The EASIEST Chai Tea Latte Recipe
on Nov 13, 2023
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The EASIEST 5-minute homemade chai tea latte rivals any coffee shop version! It’s a caffeinated latte full of warm spices that make the perfect comforting drink on a cold day. It’s an all-star on the Starbucks menu for a good reason! Tip for chai tea latte lovers: buy a box of chai tea bags so you don’t need to re-create a chai tea concentrate from scratch with a dozen ingredients!
The next time you’re craving a Chai Tea Latte, save yourself a trip to Starbucks and make this recipe at home! Plus, you can customize it easily: whether you like it sweeter or unsweetened, with whole milk, almond milk, or oat milk, serve it hot or iced, the choices are yours!
This homemade version is cozy, aromatic, and lightly sweet. It tastes like the REAL thing and is so simple to make, too. It calls for only 5 ingredients: chai tea bags, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and water! You can mix it up on the stove in 5 minutes – less time than going to the nearest Starbucks! If you don’t have chai tea bags, I’ll also show you how to make a chai tea concentrate with black tea and spices in the recipe notes below.
Watch Chai Tea Latte Recipe Video
What is a Chai Tea Latte?
Chai comes from India and is made of black tea and a combination of spices including ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, and cloves.
Because of its richness, when blended with steamed milk, it makes a really delicious and creamy Chai Tea Latte that radiates warmth and aroma.
The Chai Tea Latte is bursting with flavor without just 5 simple ingredients – without adding any special sugary syrups!
Chai tea bag is the ingredient that is the heart and soul of a true chai tea latte and is what Starbucks uses. It gives your drink the special aroma we all love!
Starbucks used to use Tazo tea, which is available at most grocery stores. These days, however, they use Teavana, which is a little harder to find at a store but can easily be purchased online. Either one works well with this recipe.
To make life easy, I highly recommend buying a box of chai tea bags. Reasons: 1) they’re closer to the authentic taste; 2) save you the trouble of measuring 6 more ingredients:
Chai tea bag = Black tea bag + Cardamon + Nutmeg + Whole Cloves + Allspice + Cinnamon + Ginger
Why do you want to buy 7 ingredients when you can simply use ONE? It’s cheaper, faster, better, and more convenient! Save you the trouble of balancing out the flavors among these spices too!
Other chai tea latte ingredients:
- Water: You’ll need boiled water to steep your tea.
- Milk: You have quite a few milk options when it comes to this recipe. The Starbucks original recipe uses 2% milk and the easiest dairy-free match would be soy. However, you can use pretty any milk you like such as almond or oat milk.
- Sugar: Since you’ll be adding the sugar into hot water, granulated sugar works just fine as it will dissolve easily. If you’re looking for a healthy substitute, try Stevia, but since it’s much sweeter than sugar, add just 1/4 teaspoon to start. You could also substitute honey in a 1:1 ratio with sugar.
- Cinnamon: Ground cinnamon will be used both in the latte itself and as a garnish to give your latte a beautiful finish.
The BEST chai tea latte recipe in 5 minutes!
Chai tea latte is made with Chai tea and milk, and that’s basically it. Here is a quick overview of how to make it, and you can find the complete recipe and measurement below.
1. Add water to a small saucepan. Bring it to a boil and add chai tea bags. Turn off the heat.
2. Cover with lid and let the tea steep for 5 minutes. Then remove the teabag.
Tip: To give your tea a full-bodied Chai flavor, make sure to let it steep for the full 5 minutes. Cover the pot with a lid so your tea can steep in the hottest water possible.
3. In a separate saucepan over medium heat, pour milk into the pot.
4. Add sugar and cinnamon. Heat the milk until it just starts to steam, but is NOT boiling.
Tip: This recipe is lightly sweetened, but you may find you like it sweeter…or less! Adjust the amount of sugar to your preferred taste. Start with 1 tablespoon and gradually add more.
5. Froth the milk with a handheld frother or immersion blender.
Tip: If you don’t have a mix frother or immersion blender, you can skip this step, and your drink will still taste good!
6. Add the tea into the cup, and pour the milk mixture on top. Stir to combine. Sprinkle with cinnamon powder. Serve and enjoy! Note: A Chai Tea Latte will give you a good energy boost, but not in the same way a coffee drink will.
Equipment for making chai tea latte at home
- Milk frother or immersion blender for frothing
- Saucepan with cover
Chai Tea Latte Variations
- Iced Chai Tea Latte: This is great for occasions when you don’t want to sip a hot drink. It may seem as simple as just adding in some ice, but for a drink that’s refreshingly cool and not too watery, let your Chai blend cool to at least room temperature before adding in the ice.
- Dirty Chai Tea Latte: Sound intriguing? A Dirty Chai is a great choice when you want your normal latte but maybe need an extra boost. It adds a shot of espresso into the mix. For an Iced Dirty Chai, add the hot espresso to your hot Chai blend and let them cool together before adding ice.
More Starbucks Copycat Recipes
If you tried this recipe, let me know how your Chai Tea Latte turns out in the comments below!
Easy Chai Tea Latte Recipe
Equipment
- Milk Frother or immersion blender
Ingredients
- 2 chai tea bags*, you can make your own chai tea with the black tea bags. See recipe notes on how to make it.
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 ½ cup milk, you can use any milk for this recipe
- 1 tablespoon sugar, (this will make a slightly sweet drink, add 2 tablespoons if you prefer a sweeter drink)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, (plus more for garnish)
Instructions
- Add water to a small saucepan and bring it to a boil. Turn off the heat.
- Place chai tea bags in the pan, and cover with a lid.
- Let the tea steep for 5 minutes. Then remove the tea bags.
- In a separate saucepan over medium heat, pour milk into the pot.
- Add sugar and cinnamon. Mix well.
- Heat the milk until it just starts to steam, but is not boiling.
- (optional) Use a handheld frother or immersion blender to froth the milk.
- Add the tea into the cup, and pour the milk mixture on top.
- Sprinkle with ground cinnamon. Serve hot and enjoy!
Notes
- 2 black tea bags
- 3/4 cup water
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ½ teaspoon ginger powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Add water to a medium saucepan and bring it to a boil.
- Add the black tea bags.
- Add all the spices. Mix well.
- Reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Use it as the chai tea and continue to the next step.
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate only and will vary based on ingredient brands and cooking methods used.
chai tea? chai means tea. so you’re saying “tea tea bags” in the recipe. so does this just call for regular tea bags? i’m confused.
The chai from the outside is so very costly that it is not possible to try it every time you crave it. This post of yours is saving my pocket and I am very thankful to you that you shared this with us.
This was delicious !
Whoa! This is really good! I’m surprisingly shocked that I could make something this good. Thank you so much for this recipe, I have a feeling I’ll be using this recipe quite often 🙂
These are AMAZING!!!
just wondering if i wanted to make a vanilla chai latte could i just add in some vanilla syrup or extract to the milk while it’s warming? or should i use less sugar if i do that? thanks (:
Hi Hannah, yes, you can add vanilla extract to the milk. If you choose to use vanilla syrup, you’ll need to use less sugar. You can add the sugar gradually. Taste and add more if needed. Hope this helps.
yes it does, thank you for responding!
What type of black tea bags would you recommend for making your own homeade chai?
The most common one is English Breakfast, other good options include Assam, Darjeeling, or Ceylon.