Who doesn’t love some extra nuttiness in bakes and other dishes! Adding a little nutty twist to things like cookies, ice cream, coffee, chocolate, and many more delicious pairings can really elevate your culinary experience!
Pistachios are perfect for adding that nutty twist to things, providing an earthy flavor profile that’ll make your mouth water! However, it’s not always possible – or even desirable – to add pistachios to a dish or beverage…think about adding the flavor to coffee or certain bakes, you can’t always add whole nuts to things!
And that’s why we’re happy to have pistachio extract, which is the perfect way to easily add that delicious flavor to basically anything you want with just a few drops! This makes the whole flavoring process convenient, lending itself as a handy tool for your baking endeavors.
But, not just any pistachio extract will do – you want the best flavors with the best ingredients! That’s why we made this list of our favorite high-quality pistachio extracts that you can buy!

Let’s check them out!
What is pistachio extract?
Pistachio extract is a little different than a lot of other extracts – yes, it’s a liquid that has a very concentrated pistachio flavor, but it’s usually made with more ingredients than just pistachios and alcohol whereas other extracts (like hazelnut extract) is generally made with just the extractive and alcohol.
For example, a lot of pistachio extracts contain both orange and vanilla extracts, along with other flavorings – these additional flavorings often include pistachio oil, which is extracted from pistachio nuts. All these ingredients are put in alcohol – which is usually unflavored vodka – for a long period of time. The alcohol extracts all the flavors of the ingredients, resulting in a strong pistachio-flavored liquid!
Some pistachio extracts also involve putting blended pistachios into the alcohol. Either way, the end result is a tasty and nutty concentrate that you can add to many different dishes! Since the flavor is so powerful, you only need a couple of drops for it to be effective!
There are also pistachio emulsions, which are basically the same thing as extracts except that they’re made with water as a base, not alcohol. This creates some differences in the boiling points – basically, emulsions don’t evaporate in bakes the way extracts do, leaving the final product with a stronger pistachio taste.
How to use pistachio extract in recipes
You can use pistachio extract in anything that you want to add that nutty and earthy flavor to! For example, you can combine it with ice cream, add it to your coffee, put it in your cookies and muffins, bake a cake with it, or (my personal favorite) combine it with chocolate!
While pistachio extract does provide that pistachio flavor, I recommend you use it as an enhancement in recipes that call for pistachios, rather than a replacement for the actual nuts…
This is because the nuts add a texture that you can’t replicate with the extract, and also offers a slightly different flavor. Pistachio extract acts as a wonderful taste-enhancer in those recipes, but can certainly stand alone in recipes that simply call for pistachio flavoring or if you just want to add the flavor in recipes that don’t call for pistachios – like adding a couple drops to your coffee, ice cream, bakes, etc.
Vanilla Bean Kings, which is a brand that we’ll talk more about in our rankings below, suggests using ¼ of a teaspoon as a start for flavoring your dishes, and then adding more if you want a stronger flavor.
LorAnn, a brand we’ll also talk about later, recommends 1-3 teaspoons of pistachio extract for standard batches of cookies and muffins – they use a pistachio emulsion, so use the higher end of that recommendation for extracts if you want that same strong pistachio flavor.
2 great recipes to use your pistachio extract
As I mentioned, pistachio extract is best used as a flavoring agent or an enhancer to recipes that call for pistachios, rather than being a replacement for the nuts. With that said, make sure to try these recipes:
- Pistachio milk: Now, I absolutely love different milk variations, and this pistachio one offers an amazing flavor! It’s a dairy-free recipe that mixes soaked pistachios and water, but you can use a couple drops of pistachio extract to enhance the flavor even more! Or, if you don’t mind dairy, you can simply add ¼ to 1 teaspoon of pistachio extract to regular milk, flavoring it as desired.
- Almond flour carrot cake: I know what you’re thinking: this recipe calls for almonds! Well, pistachio extract can be used to add even more of that nutty flavor, along with offering its earthy taste to the cake! This could be a delicious addition to this already amazing recipe – you can also substitute the vanilla extract with the same amount of pistachio extract, although I recommend adding the pistachio extract in addition!
How to choose the best pistachio extract
The best pistachio extract shouldn’t be some elusive product that you have trouble finding – it should be easily distinguished from the bad extracts out there! That’s why we’ve made this list of criteria that every pistachio extract has to go through, letting us filter out all the bad ones:
- Ingredients: We try to avoid artificial stuff in our extracts, as natural ingredients always provide the best flavors when done right. Plus, it feels a lot better putting natural stuff into our body than artificial stuff!
- Consumer feedback: Checking out what other people are saying about a product is absolutely critical when deciding which extracts are good or bad. I mean, you wouldn’t buy something that everyone is telling you not to, right?
- Track record: Brands shouldn’t get away with treating their customers badly or using sketchy practices and ingredients when making their pistachio extracts. So, we do a little detective work and get the run-down of every brand we review!
- Price: We’ve got pistachio extracts that’ll lighten your wallet a bit and extracts that are more budget-friendly – there’s something for everyone!
And with that, let’s jump into the rankings!
#1 Best Overall: OliveNation
At number 1 we have the amazing OliveNation!
This brand has been at the top of our “bests” lists consistently, taking another number 1 spot for the best pistachio extract!
Not only does their pistachio extract provide a powerful taste that’ll add a delicious nutty and earthy taste to whatever you add it to, but it’s also the most budget-friendly on this entire list, coming in at only $1.25 per fluid ounce! It also has no artificial flavoring or coloring, making it an even more attractive choice!
A great pistachio extract for a great price – definitely give this one a try!
Ingredients: Alcohol, Water, Natural Flavors, Orange Extract (Alcohol, Water, and Terpeneless Orange Oil), and Vanilla Extract (Alcohol, Water, and Select Vanilla Beans).
#2 Runner-Up: Native Vanilla
Hot on number 1’s heels is Native Vanilla, the runner-up in the best pistachio extracts rankings!
This awesome product is vegan, non-GMO, gluten-free, sulfites-free, kosher, and has no added sugar! Native Vanilla has pulled off a delicious pistachio extract with an awesome balanced flavor, all while prioritizing natural and sustainable practices. They have some amazing reviews, but this extract comes in a little bit more expensive than OliveNation’s, costing $3.75 per fluid ounce.
However, this awesome pistachio extract is absolutely worth it for the amazing taste – plus, you’ll get to support Native Vanilla’s mission of only using natural and sustainable products!
Give this one a go!
Ingredients: Alcohol, Water, Natural Flavors, Orange Extract (Alcohol, Water, and Terpeneless Orange Oil).
#3 Best Kosher: Vanilla Bean Kings
No surprise here, Vanilla Bean Kings has grabbed the spot for “best kosher” extract on another one of our “bests” lists!
Their pistachio extract is kosher-certified, while also being vegan and gluten-free. Vanilla Bean Kings has done a really good job with this one, providing an earthy and nutty taste that you’ll want to grab for everything. On top of that, this amazing product is crafted in the USA, which we love to support! You’ll be sure to add an awesome review to the many others!
Try it out!
Ingredients: Alcohol, Water, Natural Flavors, Orange Extract (Alcohol, Water, and Terpenless Orange Oil) and Vanilla Extract (Alcohol, Water, and Select Vanilla Beans).
#4 Best in Bulk: Bakto Flavors
Alright, so this is a pretty cool one.
Bakto Flavors has made a really good pistachio extract, which boasts 2000+ positive ratings. The flavor profile is delicious, and will be sure to add some great tastes to whatever you add it to!
However, the really cool thing about this is that you get to choose 4 more bottles of extracts or natural flavors from a list of 60, giving you a box of 5 extracts! That makes it an amazing opportunity to try some new extracts out all while being able to enjoy their great pistachio extract! Or, if you want, you can choose pistachio for all 5 of the extracts, getting 5 separate bottles.
It also makes for an awesome gift! It is the second most expensive on this list, however, coming in at $5.00 per fluid ounce. I do think it’s absolutely worth it, as you get a box of 5 bottles that you can keep yourself or gift to your favorite baker!
Definitely check this one out!
Ingredients: Alcohol, water, polypropylene glycerol, natural flavors.
#5 Honorable Mention: Gusteau’s
At number 5 we want to give an honorable mention to Gusteau’s pistachio flavoring product.
Now, this isn’t an extract, but an emulsion. This isn’t a bad thing at all, and just means that their product is water-based rather than alcohol-based. There aren’t many differences between the two, but Gusteau’s pistachio emulsion will pack more of a flavor punch in bakes, since emulsions don’t bake out like extracts do.
This can be good or bad depending on how strong you want the flavor to be. However, you can simply adjust by adding less of the emulsion than you would an extract in bakes, or use it in the same way if you do want a stronger flavor! In that case, we recommend Gusteau’s pistachio emulsion, as it has a wonderful taste that checks all the right boxes.
Give this one a try!
Ingredients: Water, xanthic gum, pistachio flavor, natural flavoring.
#6 Best Keto: Dolce Foglia
Our choice for the best keto pistachio extract goes out to Dolce Foglia!
Their name is just as cool as their pistachio extract, as it’s perfect if you’re looking for a keto-friendly option. It’s sugar-free, vegan, and gluten-free, making it an attractive option to many people. Plus, the flavor in it is powerful and delicious, giving you a great nutty and earthy flavoring tool!
One thing to keep in mind is that it’s the most expensive on this list, coming in at $7.48 per fluid ounce. Now, that’s a tough pill to swallow, and I’d say you should check out the other pistachio extracts on this list if you don’t specifically need this one. It also is the only one that has artificial flavoring here, which isn’t the greatest…
However, if you strictly want this one for its keto-friendliness, it’s a great option!
Ingredients: Propylene Glycol, Natural & Artificial Flavoring.
Others we reviewed
We review a bunch of products, which unfortunately means that we come across some that aren’t that great or that we wouldn’t recommend.
One of those products is LorAnn’s pistachio emulsion. We generally like LorAnn’s products, as they make some great emulsions – and their pistachio product here isn’t bad, but rather not good enough…
We favor extracts over emulsions for the purpose of this list (mainly because extracts bake out, making the taste easier to control in bakes), and Gusteau’s pistachio emulsion is a bit better overall, making it the one we recommend over LorAnn’s.
We also love testing McCormick and Watkins products, and we often recommend them highly. However, they were both out of stock when we were ranking pistachio extracts, so we unfortunately couldn’t review them!
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