Have you been wondering to boil to make your house smell good? Well, I’ve got you! Simmer pots are literally the easiest thing to make and in this post, I’m going to share 16 simmer pot recipes – several for each season – that I love the most. I keep several of these ingredients on hand throughout the year, so I can whip up this potpourri whenever I want to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere!
I love making my house smell amazing! Using a simmer pot, or stovetop potpourri, is a super easy way to fill my home with delicious and inviting scents. And I’m going to show you how I make them in this post.
Simple Simmer Pot Recipes for Each Season
I’ve chosen each of the ingredients for these homemade simmer pots because they smell so good and home-y on their own. But the combinations of them is what really makes these simmering potpourri recipes smell so delicious.
Note: Simmer pots recipes are more like guidelines or ideas. You can remix them to your liking and change the amounts to suit you!
Fall Simmer Pot Recipes
Apple Cinnamon
- apple slices
- cinnamon sticks
- cloves
Pumpkin Spice
- apple cider
- pumpkin spice seasoning
- cinnamon sticks
- ground nutmeg
- vanilla extract
- whole cloves
Winter Simmer Pot Recipes
Coffee
- coffee beans
- cinnamon sticks
- cardamom, anise, or allspice (optional)
Winter Bonfire
- cedar sprigs
- pear slices
- mesquite wood chips
Warm Winter Citrus
- cedar sprigs
- bay leaves
- rosemary sprigs
- clementine slices or peels
Christmas Simmer Pot Recipes
Classic Christmas
- orange slices
- apple slices
- fresh or frozen cranberries
- cinnamon sticks
- whole cloves
- vanilla extract (optional)
Canadian Christmas
- cedar sprigs
- spruce sprigs
- eucalyptus sprigs
Spring Simmer Pot Recipes
Lemon Rosemary (aka William Sonoma)
- rosemary sprigs
- lemon slices
- vanilla extract
Lime Rosemary
- rosemary sprigs
- lime slices
- vanilla extract
Lime Mint & Thyme
- lime slices
- mint leaves
- sprigs of thyme
- fresh ginger (optional)
Summer Simmer Pot Recipes
Orange Creamsicle
- orange slices or peels
- vanilla extract
Strawberry Lemonade
- lemon slices
- strawberry slices
- coconut extract
Mojito
- lime slices
- mint leaves
Grapefruit Lavender
- grapefruit slices
- lavender sprigs
- almond extract
Cucumber Lime Mint
- cucumber slices
- lime slices
- mint leaves
- ginger pieces (optional)
Strawberry Basil
- strawberry slices
- basil leaves
- lime juice
Make your home smell delicious!
FREE printable 16 simmer pot recipes when you sign up to get my daily home decorating and organizing emails.
How to Put Together a Simmer Pot
Now that you know what you can “boil” in your simmer pots, I’m going to show you how I use two similar methods to make them. One requires a little more supervision than the other. Choose the one that works best for you!
1. Stovetop Simmer Pot Method
For the stovetop simmer pot method, I fill a small saucepan or cast iron pot with water. Then, I add my simmering ingredients, using my own recipe or one of the “recipes” above, and let it simmer on low for a couple of hours. I add water as needed.
What You’ll Need:
- Small Saucepan or Cast Iron Pot
- simmering ingredients (see recipes below)
2. Crockpot Potpourri or Slower Cooker Simmering Potpourri Method
For the slow cooker simmer pot method, I fill it most of the way with water and add my ingredients. I turn it on low and let it simmer all day, checking and adding water as needed.
What You’ll Need
- Crockpot or Little Dipper Crockpot
- simmering ingredients (see recipes below)
Simmering Potpourri Use and Safety Tips
- I always make sure there’s enough water in my pot to prevent the potpourri from burning. I check my stovetop simmer pot every couple of hours to ensure the water level hasn’t gotten too low. If I tend to get distracted or worry about forgetting to check, I prefer using a slow cooker simmer pot since it requires less “babysitting.”
- I keep my simmer pot on low, whether I’m using an electric pot, a stovetop pot, or a crockpot. To make my simmering potpourri blend last longer, I drain out the old water and add fresh filtered water each day. This way, I can usually get 3 to 4 days out of one mixture.
- If I want, I can leave my crockpot simmer pot on all day, but I only leave my stovetop pot on for a couple of hours unless I’m being very careful. I never leave a simmer pot simmering while I’m sleeping or if I’m going out.
Simmer Pot FAQ’s
You can boil just about any foods that have a pleasant aroma to make your house smell good. Apples, berries, orange peels, lemon peels, lime peels, vanilla, cloves, cinnamon sticks, mint leaves and more. A simmer pot is a great way to do this. Use the “recipes” above in this post for some great scents!
Essentially, I would describe a simmer pot as a pot full of water and potpourri simmering away on the stove all day.
Simmer pots are a natural way to scent your home and add humidity – which is much needed in winter – to the air all at once.
hat depends on the freshness of your ingredients. I would say you could get 3-4 days from one pot of homemade potpourri, if you keep adding fresh water to top up the pot
More Simmering Potpourri Ideas
So there you have it, what I boil on the stove to make the house smell good! Simple, natural elements like rosemary, citrus, cinnamon and cloves in different combinatations at different times of year.
Have you ever made stovetop simmering potpourri? Doesn’t it just make your house smell amazing?!
Make your home smell delicious!
FREE printable 16 simmer pot recipes when you sign up to get my daily home decorating and organizing emails.
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Do the cranberries make a real difference?
If you don’t have them, don’t worry about it. They just add a nice fruity note to the whole thing – but you can certainly still make a great scent without them! (I usually buy some on sale and keep them in the freezer for this purpose.)
If you are going to freeze them anyway, can you buy frozen?
Wendy’s Scrap Book Yes, you could. I just check which ones are cheaper. Sometimes it’s the fresh ones, sometimes it’s the frozen ones!
I often use whatever citrus I have on hand…generally it’s lemons…I do the cup of lemon water in the morning before breakfast thing. I look forward to this every year….beats some of the candles out by a long shot.
It totally does! Such a lovely, real, natural smell, right?
Hi Shannon, I can’t seem to find the printable. I love simmer pots and I’d like to print this out and keep in the kitchen. Thanks!
Hi Patti,
There’s an email subscribe box under the summer pot printable graphic. Just add your name and email and then confirm via the email you’ll get – and then the printable will be sent to your inbox!
Hi there! I keep trying to supply my name & email address to receive the printable recipes, and it just keeps spinning. I would love to be able to print these out to keep in my recipe book. Thank you!
Hmm. That’s strange I’m sorry. I will add your email via the backend. You can unsubscribe at any time.
The same thing keeps happening to me also. It just keeps spinning.
Oh dear! I’m so sorry. I’ve got a support ticket into the company that handles our forms.
In between days, do you keep the already simmered fruit in the fridge, or is it okay to leave out until it’s used again?
The fridge would be a great place for it!
We were working on a kitchen remodel last week, and one of our clients had a simmer pot going—it smelled so good! I had to ask for the recipe, which lead me to here, and now it’s a new favorite of mine. These simmer pot ideas are perfect for creating a warm and inviting atmosphere. Thanks for sharing these recipes; I can’t wait to try more of them!
That’s so fun! Let me know which one is your favorite!
Thank you so much for these recipes! One of my favorite hand soaps is lavender and salt. I’d like that scent in a simmer pot. Do you have any tips for using salt in a simmer pot?
I’m sorry. I’ve not tried salt in a simmer pot, Lorie.
Hello. Love the potpourri recipes.
What size/how large a crockpot do you recommend, one quart, two quart, etc.?
I’m so glad! I usually use a wee little 1.5 quart slow cooker. You could use a 2 quart though. 🙂 This is the exact one I use (affiliate link).
Looking forward to these simmer pot recipes!
Thank you!
I hope you love(d) them!
Thank you for posting these recipes; they’re just what I’ve been looking for. BTW, I think you left a word out of your first sentence. ☺️