Best Simmer Pot Recipes to make your home smell incredible!
Have you ever heard of a simmer pot? It can also be called stovetop potpourri and it’s an easy and inexpensive way to make your home smell amazing. Here are my favourite, best simmer pot recipes to make your home smell incredible!
Pouring some water in a shallow pot, adding a few ingredients and letting the pot simmer on your stove is a great way to make your home smell good. Nothing beats the smell of natural ingredients, and you can even use food scraps to make these even more budget friendly!
Simmer pot recipes for every season
My favourite times of year to put a simmer pot on the stove are Fall & Christmas, but you can make them for any season. (P.S. I found my copper pot at an antique store, but here is another beautiful option!)
Fall Simmer Pot
In a shallow saucepan, mix together:
- 2 cups water
- peels from on orange
- peels from one apple
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 tsp whole cloves
- 1 tsp vanilla
Bring the pot to a simmer and leave on your stove to fill the house with a beautiful autumn scent.
Christmas Simmer Pot
In a shallow saucepan, mix together:
- 2 cups water
- 4 apple slices (or the peels from one apple)
- 4 orange slices (or the peels from one orange)
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 Tbsp dried cranberries
- 1 Tbsp whole cloves
- 2 small spruce tree clippings
Bring the pot to a simmer and leave on your stove to fill the house with a rich, festive scent.
If you dry these ingredients beforehand, you can place them in a jar and give them as a gift! I have the full tutorial on how to create a beautiful simmer pot jar gift with free printable tags right here.
Spring Simmer Pot
(This is also a wonderful recipe for a generally clean scent all year long.)
In a shallow saucepan, mix together:
- 2 cups water
- 4 lemon (or the peels from one apple)
- 1 tsp dried lavender buds (or 2 sprigs of lavender)
- 1 tsp dried rosemary (or 2 springs of rosemary)
Bring the pot to a simmer and leave on your stove to fill the house with a fresh, clean & citrusy scent for Spring.
Using a slow cooker for a simmer pot
YES, you can also use a slow cooker as a simmer pot instead of using a pot on the stove. Simply fill your slow cooker or Crockpot about 2/3rds full of water, and then add the rest of the recipe ingredients. Leave the lid off of your crock pot, and simmer the ingredients on the High temperature setting. You can check the slow cooker periodically and top it off with fresh water as needed.
Can you drink these afterwards?
I usually put all of my simmer pot ingredients in our compost after use, but I’m sure you could drink some of these recipes if you want to. Obviously, you won’t want to drink any that contain pine clippings or any other non-edible ingredients.
Enjoy these easy simmer pot recipes!
I just tried the fall simmer pot recipe. My home smells wonderful!!! 😀 And because your pictures are so pretty, I printed them all and will display them each seasonally! 😀 Thank you!
Incidentally… pine IS edible. Pine tea has several benefits. Although it never occurred to me to drink the simmer pot water; maybe I’ll give it a shot. LOL