This Chai Latte recipe has the sweet and spicy flavor that you love, and can be made at home in just minutes. It’s dairy-free, naturally sweetened, and makes a great healthier alternative to the kind you’d buy at a coffee shop.
As an added bonus, it’s cheaper and has no weird preservatives or additives. I love making it at home because I get to control the amount of spice and sweetness. You can simply taste as you go!
What is a Chai Latte?
Similar to a latte made with coffee, a chai latte is typically made with a tea concentrate and steamed milk.
When I worked as a barista in college, the chai concentrate we used had enough sugar in it that it could sit on the counter for over a month without refrigeration. I wanted to figure out a healthier alternative to make at home to avoid that!
Does Chai have caffeine?
Chai lattes that are made with black tea do have some caffeine. In this particular recipe, you can make it with or without the tea– either way it will taste great!
I personally don’t have the patience to wait for tea to brew, and then make a latte out of it, so this recipe gets its flavor from an easy combination of spices instead. If you make it without the tea, it’s a caffeine-free drink.
How to Make It
This recipe is quick and simple to make on the stove top, but if you want an extra-authentic drink that would come from a coffee house, you can use a milk frother to heat up the milk instead.
Tip: My homemade almond milk and almond milk coffee creamer both make amazing foam in a milk frother.
I usually just whisk the milk and spices in a saucepan over the stove, so that I don’t have to get out any extra equipment.
If you want to make this drink with tea, you’ll need to heat up the almond milk first, then use the hot milk to steep the tea bags for 3 to 5 minutes.
Once the tea is steeped, you can remove the tea bags and continue with the recipe by adding the spices and sweetener. I recommend using a plain black tea, rather than a chai tea bag, so that the drink isn’t too spicy.
However you make it, I hope you’ll enjoy this easy and flavorful drink!
It’s the perfect way to satisfy your sweet tooth when it’s chilly outside, and I have a feeling it would be delicious served over ice for a warmer day, too.
Easy Chai Latte Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups almond milk (or milk of choice)
- 2 black tea bags (optional; I like to use Darjeeling)
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon , or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup (or sweetener of choice)
Instructions
- If using tea, keep in mind that this drink will have caffeine. Heat up the almond milk in a saucepan over medium-high heat, until it begins to bubble around the edges of the pan. Turn off the heat, and add the 2 tea bags to the pot of hot milk. Wait 3 to 5 minutes for the tea to steep, then remove the bags and continue with the next step.
- If you're skipping the tea, add the plain almond milk to a sauce pan.
- Now that the milk is in the saucepan (whether it's been brewed as tea, or not) add in the cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and maple syrup. Whisk to combine, stirring over medium heat, until the mixture is piping hot.
- Adjust any seasoning to your taste and serve immediately. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the fridge. You can serve them chilled over ice, or reheat on the stove again.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is for 1 of 2 servings. This is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, so it’s just an estimate and not a guarantee.
Recipe Notes:
- Because this is a quick stove top recipe, you can adjust anything you like and taste as you go. If you need to use a zero calorie sweetener, just add it to your taste instead of using maple syrup.
- The same goes for the spices! I think Chai Lattes tend to have a lot of spice, but if you don’t care for as many, you can always start will less and just add more to taste as you go.
- If you prefer to use another milk, go for it. I think my homemade hemp milk would work great for this recipe, too, if you need a nut-free option.
- If you’d prefer a frozen version of this drink, be sure to try my Frozen Chai Latte smoothie. It tastes so much like a blended drink from Starbucks!
As always, if you try something different please leave a comment below so we can all benefit from your experience.
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Reader Feedback: Do you have a favorite coffee house drink that needs a healthier makeover? Feel free to make any requests in the comments below!
Thanks for tbe vacation. I didn’t even have to leave the house.
Chai means tea, and there’s no tea in this. It’s spiced milk.
This is absolutely delicious! Thank you for this recipe- these are the changes I made and I am never going back to any other chai recipe! I cut the maple syrup to 2T, steeped a double spice chai tea bag in the milk for 5 minutes after it boiled, and then blended it in my Breville mixer with 1 T of heavy whipping cream for 2-3 minutes. Absolutely delicious! I split the first batch with my hubby, and then promptly brewed a second one to put in the fridge for tomorrow. Thank you!
Delicious! Steeped some black tea in it for a caffeine boost.
Love chai latte.
I resisted ordering from Starbucks when I was out and came home to look up a cleaner recipe. This is a game changer! I drank it cold, over ice and only used 2T of maple syrup and it was perfectly sweet. Thank you!
This is delicious! I have it for a dessert. I use 1.5 tablespoons of maple syrup and it’s plenty sweet for me. Thank you for this recipe!
This is not chai tea.
It turned out really good.. my daughter was craving starbucks and i made this so I don’t have to go … she was very happy and asked for it again the next day. Thank you for sharing
This is the best chai I’ve ever tasted. I use coconut milk and decaffeinated black tea (twinings english breakfast). I make it before bed to wind down for the day.
I wonder what it would taste like if I made a huge batch of it and stored it in the fridge. Have you or has anyone else given that a try?
So delicious! I reduced the maple syrup to 2 tbsp. Thanks for this—it’s perfect and I can’t wait to try the leftovers over ice!
I want a latte tea with no caffeine black tea has caffeine. I suffer from reflux and need to take less caffeine. Also I want to drink it at tea time.
Thanks
You can make this without using any tea, or with an herbal tea of your choice. It’s delicious either way!
This is so good. I chose to use bigelow earl grey decaffeinated tes bags and only 2 tablespoons of maple syrup. Will definitely be a staple in my home. Thank you for the recipe!
I tried your chai latte recipe and turned out great
I never comment on recipes! But this was amazing and just what I needed. Didn’t have maple syrup so I used brown sugar instead. Kept it very rich and cozy tasting. This is going to be made often! Thank you!
Thank you so much for commenting! The brown sugar sounds like an excellent swap, too.
Thank you so much for such an awesome recipe! I didn’t have cloves, so I substituted a little nutmeg, only used two tablespoons of maple syrup, and topped it off with whipped cream and a little cayenne pepper for extra kick. So yummy!
Hi! I have been looking for a simple chai recipe and finally found one. Can’t wait to try. One question, if I use a milk frother to heat up the milk, at which point do I add the spices? Does it suffice to just mix them into the warm milk? Thanks!
Any idea for making Chai Latte for a winter picnic?
I am a chai latte nut and can’t get enough so thought I’d give this recipe a try. I didn’t have ground cloves so added some whole ones instead and added a few black pepper corns for spice, it meant I had to strain the mixture but it was amazing and so easy to make.
The almond milk has a lot of carbs. is there a keto friendly version of this wonderful recipe?
Would love to make a mix I could just add to whatever. Powder form preferred. 2-3 cups dry
This is great! I used whole milk and agave nectar(out of maple syrup) with a touch of vanilla extract and it turned out great.
Delicious and so easy!! I only added 2 T of Maple syrup and it was plenty sweet enough.
Wow, this tastes so much like the Starbucks one, but without the cloying taste of theirs! I drink your vegan latte almost everyday, but wanted to try something different and I was not disappointed!
Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know.
I am enjoying this so much! I’m probably drinking it too much, actually, but with Stevia and unsweetened vanilla almond milk, it is not the least bit bad for you and so DELISH!! Thank you for the FANTASTIC recipe!
Has anyone mixed all the dry ingredients together in bulk so you can just scoop and go in the morning? If so, how much total would you scoop?
Personally not very chai like
Delicious and easy. I put only 1 tbsp of maple syrup and used oat milk. Yummy
This has proven to be a wonderful “break time” midday drink for me. My body temperature drops in the middle of the day, so even in an air conditioned summer day, I enjoy it. Thanks for both the recipe, & for steering me towards the purchase of a frother, which I am loving!
Do you throw everything in the frother if not using the tea bags? What is the process when using the frother and tea bags? Sorry if this seems like a ridiculous question🤪.
This is something I would like to know too. I just came across this tonight and haven’t had a chance to try it yet. I looks delicious! Megan?
I would heat up the milk in the milk frother, then use that hot liquid to steep the tea. You could probably add the spices and maple syrup into the frother at the same time, so when you take the tea bag out, all you’d have to do is stir it again to make sure it’s all incorporated.
What is the process when using a milk frother?
I Love the chi tea recipe and it’s easy and quick and looks delicious and it will save me money
When do you add the chia
Soooo good! Easy to make and I had all the ingredients on hand… except for the ground cloves. But I just substituted with allspice and it turned out great!! Very yummy.
Well, everything went very well until I added a little bit too much maple syrup. I had to balance it out with a bit more milk, but it tastes great now! I added a bit of cardamom as well, and while I didn’t do this, adding just a dash of salt would create a nice contrast in the drink. Very good recipe, I will be using this again.
I didn’t like the maple syrup, but I do know where you were going with it – flavor.
Instead of maple syrup, I used Blue Agave and switched out the maple flavor for a piece of licorice candy. Everything else in your recipe was cooked over the stove with distilled water instead of tap water for 5 min. The aroma was fantastic. When done, I put in ice made from filtered water, and transferred it to a fancy see-through glass mug. Then poured in coconut milk and let it snake down to the bottom without stirring.
I always use distilled water for sauces, drinks, and anything you don’t want to taste like chlorine and fluoride.
Loved your recipe. I love latte and am ready to have it literally 24/7 haha. Will try this recipe of yours and let you know how I like it. Thank you for sharing!
I liked it!
I added in a 1/4t of ground cardamom to the spices.
I’d never tried maple in my tea before so I snuck it in 1 T at a time, tasting after each addition. Very delicious. A full, rounded flavor.
I like a stronger tea (next time I’ll add another bag) but this time (as I didn’t wish to go back to the stove) I dropped in a T of instant tea, to bump it up, then 1t of Agave. Just delicious.
Thank you. 🙂
Fantastic! My whole family loved it. I used two tbsp of maple syrup and we found it sweet enough!
Having spent my entire life drinking chai this recipe. To me, the central flavor component of chai is cardamom. The idea you wouldn’t cook the milk with the spices and just add milk at the end is insane.
A++++ This is so good. I don’t like anything too sweet so I used just 1 tsp maple syrup with whole raw milk. This recipe has just the right amount of spice, it’s warm, cozy and soo delicious. It is a healthy way to have a cup of protein rich warm milk on a cool day or right before bed on a cold night.
Thank you for sharing this recipe.
I have just started watching your channel. You have so many wonderful ideas and things I never thought of before. Thank you for being there for those of us new to keto. God Bless you.
This recipe is amazing. I used oatmilk because it’s what I had and it came out delicious.
Like a hug in a mug. Listening to worship music while sipping on a slow, winter morning 🙂
I feel healthier already! Thanks
Wow! I love this. I have a lot of intolerances and this with almond milk and decaf tea bags on a night time allows me to still have a wind down hot bev. Thank you 😊
To anyone reading this, It actually works. I was a bit sceptical, because it seemed way too simple – but I even managed to get it right with cows milk and sugar. NGL – As a student I was traumatised by the price of ground cloves, but I am absolutely chuffed with the result. Thanks Megan!
This is so nice! I made it without the tea because black tea upsets my stomach. I’ve been looking for a recipe that would be easy on my stomach but still give the warm, spice of a chai tea! Thanks!
Absolutely delicious! I used a black tea and replaced the maple syrup with dates and it came out perfect! Thank you for another great recipe!
This was so good! I used oat milk and a decaf black tea bag. I did cut the maple syrup down by a tablespoon just because I’m trying to cut down on sweets. Thank you for posting such a great recipe. I’m always looking for recipes to make my favorite things instead of buying the prepackaged things.