Simmer Pot Recipes for Fall

Keep your home smelling delicious and autumn-fresh naturally this season. Here are my favorite simmer pot recipes for fall.

I love having a fresh, nicely scented home. I always say that a home that smells clean feels clean. And I think the same can be said for other concepts related to home fragrance as well. For instance, I think we can all agree that a home that smells inviting feels inviting as well. If you’re trying to create an instantly cozy atmosphere in your home this season, whether it’s for a special festive gathering or for a quiet weekend getting things done around the house, these simmer pot recipes will make your house smell deliciously amazing. These all-natural, aromatic recipes are a fun alternative to other home scent products and work well if you’ve run out of your favorite scented candle or if you want to make a beautiful celebratory simmer pot for a special event.

Apple Cinnamon Crock Pot Simmer Pot Recipe

This crock pot air freshener gives your home the freshness of sipping mulled apple cider on a crisp autumn day with apples, spice, and everything nice.

I really like the idea of using a crock pot to heat up your home scent ingredients because you can keep your aromatics simmering all day without fear of burning down your house or having your pot boil dry. Here’s how I get that classic apple cinnamon scent in my home.

To a slow cooker, add:

• 8 apples, peeled, cored, and roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon
• 1 cup of water
• A dash of lemon juice
• A couple of tablespoons of granulated white sugar

When you’re all done having your home smell amazing for the day, just discard the contents of the crock pot and rinse it out to go again tomorrow.

Just kidding! You’ve just made apple sauce! Make sure you save that to enjoy later. 🙂

Spicy Woodsy Simmer Pot Recipe

Another quick way to get your DIY home scent going is to put it in a pot on the stove and boil it at a low temperature with water. This disperses the scent more quickly through steam than a crock pot, but you do need to keep adding a little bit more water every so often.

This fragrant recipe will make your home smell like a spiced autumn woodland as you let it simmer gently on the stovetop burner.

• A few evergreen branches, clipped from outside and trimmed to fit into a pot
• A teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves
• 6-8 cups of water

Use the evergreen boughs that you have available nearby. Pine, cedar, juniper, and spruce are all great options.

Let the mixture boil away happily until you’re done with it. You’ve just made pine sauce! Just kidding. This one really should be discarded after you’re done with it.

The aroma of this blend of clippings and spices is great for eliminating unpleasant odors while simmers away.

The “Williams Sonoma” Scent Simmer Pot

Williams Sonoma has been one of my favorite stores for decades now. The beautiful atmosphere created in the store is the perfect combination of stylish, clean, functional, and cozy, in my opinion. I’m not sure who first discovered this simmer pot recipe featuring fresh herbs and citrus, but it was all over the internet at one time so I decided to try it out. I’ve been using it ever since, and I recently noticed that the Williams Sonoma website now publicly shares this recipe as well so we can all have homes that smell just like those beautiful stores.

To make this simmer pot, you’ll need:

• 2 lemons, sliced
• 3-4 sprigs of fresh rosemary (substitute dried in a pinch)
• 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract
• 1-2 teaspoons of black peppercorns
• 6-8 cups of water

Place all the ingredients in a large pot, bring to just below the boiling point, and let it simmer at a low temperature for up to several hours. The pot pictured above is my trusty oval Le Creuset and it works as beautifully for simmer pots as it does for soups and stews.

This recipe will evaporate well and has a really strong scent, and I’m always so pleased with how well it fills my whole home.

Festive Orange and Clove Simmer Pot Recipe

To make this classic scent recipe, you’ll need:

• 2 oranges, sliced
• 1 tablespoon of ground cloves
• 1 tablespoon of cinnamon
• 6-8 cups of water

Combine all of these ingredients in a pot for a spicy scent that will feel welcoming and homey right up until Christmas time. I found that using generic brand ground cloves rather than whole cloves made this recipe a lot more economical. Whole cloves can get expensive and really aren’t necessary for something like this, although if you’re looking to make a simmer pot that looks as beautiful as it smells, definitely go for whole cloves and cinnamon sticks rather than the ground varieties of each.

DIY Home Scent Spray Variation: Orange and Clove

The essential oils required to make this sweet-smelling spray seem to be some of the most reasonably priced and easy to find as far as I’ve been able to tell. If you really love this scent combination, why not make a spray version for yourself as well?

Here is a very old post where you can find my full instructions for making DIY Home Scent Sprays. I will definitely need to update that one with new photos soon.

For this home scent spray recipe, you’ll need:

• A few drops of orange or mandarin orange essential oil
• A few drops of cinnamon essential oil
• A few drops of clove essential oil
• Water
• A clean spray bottle (I love these glass ones)
• Baking soda

Have you ever tried making a simmer pot to scent your home? What combination of ingredients was your favorite?