How to Make Stevia Extract

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Sweeten any dish with homemade stevia extract and keep the carbs and calories low. This is a simple way to preserve fresh or dry stevia leaf with a delicious flavor and no bitter aftertaste. Plus, it’s easy to use in easy keto recipes like smoothies, coffee, cookies, and just about anything else you can think of. This DIY version is budget-friendly too! Why wouldn’t you want to try this out yourself?

This post is sponsored by my friends at Mountain Rose Herbs.

My goal is to use and recommend the highest quality herbal products from companies that I trust and fully support.

Mountain Rose Herbs fits this perfectly! Read my full review on Mountain Rose Herbs to learn why I highly recommend visiting them if you are interested in herbs, spices, teas, essentials oils and all things for DIY homemade personal care, cleaners, and herbal remedies.

Easy Homemade Stevia Tincture

The plant species Stevia rebaudiana, commonly known as stevia, contains something called sterol glycosides which are 

30 to 150 times sweeter than sugar

One of the stunning things about these compounds is that our bodies do not metabolize them at all. This makes stevia a ZERO CALORIE source of natural sweetness!

What a far better option than artificial sweeteners that may do more harm than good.

This recipe tutorial teaches an easy way to preserve this sweet leaf in a simple flavor extract.

With just 2 ingredients you can make a low carb budget friendly liquid sweetener in your very own kitchen. Never buy this from the store again!

How to Make Liquid Stevia Extract

Make sure all your material looks clean before you begin. 

It is ok to use the fresh leaf so if you grow your own stevia plant, go ahead and gently pinch off all the best looking leaves for this recipe. Avoid any brown or wilted leaves.

My stevia extract recipe is a great project that shows one idea on how to use stevia leaves.

Coarsely chop the fresh leaves into smaller pieces before placing them in a clean glass jar.

Dry leaves can also make a liquid extract. Crumble the dry leaves into a clean glass jar by rubbing them between your fingertips and thumb.

Cover contents completely with alcohol. I use a locally made punta, which is the Ecuadorian version of moonshine. Vodka or Everclear will work just fine.

Place the lid on and secure tightly. Shake the jar and leave on the counter, out of direct sunlight, for 24-36 hours. Shake occasionally, whenever you pass by.

DO NOT leave the extract to sit for longer than 36 hours. If you do this, the liquid stevia can have a bitter aftertaste. All your effort will be ruined!

Strain the leaves out through a fine mesh cheesecloth, nut milk bag, or coffee filter. Squeeze to remove all liquid.

Pour the extract into a small saucepan and very gently heat for 20-30 minutes, stirring often. DO NOT BOIL. Heat just enough so the alcohol evaporates off and liquid reduces in volume.

Let cool and store in the fridge in a small glass bottle, preferably with a tincture dropper.

The total yield of this recipe varies due to how many leaves you use. 1 cup of the dry, crumbled leaf will fit in a pint-sized glass jar and make about 1 ounce of liquid sweetener.

Now you know how to make stevia extract!

Homemade stevia extract strained.

DIY & Budget Friendly

Forget buying keto and low carb sweeteners from the store all the time! This homemade liquid stevia is so easy and budget friendly too.

A 2-ounce bottle of store-bought organic liquid stevia is going to be at least $6.50. You can buy half a pound of dry stevia leaf and make your own at home for that same price!

Once dry, stevia leaves lasts a long time. I have some in my pantry from over a year ago and it’s still flavorful.

Time and time again, at home DIY projects prove to be more affordable and rewarding than buying from the store. It’s very satisfying to learn how to cook from scratch and make simple versions of store-bought items.

Try some of my favorite DIY and budget friendly alternatives:

It’s really fun to explore these options at home. DIY projects are great to do with kids too. Activities like this teach them the value of homegrown and homemade foods while empowering them with skills and knowledge about plants and nutrition.

Eucalyptus essential oil with eucalyptus leaves in a glass bottle for homemade stevia extract.

How do you use stevia extract?

Homemade stevia extract is a smooth, sweet flavor without any grassy or bitter aftertaste.

You can add liquid stevia extract into many recipes. It’s great in hot and cold drinks, puddings, dressings and sauces.

Stevia is a keto diet approved sugar alternative and can even be used in keto baking.

It’s best to store a homemade stevia extract in a tincture bottle with an eyedropper lid. If you save your bottles as I do, you have a great collection to choose from!

If you don’t have a bottle like this, use a small glass jar with a tight-fitting lid.

The eyedropper is very useful for adding liquid sweetness to hot and cold drinks, chocolates, and fat bombs. These kinds of recipes only need a few drops of stevia before they are sweet enough. Keto cookies, cakes, and sweet baked goods usually call for ¼ to ½ teaspoon stevia extract so a measuring spoon will be just fine for this.

Love the idea of making homemade extracts? Add lemon extract as next on your list.

Keto Recipes with Liquid Stevia

My first keto cookbook, The Ketogenic Edge, teaches simple, from-scratch keto cooking at home without the use of any sweeteners, store-bought powders or flours. All 130+ recipes are made exclusively from whole foods ingredients like meat, healthy fats, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and select fruits. You can add this DIY liquid stevia into recipes like Chocolate Keto Mousse, Dark Keto Chocolate, Berry Ice Cream, Double Chocolate Nutella, and more!

You might also like:

Dry stevia leaf.
Photo credit: Mountain Rose Herbs

Does stevia have carbs?

The USDA classifies stevia as a non-nutritive sweetener which means there is no nutritional value in stevia. It is a zero carb, zero calorie food.

This makes it an excellent option for low carb and keto dieters. As you see in this stevia extract made at home, there are no hidden carbs or chemical preservatives that can kick you out of ketosis or interfere with fat loss.

uses for stevia plant

How to use Fresh Stevia

The stevia plant, originally from South American, grows well in many climates and may be a good thing to plan in your herb garden. Ask your local garden store if they can get a plant or two for you or grow from seed.

There are a few uses for stevia plant and the dry or fresh leaf.

In addition to this homemade sweetener, you can also use fresh leaves to sweeten beverages. Add a few leaves into your next brew or sweeten a healthy coffee alternative in the morning.

Fresh leaves are not quite as sweet as dry, but they will still get the job done. Taste test your drink to make sure it’s not over or under sweetened.

Eucalyptus essential oil with eucalyptus leaves in a glass bottle for homemade stevia extract.

Homemade Stevia Extract

Jessica Haggard
Homemade stevia extract is a simple way to preserve fresh or dry stevia leaf with a delicious flavor and no bitter aftertaste. Plus, it’s budget friendly and easy to use in so many healthy recipes!
5 from 21 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Resting Time 1 day
Total Time 1 day 40 minutes
Course Desserts
Cuisine American
Servings 1 ounce
Calories 1 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

Instructions
 

  • With fresh leaf: Wash and remove fresh leaves from the stem. Pick through and remove any brown or wilted ones. Coarsely chop the fresh leaves into smaller pieces before placing them in a clean glass jar.
    1 cup stevia leaf
  • With dry leaf: Crumble the dry leaves into a clean glass jar by rubbing them between your fingertips and thumb.
    1 cup stevia leaf
  • Cover contents completely with alcohol. Place the lid on and secure tightly.
    Vodka
  • Shake the jar and leave on the counter, out of direct sunlight, for 24-36 hours. Shake occasionally. DO NOT leave the extract to sit for longer than 36 hours.
  • Strain the leaves out through a fine mesh cheesecloth, nut milk bag, or coffee filter. Squeeze to remove all liquid.
  • Pour the extract into a small saucepan and very gently heat for 20-30 minutes, stirring often. DO NOT BOIL. Heat just enough so the alcohol evaporates off and liquid reduces in volume.
  • Let cool and store in the fridge in a small glass bottle, preferably with a tincture dropper.

Notes

The total yield of this recipe varies due to how much leaf you use. 1 cup of dry, crumbled leaf will fit in a pint sized glass jar and make about 1 ounce of liquid sweetener.

Nutrition & Macros

Calories: 1kcal

To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in a given recipe, please calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients and amounts used, using your preferred nutrition calculator. Under no circumstances shall the this website and the author be responsible for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on the given nutritional information.

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This post was updated on March 28, 2020, with more tips and information after being originally published on March 9, 2017.

References

Cardello, H.M.A.B.; Da Silva, M.A.P.A.; Damasio, M.H. (1999). “Measurement of the relative sweetness of stevia extract, aspartame and cyclamate/saccharin blend as compared to sucrose at different concentrations”. Plant Foods for Human Nutrition. 54 (2): 119–129. doi:10.1023/A:1008134420339.

Nutritive and Nonnutritive Sweetener Resources, USDA https://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/nutritive-and-nonnutritive-sweetener-resources

20 thoughts on “How to Make Stevia Extract”

  1. 5 stars
    Hi Jessica,

    Just wondering if the finished product needs to remain refrigerated. The one great thing about one of the commercial liquids I use is that I can keep it in my purse and use whenever I want.

    Thank you for this great recipe! I’d much rather have home made.

    Reply
    • Hi Sherri, Yes, I do recommend keeping the finished stevia extract in the fridge. To get the best of both options, you could use the extract while at home and the storebought bottle from your purse while out and about 🙂 Enjoy!

      Reply
    • Hi Thomas, you surely could use stevia powder instead of the leaf. I haven’t tried that myself so I can’t speak to how the ratio of alcohol to powder would change. It might take a little experimenting but should ultimately make a tincture all the same.

      Reply

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