Homemade Chai Recipe (2024)

Recipes
Drinks
Coffees and Teas

Traditional chai tea is prepared with full-bodied black tea, star anise, cloves, allspice, cinnamon, white peppercorns, cardamom, whole milk, and sugar. Enjoy it in the morning or afternoon!

Elise Bauer

Elise founded Simply Recipes in 2003 and led the site until 2019. She has an MA in Food Research from Stanford University.

Learn about Simply Recipes'Editorial Process

Updated November 21, 2022

11 Ratings

What Is Chai Tea?

Boy was I surprised, and in the best possible way. Chai is tea, black tea, but tea steeped in milk, flavored with spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, and star anise, and sweetened with sugar or honey.

This wonderful chai was the best discovery in Hong Kong; I couldn't wait to spend another night in the Mansion, just to have some more chai in the morning. That was over 30 years ago. Since then, chai has become much more popular here.

The other day, my friend Suzanne served up some delicious chai and told me more of her experiences with it while in the Peace Corp in Africa. According to Suzanne, families have chai recipes the way they have curry recipes, every one a little different and each particular to a family.

It can conveniently be made all in one pot, and you can use sweetened condensed milk from a can - important in the tropics. If you really want the authentic experience, drink it from a tin cup. Here is the way that Suzanne makes her chai.

History of Masala Chai

Masala chai has a history that goes back thousands of years in India. It's a staple healthy beverage in Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine. Since its beginnings, it has always been made with a variety of spices. It has been served hot and cold, with and without tea leaves, but always with spices.

The version that became the caffeinated beverage that we know and love today was introduced in India when the British set up tea farms in Assam in the 1900s. But tea leaves were still too expensive for regular Indians. So, the vendors added spices, milk, and sugar to maintain a flavorful beverage while keeping down costs.

When tea became more affordable in the 1960s, masala chai became more popular. It’s now enjoyed all over the world, in part because South Asian migrant workers introducing it to places they moved to for work.

In America, masala chai has just morphed into just "chai," which is a misnomer. Masala chai means "spiced tea" in Hindi, and chai just means tea. So, saying "chai tea" is like saying "tea tea."

The Best Spices to Use in Chai Tea

Masala chai can be made with any number of spices. The usual staple ingredients are green cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, black peppercorn, and fresh ginger. You can add star anise (as we do in this recipe), fennel seeds, allspice, white peppercorn, dried ginger, and/or nutmeg,

The Best Ways to Brew Chai Tea

The best way to brew masala chai is to is to use fresh, whole spices and crush or grind them down to release their full flavors.

Be sure to use high quality tea, spices you like, and steep for as long as you like. A lot of it is just a matter of personal taste more than what may or may not be considered "correct."

Swaps and Substitutions

Though masala chai is made with black tea (usually an Assam, Ceylon or Darjeeling), you can use a gunpowder green tea (like they do in Kasimir), a rooibos (for a decaf option), or any other type of tea you like.
Loose leaf or tea bags? Loose leaf tea will be stronger and usually higher it quality than tea in bags. But tea bags are easy to work with. So, it's really up to you.
Instead of milk, you can use any non-dairy milk of your choice, like coconut, almond, soy, oat, or any other kind of milk you like.
Feel free to add whatever sweetener you like. In India, they use an unrefined sugar, called jaggery. Maple syrup, honey, brown sugar, coconut sugar, stevia, any sugar substitute, or even condensed milk all work great.

Tips for Make-Ahead Chai

You can easily double this recipe and boil the spices in a pot or slow cooker. Skip the milk, but steep the tea to your liking. You can add sweetener at this point or just before serving. Cool and refrigerate for up to a week. Simply add your choice of milk before serving heated or chilled.

More Chai Recipes to Try!

Iced Chai Latté
Creamy Chai-Spiced Vegan Pudding
Chai Ice Cream
Boozy Chai-Spiced Apple Punch

From the Editors Of Simply Recipes

Homemade Chai

Prep Time2 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Total Time32 mins

Servings3to 5 servings

Yield5 cups

Ingredients

1/2 whole star anise
10 to 12 whole cloves
6 to 7 whole allspice
1 heaping teaspoon (or 2 short sticks) cinnamon bark
6 to 7 whole white peppercorns
1 cardamon pod, opened to the seeds
1 cup water
4 cups whole milk
2 heaping tablespoons high-quality, full-bodied broad-leaf black tea (Ceylon or English Breakfast)
Sugar, to taste

Method

Boil the spices in water:
In a 2-qt saucepan, add spices to 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let steep for 5 to 20 minutes, depending on how strong a spice flavor you want.
Add milk and simmer:
Add 4 to 6 cups of whole milk to the spiced water. If you don't have whole milk, you can also use non-fat or low-fat milk. Just add some cream to it, a few tablespoons to your liking. Bring the milk and spice mixture just to a boil and remove from heat.
Add tea and steep:
Add tea and let steep for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on how strong your like your tea. (Option at this point - reheat to a simmer and remove from heat.)
You can add sugar at this point, or serve without sugar and let people put the amount of sugar in they want. Traditionally, sugar is added before serving.
Strain and serve:
Strain into a pot, and serve. Add more sugar, to taste if desired.

Coffees and Teas
Herbs and Spices
Indian
Ramadan
Ramadan Suhoor

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
134	Calories
7g	Fat
13g	Carbs
6g	Protein

Show Full Nutrition Label

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 3to 5
Amount per serving
Calories	134
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 7g	9%
Saturated Fat 4g	19%
Cholesterol 20mg	7%
Sodium 90mg	4%
Total Carbohydrate 13g	5%
Dietary Fiber 1g	4%
Total Sugars 11g
Protein 6g
Vitamin C 1mg	5%
Calcium 252mg	19%
Iron 0mg	2%
Potassium 302mg	6%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.