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Nothing else quite adds as much vanilla flavor to recipes as vanilla bean paste. However, the store-bought stuff is so expensive! In this homemade vanilla bean paste recipe, you’ll be able to flavor your cakes, glazes, and ice cream for way less!
Even as an active baker throughout my childhood, I’d never heard of vanilla bean paste until my mother-in-law introduced it to me as the secret ingredient in her amazing homemade vanilla ice cream.
I finally bought some for myself, but was shocked at the sticker price.
It was $15 for a jar, plus dyes and natural thickeners to give it an extra thick texture. That seemed silly to me and like a waste of perfectly good money, so I started playing around with DIY versions.
Although I initially started with just vanilla beans and agave syrup, I kept testing and realized you get a much stronger flavor if you add a small amount of vanilla extract. This is the only vanilla bean paste I use now and I have no plans to go back!
If you love vanilla flavor, don’t miss my homemade vanilla extract and vanilla maple syrup for the best pancakes. Use this recipe in my vanilla muffins and much more!
What is vanilla bean paste?
Vanilla bean paste is essentially a thick syrup with a strong scent and flavor of vanilla beans.
Each brand follows a different recipe, but they usually start with a base of corn syrup or a sugar syrup with added natural flavors, vanilla extract, and caramel coloring.
It can be used as a 1:1 replacement for fresh vanilla beans or extract in recipes, and adds lots of little black flecks. (Who doesn’t love those little flecks?!)
Pure vanilla bean paste gets really expensive, especially when you opt for organic! Fortunately, it’s way easier (and cheaper) when you make your own homemade vanilla bean paste at home.
Why you should make your own vanilla bean paste
- Much cheaper than store-bought options
- Relies on just 3 simple ingredients
- Very simple process anyone can follow
- Great way to use up leftover vanilla beans from making extract (my #1 reason!)
- Makes the richest, most flavorful crème brûlée, ice cream, cookies, and more
- Adds a robust vanilla flavor to literally any recipe
happy reader review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I will never go back to store bought vanilla paste again! I made the maple syrup vanilla paste. It was the absolute best. – Judy
Ingredients for Vanilla Bean Paste Recipe
Whole vanilla bean pods – Grab the best quality vanilla beans you can afford! Look for plump, soft vanilla beans instead of dried extract-grade (AKA grade B) beans. You can also use leftover beans from making homemade vanilla extract! This will soften them up and make them ideal for blending.
You can really use any type of whole vanilla beans you like. I’ve been using Ugandan, Bourbon, and Madagascar vanilla beans because they’re higher in vanillin and have a traditional vanilla flavor. But, there are so many different types out there and you can try any of them!
Although I normally only buy organic vanilla beans, I’m on my second 50-pack of Ugandan beans from Kiddu. They’re processed by small farmers and have the most incredible flavor. Plus, they cost about $32, which is much cheaper than most other brands!
Light agave nectar – This is the base of the recipe. You need a thick invert syrup to suspend all those vanilla bean flecks and absorb the flavor compounds.
I tried maple syrup, honey, and other options, and found light agave nectar to work the best. This is really the only thing I use agave syrup for, so I buy one bottle and leave it in the pantry just for this purpose.
Pure vanilla extract – The alcohol will extract the oils and scent from the vanilla beans and add them directly to your DIY vanilla bean paste. I’m biased, but homemade vanilla extract is the best. You just need a little bit!
Equipment
- Small bowl (I used a wide mouth half pint mason jar, but a 1 cup pyrex container would be perfect, too).
- Immersion blender
- Skinny spatula
- Kitchen scale
Note: You will get the smoothest paste using an immersion blender! I recently tested this recipe with a food processor and it was much harder to get a smooth paste.
How to Make Vanilla Bean Paste Recipe
- Weigh out 0.5 oz of vanilla beans or add approximately 5 whole beans to a bowl. Cut them into small pieces for easy blending.
- Cover the beans with 4 oz (1/2 cup) of agave nectar and vanilla extract. If dry, allow the beans to soak overnight. Otherwise, blend immediately.
- Position the immersion blender into the small bowl and blend the mixture until smooth.
- Store in a sealed glass jar in the fridge. Stir before using as the flecks will rise to the top.
How to Store Homemade Vanilla Bean Paste
Keep your homemade vanilla bean paste in a small mason jar either at room temperature or in your refrigerator. I aim to use mine within about a month, but it will last for longer.
Tips & Variations
- Switch up syrups – This recipe is flexible, and it’s easy to use a different syrup. Try corn syrup, maple syrup, or even a light-colored honey.
- Stir before using – Most vanilla bean paste recipes include thickeners like xanthan gum to keep the vanilla bean flecks suspended in the syrup. Since this recipe does not include a thickener, you may need to stir it before using.
- Try the food processor – If you don’t have an immersion blender, the food processor, spice grinder, or regular blender should work. Just keep them running until the whole beans break down all the way. If they don’t you can always run the mixture through a strainer, but you will lose some vanilla bean.
- Use leftover extract beans – If you make your own vanilla extract, take advantage of those softened beans and turn them into vanilla bean paste! This is a great way to use up old beans.
- Thin it out with a little extract – If your vanilla bean paste is so thick it’s hard to manage, add a little extra extract to thin it out.
- Use ground vanilla bean powder – This is more expensive and labor intensive, but you can actually dehydrate and grind fresh vanilla beans into a powder, then suspend them in the agave syrup with the extract.
What’s the difference between vanilla bean paste and homemade vanilla bean paste?
I did a side-by-side comparison of this expensive vanilla paste I bought online versus my quick homemade recipe.
I was surprised to find that the storebought one had a bitter, artificial flavor and was nearly $4 per ounce.
My homemade version was sweet with a strong vanilla flavor, cost about $1.50 per ounce, and had no thickeners, preservatives, dyes, or colors.
In baked goods, the flavor really came out about the same!
How to Use Homemade Vanilla Bean Paste
Most bakers use vanilla bean paste in place of vanilla extract because it adds such an intense flavor. Replace liquid vanilla extract with the same amount of vanilla paste:
- 1 teaspoon of extract: 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste
If you need to replace an entire vanilla bean, use 1 tablespoon of paste.
Uses for Vanilla Bean Paste
The options are truly endless! You can use this paste to add vanilla flavor to any recipe that calls for vanilla beans or extract, including:
- Vanilla muffins
- Vanilla hot chocolate
- Creme brulee
- Vanilla pudding
- Vanilla yogurt
- Vanilla overnight oats
- Vanilla sugar cookies
- Vanilla Bavarian cream
- Creme anglaise
- Homemade ice cream
FAQS
Well, there aren’t a lot of resources on this topic, but there is guidance about the ratio of beans to alcohol for homemade vanilla extract.
Since you use the same amount of vanilla bean paste as vanilla extract for flavor, it stands to reason that you could use the same measurements for your vanilla beans and syrup. I use a 1:8 ratio of beans to syrup (or .5 oz of beans to 4 oz of syrup). It works well.
Yes! You can eat the pod as well as the flakes inside the vanilla bean. Because the whole vanilla pod is edible, I like to blend the entire bean in this recipe for homemade vanilla bean paste.
If you made this recipe, please leave a comment or ask a question below! I’d love to hear what you think or troubleshoot any issues.
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Three-Ingredient Vanilla Bean Paste Recipe
Equipment
- 1 small bowl
- 1 immersion blender or a spice grinder or food proecssor
- 1 skinny spatula
- 1 kitchen scale optional
Ingredients
- .5 oz vanilla beans, 3-5 beans
- 4 oz light agave nectar
- 1 TBS vanilla extract
Instructions
- Weigh out 0.5 oz of vanilla beans or add approximately 5 whole beans to a bowl. Cut them into small pieces for easy blending.
- Cover the beans with 4 oz (half a cup) of agave nectar and vanilla extract. If dry, allow the beans to soak overnight. Otherwise, blend immediately.
- Position the immersion blender into the small bowl and blend the mixture until smooth.
- Store in a sealed glass jar in the fridge. Stir before using as the flecks will rise to the top.
I will never go back to store bought vanilla paste again! I made the maple syrup vanilla paste. It was the absolute best. Thanks Racheal. Xx
Judy, Aw, I’m so glad you liked it! I love the flavor and it’s just so convenient to make it at home. Plus, none of the weird dyes or preservatives. Thanks for leaving a comment and letting me know how it went!
I just made the vanilla bean paste — it was so easy and I’m so excited to try it when I start my Christmas baking! How long do you find it lasts for if refrigerated? Thanks!!
Grace, So glad you had a chance to try it out! I *love* how easy it is. Honestly, it can last in the fridge for months! It will also thicken in the fridge, which gives it that classic vanilla paste consistency. Let me know how it goes in your holiday baking! 🙂 – Rachael
This looks so very good!
I would not use agave. Agave is so NOT healthy at all.
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/agave-nectar-is-even-worse-than-sugar
I’m diabetic, so not sure what sweetener I’ll use……but I WILL be making this!
The article you are linking is misleading and leaving a review without having tried the recipe is rather unfair.
This looks amazing. I think I will make a sugar free syrup using allulose. Excited to try this!
That would definitely be worth a try! I’d love to hear how it goes, if you do try it. I have lots of readers who try to avoid sugar. 🙂