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One of my favorite things to make for friends and neighbors (or myself) during the winter months are simmer pot bags. They remind me of being a kid when my Mom taught me how to make these. A Simmer pot is a little bundle of ingredients like fresh citrus, greens, and spices that you place on your stovetop with water and when left on low heat, they fill your space with the most wonderful holiday smell! Some people call it stove top potpourri. In this post I’ll explain how I create these bags for gifting, and I’ve prepared a free gift tag download with the instructions so you can tie right on and start sharing!
Ingredients and Supplies
- Oranges – I like to buy the large bags of inexpensive navel oranges. You don’t need to splurge here because they won’t be eaten! Orange is my personal favorite, but lemon would work as well.
- Fresh Cranberries – I would not use frozen here since you want them very dry and firm. A standard bag of fresh cranberries works great. This is a great use for leftover cranberries if you have a partial bag from Thanksgiving!
- Fresh Spices – Cinnamon Sticks are a must, I also love whole cloves. If you only use a few spices I would use those two. My favorite special touch is star anise, it’s both fragrant and beautiful! Whole allspice berries are also festive. See my note below on the best places to source whole spices in bulk to save money.
- Greenery – I like to simply snip a few evergreen sprigs from my yard. Anything like Pine or spruce works great. If it smells good on the tree, it will work great! During the winter season around Christmas time you can purchase little bundles of fresh greens at places like Lowe’s and Home Depot and Trader Joes. They are near the fresh wreaths. You could also use rosemary.
- Cellophane Bags: I like to use a bag with a gusset- that just means it expands open on the sides, and creates a flat bottom. My bags I’m using here are 4″ x 9.5″ and anything similar to that (like 5×12, another common size) will work great. I like to buy my bags in person at the party supply store so I can visualize the size!
Tips for Buying Spices
- Check your local grocer with bulk bins. Bulk spices are purchased by the pound and are a fraction of the cost of a standard bottle. You can buy a large bag of things like cloves and cinnamon sticks for just a few dollars.
- Try an international market, or the international aisle of your grocery store. At my grocery store a small bottle of star anise cost close to $10, but just a couple aisles over, with the latin foods like dried chili peppers, I was able to purchase the bag above for about $1.50. Many international markets carry very affordable spice options.
- Costco often sells large containers of cinnamon sticks for a great price during the holiday seasons.
- Restaurant Supply Stores are also a great option for bulk spices and great prices.
Assemble the simmer pot
Assembly is easy! You can very easily create a little assembly line and make quite a few of these at once. Or even make a few kits for yourself in reusable containers. For gifting I love a simple cellophane bag.
- Place whole orange in cellophane bag
- Add a handful of fresh cranberries
- Add spices such as cloves and allspice
- Nestle cinnamon sticks and star anise in front
- Add a sprig or two of fresh greenery
- Tie bag with ribbon or twine, attaching gift tag if desired
How to Use a Simmer Pot
Using these cute bags couldn’t be easier. Simply slice the orange and place it in a small pot on your stove top, then add the rest of the bag contents. Cover with water and bring to a low simmer. It will make your home smell AMAZING. You can also place it all in a slow cooker with plenty of water and leave that on low with the lid off, or cracked.
Free Gift Tags
I like to attach a small gift tag to the simmer pot bag so people know what to do with these, you are welcome to use them! Simple cut out and punch a hole wherever you like. I cut the corners off of my tags to create the shape you see in my photos. Click the button below for the pdf file. It contains 3 different versions of the tag, including the one you see in my photos. When you click to print on your home computer, make sure you select only the page you’d like to use. I recommend printing on card stock.
Frequently Asked Questions
I have made these up to a week in advance and they stay nice and fresh. You will want to make sure your cranberries are completely dry when they go in the bag, and there are no spoiled ones in there. Moisture starts creating condensation, but as long as things are dry, they stay nice and fresh. I like to put mine in the fridge, or a cool place (like a garage) if they’ll be sitting for a while.
Simmer Pots (Stove Top Potpurri)
Ingredients
- 1 whole orange
- ¼ cup fresh cranberries
- 2-3 cinnamon sticks
- 1-2 tablespoons whole cloves
- a few allspice berries
- 2-3 star anise
- 1 spring evergreen or rosemary
Packaging Materials
- 1 cellophane bag 4×9 or 5×12 size range
- twine or ribbon
- gift tags
Instructions
- Place whole orange in the cellophane bag. Add cranberries.
- Sprinkle in cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice, and anise. Tuck in the evergreen sprigs.
- Tie bag closed with ribbon or twine and attach tag.
- To use: Slice orange into several slices and add to a small pot on the stove top. Add remaining contents of bag. Cover with water by 1-2 inches and bring to a low simmer. As water evaporates, add more. You can turn it on an off over the coarse of a few days and discard when scent is gone or it starts looking yucky!
Notes
- Check your local grocer with bulk bins. Bulk spices are purchased by the pound and are a fraction of the cost of a standard bottle. You can buy a large bag of things like cloves and cinnamon sticks for just a few dollars.
- Try an international market, or the international aisle of your grocery store. At my grocery store a small bottle of star anise cost close to $10, but just a couple aisles over, with the latin foods like dried chili peppers, I was able to purchase the bag above for about $1.50. Many international markets carry very affordable spice options.
- Costco often sells large containers of cinnamon sticks for a great price during the holiday seasons.
- Restaurant Supply Stores are also a great option for bulk spices and great prices.
Questions & Reviews
I made these for friends and neighbors this year. Smells so yummy and is a nice presentation! Will do it again next year!
Wow, this is such a creative and thoughtful idea! Perfect for spreading holiday cheer with a personal touch. Thanks for sharing the detailed steps and tips!
I LOVE these and they look so cute! I’ve given away 2 so far and the first person said they would add it to cider, and the second said it’s just what they needed for mulled wine!! This is after they read the cute tag and I told them it was a simmer pot. Does anyone else have this problem?!?
Honestly, if they want to use it for cider or mulled wine, they totally can (minus the greenery of course) but the tag clearly states the intended purpose. One of the tag options even says “not intended for consumption”. There’s only so much you can do haha.
So beautifully simple and simply beautiful. It smells delicious and will be my homemade Christmas touch for friends and family. Thank you!
Thanks so much! This smells amazing. I was Wondering if these need to be refrigerated bc of the cranberries and rosemary? Thank you!
No they do not need to be refrigerated. Both of those items are just fine at room temperature.
I am not purchasing all spice berries so how much all spice seasoning should I add to the bag?
I would not add ground allspice, that would be messy (both in the bag and the pot) and not really give you much bang for your buck. Just leave them out- it’s totally fine 🙂
I can’t find alot of star anise, is there another spice i can use or just add more cloves and all spice?
No, but if you have cloves and cinnamon that’s great! Those are the best ones anyway 🙂
I made these for my yoga holiday lunch! They were a huge success and everyone loved them!
I just finished twenty simmer pot gifts! Thank you so much for providing the details for a truly beautiful Christmas gift! Giving it to my neighbors and friends!!
Susan D
Please send the label tags
Hi Judy, scroll through this article and you’ll see a button to download the tags.
I bought all of the ingredients including the bags. How does an orange fit? The bag is narrow
Hey Lynn! Did you purchase bags that were linked here? If they’re too small, amazon may have changed the listing since I added that last year- that sometimes happens. You might have to purchase bags at a craft store or party supply store just to visualize and make sure it’s large enough to fit an orange!
This page is so well done!! It is clean, easy to follow and wonderful content. It is one of the best I have seen! Will be making the potpourri bags. Thank you so much for sharing this pleasure!!
Link
Need info
*BAGS
*Recipe print out
Want to make these for give aways at Christmas Open House. Yes, I’ll send pictures.
Hi Sandi! All of the things you requested are in this article 🙂
Looks so good!
Can you recommend a “best/favorite ” simmer pot for ceramic stovetop!
Literally any pot you cook with works great!
Please send me the label link. Thank you. ☺️
Hi Linda! Scroll through the article and there’s a labeled button to click for the labels 🙂
Can you please send over the link for the tags. Thanks.
Hi Elaine, if you scroll through this article there is a large blue button that is labeled to download the tags 🙂
This made the greatest neighbor gift! Thank you!!
How long do these stay fragrant for?
It depends. I usually keep mine on the stove for 2-3 days and continue to add water when it needs it. It’s not simmering that whole time, I just turn it on and off as needed.
Going to use this idea for co worker gifts
I made these for friends and neighbors this year, and they were a big hit! Thanks for the tips on how to get the ingredients at a great price!
Thank you for sharing this great idea and the free printable! Mentally this year I just didn’t have it in me to think up ideas for friends and neighbors, plus there are so many treats floating around this time of year I just didn’t want to add to that. This was the perfect solution! Thanks again, and Merry Christmas!
Thank you for this!!
Heading to Fred Myer. This is such a great little gift for neighbors and friends. thank you so much for sharing
Thank you so much for sharing this! What a wonderful gift for co-workers and neighbors. Merry Christmas to you and yours!