesecake. It is also great in coffee, tea, chai lattes, or pumpkin lattes. It is pretty much the only sweetener we use in our house and by making it ourselves, we avoid the bitter aftertaste in the bleached store versions.

Do you use stevia? Ever made it? Share below!

Stevia is a naturally healthy sweetener and this homemade stevia tincture provides natural sweetness without the chemicals.

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

110 responses to “Homemade Stevia Extract”

Hakim

December 18, 2015

i’m a bit confuse on the last part of the instruction which is “to store it in small jar in the fridge for up to 3 months”
Does it means i need to wait for 3 months before i can use it?

Reply
1. Wellness Mama
  
  December 19, 2015
  
  No, that is the shelf life.
  
  Reply
Nanna

October 19, 2015

I was excited to make this stevia and made it exactly the way your recipe states and it did not sweeten my tea what so ever i kept pouring more and more in till i realized it didnt work I was very disapointed i was really looking forward to making my own and egar to see if it tasted better than the store bought if its to good to be true I guess it really is then

Reply
Julia

August 9, 2015

I have been using it for years in all of my tea, coffee and some cooking (not baking).
Only use liquid extract, but have a huge Stevia plant in back yard and am thrilled to find this recipe! Thank you for sharing!
The extract is expensive and have never seen how to make my own!

Reply
Alexis Swearingen

May 23, 2015

Does the jar you initially put the Stevia Leaf and Alcohol in and leave for 36 hours need to be an Amber Glass Bottle? Or is that only needed for the final storage?

Thank You!

Reply
Lori

March 4, 2015

I have been eating a paleo diet for about 18 months and it has greatly helped my autpimmune disease (narcolepsy). I have been reading lately about ketogenic diets being very beneficial, especially for neurological conditions. Some sources say using a bit of natural sugars like honey and maple syrup or dried fruit is okay and others recommend no sugars at all and to use stevia to sweeten things. I’ve never used stevia but I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!

Reply
Julie

February 13, 2015

I made some with vodka & some with rum. The one with vodka tastes a wee bit grassy–like others said. Wonder if it is too many leaves?? I bought the stevia from Mountain Rose, so it isn’t a different kind of leaves.

Reply
1. Julie
  
  February 13, 2015
  
  A second thought–the stevia leaves I bought from Mountain Rose tasted great, but I saw a number of stems in with the leaves. Wondering if I should have sifted more carefully? I’d really love to make this work. So, if anyone has any great ideas, I’ll try them. I have 1 lb of leaves to use; might as well try figuring it out.
  
  Reply
2. Julie
  
  March 6, 2015
  
  Update: I tried again and it worked. Here’s what I did differently. First, I carefully sifted through my dried stevia leaves from Mountain Rose Herbs. I took out dirt, pebbles, sticks, twigs, and bark-looking stuff. Honestly, there was a lot of junk in that stevia leaf. Then I used a better vodka (which shouldn’t really make a difference), and I steeped it for a bit more than 18 hours–maybe closer to 22? It tasted much, much better. No more herby, grassy flavor–maybe because I wasn’t steeping grass this time. It even passed muster with a fast-food, junk-loving teenager.
  
  Reply
  1. Kim
    
    August 10, 2018
    
    I make a lot of tinctures and thought that the instructions should have been for a longer steeping period. Thank you for validating that!
    
    Reply
Stacie

February 9, 2015

Has anybody tried this with good results? I followed the instructions but thought it tasted really “herby” or like a super sweet tea, not anything like what I normally buy 🙁

Reply
Andrew

January 8, 2015

This process works fine for normal stevia extract liquid. But is it possible to make it considerably more concentrated than this, like the commercial companies can do with powder?

Reply
Peg

November 10, 2014

I’ve tried making this myself twice with fresh stevia leaves and both times couldn’t concentrate it to get it sweet enough. Tasted a lot like the alcohol and not very sweet. Any thoughts?

Reply
Apolla

November 9, 2014

Could this be made with vegetable glycerin?

Reply
1. Katie – Wellness Mama
  
  November 9, 2014
  
  yes.
  
  Reply
Sarah

July 26, 2014

Hi. I was wondering about the thickness? Like syrup or vanilla extract or somewhere in between? Thanks to anyone that answers. :-)?

Reply
1. Denise Passero
  
  July 26, 2014
  
  Mine is like vanilla extract.
  
  Reply
Denise Passero

July 20, 2014

I made this using a pint jar. it evaporates a LOT so I only cooked it about 20 minutes. Any longer and there would be none left. is that OK? Also, is this for your coffee or for cooking?

Reply
1. Katie – Wellness Mama
  
  July 22, 2014
  
  That’s fine and it is ok for coffee and cooking.
  
  Reply
  1. Denise Passero
    
    July 25, 2014
    
    Thank you very much. Tastes pretty god actually.
    
    Reply
AJ

June 13, 2014

Any idea if this could be made with Apple Cider Vinegar or just water? I prefer non-alcohol based tinctures. Thanks!

Reply
Peg

June 4, 2014

Any idea approx. how many leaves equals 4 ounces????

Reply
amy

April 30, 2014

Just wanted to give you a heads up that the alcohol content is still probably pretty high even after cooking.
https://www.drweil.com/diet-nutrition/cooking-cookware/does-alcohol-really-cook-out-of-food/
I just wanted to give you a heads up that the alcohol is probably still quite potent in this recipe.

BTW I am loving this website. You are awesome! Thanks so much for all your help.

Reply
Emily

March 8, 2014

Can you provide some more information on stevia itself? I saw on webmd that it can prevent pregnancy? It also suggested avoiding use altogether during pregnancy and breast feeding. What do you know about that?

Reply
1. Tammy
  
  March 17, 2014
  
  Katie answers a similar question a few posts up. ^^ Might be helpful to you. 🙂
  
  Reply
Kristine Charbonneau

February 12, 2014

I bought a green stevia powder (the leaves are pulverized, I’m assuming). How does that translate, measurement-wise with your recipe? Plus I won’t be able to strain it as it is already small particle. Should I even bother with trying to use it for the extract?

Reply
1. Tanja Odzak-Goppold
  
  August 10, 2015
  
  You know… I was just thinking the same thing. I would just weigh it. In some of the comments, WM says “4oz of stevia leaves”. So, just measure 4 oz of the dried pulverized stuff.
  
  I was also thinking about running the mixture thru a coffee filter to clear the powdery stuff out.
  
  just some thoughts.
  
  Reply
2. Kasey
  
  December 25, 2015
  
  I have a few pieces of tightly woven muslin (finer mesh than cheesecloth) that I use for filtering powders. Just line a funnel with it and pour slowly!
  
  Reply
Colin Acres

November 16, 2013

This is a cool recipe… so, there are 16oz in a pint, 64kcal per oz of vodka (I think that is the least caloric). So per tablespoon its about 32kcal?

Reply
Deborah Williamson

November 5, 2013

I simmered the stevia liquid for an hour and it did not thicken. I finally just put it in a tincture bottle and into the fridge. Will it do what it needs to to be good? I did everything else right, I believe, accept that a family member opened the bottle once (for a second) before the 36 hours were up, thinking it was a jar of pickles. Will that interrupt the process?

Reply
Kelly

November 2, 2013

Do you have any advice in flavoring? Looking to make this for gifts for coffee drinkers in my family who like flavored syrups. Could you add vanilla or mint extract or various spices and when in the process would you suggest doing that? Thanks so much, new to the DIY and loving everything I’m trying on your site!

Reply