Monday: Recipe Day with a cheap Chai Tea Latte

Monday Munchies: Recipe of the Week

I love soy chai tea latte’s from Starbucks.  I know they are not authentic and they are filled with sugar, but they taste so good!  For a while I was buying the vegan version of the Oregon Chai tea concentrate to make chai drinks at home.  That was definitely cheaper than buying drinks at Starbucks, but it was still pricy.  I searched around online and found a recipe to make my own version that is pretty close to the Oregon Chai Tea concentrate.  It is delicious, and I definitely save a lot of money when I make my own!   This recipe makes four cups which is a good amount to make and then save in the fridge for whenever you want a chai fix!

Make-it-yourself Chai

  • Servings: 2-3
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients

  • 3 thin slices of ginger
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 8-10 whole cloves
  • 6 cardamom pods (or 2-3 tsp ground cardamom)
  • 1 TB vanilla
  • 1 TB sugar
  • 2-3 TB agave (depending on your sweetness preference)
  • 4 tea bags of black tea (I use Trader Joe’s Earl Gray)
  • 4 cups of water
  • Soymilk or other non-dairy milk (for serving)

Directions:

1)  Place all the ingredients except the tea bags and soymilk in a small sauce pan.  Stir and bring to a boil.

2) Once the water is boiling, add the tea bags and turn the heat off.  Let the tea steep for 5-10 minutes, depending on how strong you want the tea to be.  At this point you can serve it or store it in the fridge.

3) When you are ready to serve, make a mug with 1/2 non-dairy milk and 1/2 chai.  Heat on the stove or in the microwave – or have it over ice!  You can also add more agave here if you want it a little sweeter.

Notes from the Year of Family

Vegan Goodness:

Today we ate:

  • Breakfast: Blueberry smoothies for Dad and LP while Mom got some much needed sleep.  This was followed by cream of wheat and raisens for everyone.
  • Mom snacked on some peanuts after our morning walk.
  • Lunch: Mom and Dad had BLT’s with avocad, and LP had leftover noodle stir-fry.  We all also ate some cherry tomatoes and grapes.
  • Mom had a soy chai for her afternoon snack.
  • Dinner: Peanutty Pasta with broccoli and cabbage from Vegan on the Cheap.  We also had a salad.
  • Mom and Dad ate some more yummy chocolate bread for dessert.

Money Matters:

We took a long walk this morning, and hung out with the other neighborhood kids in the afternoon.  And since Mom had her homemade chai, no money was spent!!


5 thoughts on “Monday: Recipe Day with a cheap Chai Tea Latte

    1. I’ve rarely keep it around too long before I drank it all, but I have had it for about a week with no ill effects. I imagine you could think of it like iced tea since you add the milk to it right before serving. Hope that helps! Also, don’t forget that you can add more sweetener if you like – some people like it a bit sweeter than I do.

  1. I just tried this and it came out good but it was missing some spice, if there is something I should add a bit more of, what would you suggest?

    1. So glad you tried it! When I have wanted a little more spice I usually add another tsp or two or cardamom and another cinnamon stick. I also let it seep a lot longer – even 30-40 minutes. Hope that helps!

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