Chai Tea Mix is a delicious pantry staple or a unique homemade food gift for those who love chai tea! Use the mix to whip up everything from a chai tea latte to a vanilla chai tea milkshake, or put it in a jar with the free printable tag of directions for gift giving!
Raise your hand if you like to make homemade food gifts for friends and neighbors during the holidays or throughout the year? (I do! I do!) However, as much as I enjoy baking and sharing Christmas cookies and quick breads, there's something I especially enjoy about food gifts that can be packaged up in a jar. In that past, I've made big holiday batches of candied nuts, flavored coffee syrup, caramel sauce, and even savory Marinated Cheese & Olives. But one of my most popular food gift ideas is a treat for the chai tea latte lovers in my life...Chai Tea Mix!
What Is Chai Tea?
For those of you unfamiliar with the wonders of chai, the American version of this Indian-inspired drink typically combines black tea, aromatic spices, and milk. The resulting beverage is a lightly sweet, warmly spiced, creamy blend of tea and milk.
And today's Chai Tea Mix recipe gives you the satisfaction of drinking chai tea almost instantly...without the hassle (or cost) of a trip to Starbucks!
Chai Tea Ingredients
- Unsweetened instant tea. This powdered mix is sometimes labeled "unsweetened iced tea." You can opt for regular or decaf.
- Nonfat dry milk powder + powdered non-dairy creamer. To give this chai tea recipe its creamy consistency.
- French vanilla-flavored powdered non-dairy creamer. For a subtle vanilla chai tea undertone. However, if you prefer your chai tea latte with no vanilla flavor, you may omit the vanilla powdered creamer and increase the plain powdered creamer to 2 cups.
- Sugar. Because it's not possible to make a Starbucks copycat at home without some sweetness. 😉
- Chai tea spices. Specifically, ground ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, and black pepper.
How to Make Chai Tea Mix
This Chai Tea Mix is incredibly quick and easy to put together. In fact, it's as simple as mixing everything together!
That being said, I highly recommend using a large food processor or blender to do so. Pulsing the chai tea ingredients together in a blender or food processor ensures that the final Chai Tea Mix will be a well-combined, homogenous, chai tea powder that will dissolve quickly.
If your blender or food processor isn't large enough to hold all of the ingredients at once, you can first whisk everything together in a large bowl and then transfer the mixture to the blender/food processor in batches for pulsing into a fine powder.
Let me just warn you that blending this mix will make your house smell like chai potpourri for the rest of the day! But that's not at all a bad thing. 🙂
How to Make a Chai Tea Latte...and More!
Chai Tea Mix is a unique, versatile, powdered drink mix that can be stirred into warm milk for a homemade Chai Tea Latte.
Or you can chill it and serve over ice for an Iced Chai Tea Latte.
Or you can add some finely chopped semisweet or white chocolate to turn it into a Chocolate (or White Chocolate) Chai Tea Latte.
And you can even blend with vanilla ice cream for a Chai Tea Shake!
See what I mean? Versatile. 🙂
Perfect for Gift Giving
You might choose to make a batch of Chai Tea Mix to enjoy all to yourself. And there's nothing wrong with that!
However, if you plan on using it for gift giving, I've created some printable gift tags with directions for how to make various drinks using this mix. Simply scroll down past the recipe at the bottom of this post to download and print the tags!
There's also a coordinating Christmas or holiday gift tag that you can layer on top of the Chai Tea Mix directions. I shared it previously in a Cinnamon Bread post, so click over to find that "Wishing You a Sweet Christmas" or "Wishing You a Sweet Holiday Season" printable HERE!
And that's it! This super easy, super yummy drink mix is your make-at-home secret to enjoying scrumptious chai tea lattes and more!
Not only would this make a fun, unique, homemade food gift this holiday season, but it just might become your new drink-o-choice on a cold winter's day. 🙂
More Holiday Food Gifts
- Candied Cashews
- Candy Cane Kiss Brownie Bites
- Pecan Praline Bread
- Thumbprint Cookies
- Reindeer Rice Krispie Treats
- Soft Chewy Ginger Cookies
Chai Tea Mix (Homemade Food Gift with FREE Gift Tags!)
Ingredients
- 2 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¾ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¾ teaspoon ground cardamom, optional
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 ¾ cups sugar
- 1 ½ cups unsweetened instant tea, regular or decaf (this powdered mix is sometimes called "unsweetened iced tea")
- 1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
- 1 cup powdered nondairy creamer
- 1 cup French vanilla-flavored powdered nondairy creamer
Instructions
To Make Chai Tea Mix:
- Measure all dry ingredients into a blender or food processor. Pulse or puree until well-combined and mixture becomes a fine powder. Transfer to an air-tight jar or container or spoon into gift jars.
To Make a Chai Tea Latte:
- Stir 2 heaping tablespoons of Chai Tea Mix into a mug of hot milk or boiling water.
- Chill and serve over ice for an Iced Chai Tea Latte.
To Make a Chocolate (or White Chocolate) Chai Tea Latte:
- Make a Chai Tea Latte with milk, as directed above. Stir in 2 teaspoons of finely chopped semisweet or white chocolate until melted.
To Make a Chai Tea Shake:
- Blend ½ cup milk, 1 ¾ cups vanilla ice cream, and 2 tablespoons Chai Tea Mix in a blender until smooth.
EQUIPMENT NEEDED
Video
Notes
- Since this recipe yields a little over 6 cups of mix total, you can divide it into your chosen size of jars or receptacles for gifting. For example, if you're using Mason jars, you can fill six 8-ounce jars or 3 pint jars.
To download Printable Chai Tea Mix Directions Tags <<< click here!
These tags print four to a page. Print on cardstock for heavier tags, cut out, and punch a hole at the top. Please be patient if these take a moment to load. For personal use only, please. Enjoy!
Adapted from Southern Living Ultimate Christmas Cookbook.
Post originally published on December 14, 2014, and updated on December 5, 2020, and November 30, 2023.
Jane
I made this for my co-workers as a holiday gift. They loved it and said its the best chai tea they have ever had! Thank you for such a simple but great recipe AND the cute printable tags!!!
Mary Ellen Van Bommel n Bommel
This recipe makes a wonderful chai tea. I made the first batch with out cardamom and another batch with cardamom. Hands down for me was without cardamom. The flavor took over of cardamom completely took over the flavor. Its a nice drink before bed or a short afternoon break. I love it!
Dianne
Thank you for the great recipe and the printable tags!
Bobbie B
This recipe is exactly what I was looking for! The flavor balance is perfect. The smoothness is spot-on! I did make one adjustment. I used 1 c. sugar instead of 1 3/4 c. sugar. I will be making this recipe a lot! Thank you for sharing this deliciousness.
Carrie
This has been my go to recipe but my friend has a severe dairy allergy. I now make it without the milk or creamer powders. Definitely my new favorite way. Then I can use my favorite almond milk.
Will
Thank you for the recipe. FYI, chai means tea in Hindi. So, chai tea is tea, tea. The term for spiced tea is "masala chai." I just learned this also.
Samantha Skaggs
Thank you for explaining that, Will...I had no idea! I probably have to keep the title as it is since that's the term the majority of people search for when looking for this recipe, but I do appreciate the education. 🙂
Dianne
Kind of like scampi is Italian for shrimp. So Scampi shrimp is saying shrimp shrimp, LOL
Jeremy Tennent
Brilliant, just like the one I bought. Now I can make it myself
Sandybauer
Can’t wait to make this, but is the recipe correct re. 1 cup powdered non dairy creamer and 1 cup vanilla flavored non dairy creamer? That’s more than the1 1/2 of tea?
Samantha Skaggs
The recipe is correct. 🙂
Shari
So good!
Changed it a little...of course🤫
Used non fat dry milk in place of creamers for a total of 3 cups of dry milk. Used stevia instead of sugar.
Perfect spice blend! Thank you!
May drop in a small package of sugar free vanilla pudding next time.
Erin
Hello! Can't wait to make this recipe!
I am also confused by the tea ingredient- when i search for it, the Lipton Instant Iced Tea powder mix comes up- is this what you use? Thanks in advance! Also LOVE the printable label, thanks for that!
Samantha Skaggs
Hi Erin! Yes, instant iced tea powder mix is the same as unsweetened instant tea. 🙂
Ann
I love this mix. I used it to make Christmas gifts for all my friends. It was very popular. Thanks for the recipe.
Erin
Has anyone tried to make this an iced chai?
Hannah Flack
Didn’t have any cloves or nutmeg so I added 2 tsp. Pumpkin pie spice. I LOVE THIS !!!!!! Thank you so much for posting it!
Greta
I would love to know this also. I am wondering if I leave the powdered milk out and then make the tea and add unsweetened vanilla almond milk if this would work also?
Rose Martine
You are AMAZING! Thank you thank you thank you so much for this. I was considering doing the same thing and you’ve just made the task a lot less daunting.
Kris
Hey, this is an amazing recipe thanks so much. But... the 53kcal means 53000 calories. Is that d for the entire recipe?
Samantha Skaggs
Hi Kris! I know it's confusing, but a "kcal" is a regular calorie when it comes to food. From nutrition.gov:
What is the difference between calories and kilocalories?
The "calorie" we refer to in food is actually kilocalorie. One (1) kilocalorie is the same as one (1) Calorie (upper case C). A kilocalorie is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water one degree Celsius.
Hope that helps! 🙂
Becky
Delicious
Ellyn
My family loves this chai latte mix and each child received a quart jar of mix for Christmas. I use decaf tea and increase that by 1/2 cup in the recipe. I decreased sugar by 1/2 cup. I use regular creamer and add my own vanilla powder. I follow your spice amounts, only adding a little extra of my favorites. I’ve recently found powdered whole milk (Hispanic foods section) and use half that and half nonfat. I make this in the food processor and it’s always perfect. Just made my 3rd or 4th batch. An excellent recipe as is, but so easy to adjust to ones taste. Thank you!
DEllis
What is your own vanilla powder? I’m not a fan of that French vanilla powdered creamer...TIA..
Dee
Do you think espresso powder could be added to this recipe to make it a dirty chai tea?
Thanks!
Samantha at Five Heart Home
Hi Dee! I don't see why that wouldn't work! I don't have a recommendation for how much espresso powder to use, as I haven't made dirty chai tea myself, but I hope it turns out great if you decide to give it a try. 🙂
Shawntina
Wonderful flavor! I lessened the Cardomom and Cloves both to 1/2 teaspoon. I’d love to use the printable tags, but there is a spelling error on the last word “blender”. Can you update the tags with correct spelling? Thank you so much for a great recipe!
Julie
You were right about the Smell of Chai potpourri, it had me with a smile for quite a while...I love it! I just made this yesterday but haven’t tried it yet. I love the idea of gifting it for the holidays. Thanks for that and for sharing this wonderful recipe and labels with us. Can’t wait to try it!
Courtenay
Hi! Do you think it would be okay with double creamer instead of powdered milk? I want to make it for someone who is lactose intolerant and alternative milk powders are so expensive. Thank you!
Samantha at Five Heart Home
It would just be extra creamy with double creamer, Courtenay! 😉