Easy Christmas Simmer Pot Recipe
A Christmas simmer pot fills your home with the lovely sweet and savory fragrances of the holiday season. Say goodbye to candles and plugin air fresheners, Christmas simmer pots are the way to go.
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A Christmas simmer pot is my secret to a lovely smelling home.
With three dogs and three kids, it is a must!
While candles can leave behind irritating chemicals and soot that you might not want to breathe, this diy Christmas potpourri does not.
It’s full of fragrant oranges, sweet and savory spices, apples, and fresh herbs.
The result is a Christmas simmer pot that will have your home smelling just like the holidays!
And while it’s lovely on Thanksgiving or Christmas, you often have a big, very fragrant meal in the oven so I like to set these up on days when I’m decorating the Christmas tree or having a Christmas movie marathon too.
Ingredients and Kitchen Supplies
Here’s what you need to make a simple Christmas simmer pot:
- Water – Just plain water is fine. If you want it to smell even more strongly and have some on hand, you can substitute apple cider.
- Cinnamon Sticks – You can find these in the spice aisle of most grocery stores.
- Rosemary Sprig – You can typically find these in the fresh produce section near lettuce and other refridgerated veggies.
- Orange Slices – You can use just about any orange you have on hand.
- Apples – We recommend a sturdier variety, like Granny Smith. Softer apples, like red delicious, will tend to melt and turn into applesauce when added to a simmer pot.
- Spices – We used both whole cloves and whole all spice. You could add other spices like ginger and star anise as well.
- Cranberries – You can ussually find fresh cranberries starting around November in many grocery stores.
To make a simmer pot for Christmas or any gathering, you might want to pick up:
How to Make a Christmas Simmer Pot
1. Chunk up the fruit.
Cut the apples and oranges into large slices.
No need to core the apples nor peel the oranges before cutting into wedges since you won’t be eating this.
2. Add the ingredients to the pot.
Place the apple and orange slices into the pot.
Add in the rosemary, cloves, all spice, cinnamon sticks, and cranberries into the pot.
Pour in enough water fully submerge the fruit mixture, ideally with a bit of water underneath.
The fruit and spices will float on top.
3. Bring the pot to a simmer.
Give the pot a good stir, to push the fruit down a little into the water.
Turn the burner onto medium-low heat.
That’s it!
You should start to smell the aroma within a few minutes as it heats up.
All you need to do is monitor it from time to time and adjust the heat if it is boiling too hard.
You just want it to be at a slow simmer.
You can also add more water if the level starts to go down.
Can I store the simmer pot once it simmers?
This is somewhat subjective.
It comes down to the general integrity of the ingredients in the pot and if they start to go bad.
If it has turned into mush or has a funny odor, you probably want to just start a new pot the next day with fresh ingredients.
If the fruits have held up, you can probably get away with re-using it the next day.
To reuse a simmer pot, make sure to place the pot in the fridge overnight.
If it does not smell right, dump the water and get rid the ingredients.
Gifting a Christmas Simmer Pot
Yes, Virginia! You can gift a Christmas simmer pot.
To do it, fill a treat bag in this order with:
- a half teaspoon each of allspice, whole cloves, and any other small whole spices you want to use
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- a half cup of cranberries
- either two small mandarin oranges or about 10 slices of dried oranges
- a small apple
Secure the treat bag with a ribbon and tie a sprig of rosemary to the bow as decoration but also for use in the pot.
Store the bags in the fridge until ready to gift them.
Tips and Tricks
- The key to a good Christmas simmer pot is to add aromatic spices, herbs, and fruits. If you want to add more of one aromatic or another, you can. You may also be interested in adding cardimon pods, vanilla bean, and other complementary scents.
- As the simmer pot simmers, it will start to slowly lose water. You can refill it as often as you need to. Do not let the water get too low or it could start to burn the ingredients.
- Adjust the heat under the pot as necessary. You want the pot to simmer or boil very gently. If it comes to a rapid boil, turn down the heat or remove it from heat for a few minutes to let it cool. You could also try adding a bit of cool water to it.
- The big thing is nothing in this has to be exact! You only have one orange? That’s fine! Use an extra apple or more cinnamon. You’re still going to get that fragrance.
- Along those lines, I often use whatever cranberries I have left from making cranberry sauce or a cranapple crumble and don’t tend to buy them just for this. So you can do the same thing or even skip them if you can’t find them.
Other DIY Scented Projects
I am constantly trying to make my house smell fragrant and cozy- especially at the holidays!
Some of my other favorite projects to do this time of year to get a cinnamon smell in the air are my Easy Cinnamon Ornaments, Oven Dried Orange Slice Ornaments and Homemade Scented Cinnamon Pine Cones, which you can use to make centerpieces or even these sweet Easy Pinecone Gnomes Ornaments.
Festive Recipes to Try
Check out these recipes for your holiday table:
- Baste for a Turkey
- Homemade Gravy
- Garlic Butter Basted Turkey
- Best Ever Apple Cider Turkey Breast for the Holidays
- Brown Sugar Butternut Squash (with Cinnamon)
- Garlic Roasted Turkey Breast
- Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
- Mascarpone Mashed Potatoes with Rosemary Butter
- Parmesan Garlic Twice Baked Potato Casserole
- Roasted Garlic Parmesan Brussel Sprouts
- Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce
- Garlic Herb Ciabatta Stuffing (Vegetarian Stuffing Recipe)
- Apple Sage Stuffing (Stuffing with Apples)
- The Best Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
- The Best Easy Fried Apples
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Christmas Simmer Pot
Equipment
- 1 pot large
- 1 chef knife
- 1 cutting board
Materials
- 2 large oranges sliced
- 2 apples roughly cut
- 1 cup cranberries
- 2-3 sticks cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon whole all spice
- 1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
- 1-2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- enough water to cover the fruit
Instructions
- Rough chop the oranges and apples into large wedges.You do not need to peel the oranges or core the apples.
- Place the apples, oranges, cinnamon sticks, and spices into your pot.
- Fill the pot with enough water to allow everything to float a bit above the bottom.
- Place the pot on the stove and set the burner to low or medium low to bring up to a simmer.Add more water as needed as it cooks off throughout the day.
Notes
