📋Homemade Masala Chai Tea Recipe

Masala Chai Tea in a black mug with a black tea pot, spices and a blue scarf in the background.

📋Homemade Masala Chai Tea Recipe

This homemade Masala Chai Tea recipe is a warm, aromatic "hug in a mug" made with fresh ginger, whole spices like cardamom and cinnamon, and black tea. And it fills your home with a lovely scent while it's simmering. It uses less sugar and more spice than the coffee shop version, for a deep, authentic flavor, and can be made ahead as a concentrate for quick, cozy drinks all week long.

Course Drinks

Cuisine Indian

Keyword chai, masala, steak

Special Diet Vegetarian, weight watchers

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Total Time 30

Servings serving

Calories 108kcal

Author Terri Gilson

Equipment

fine mesh strainer
small saucepan

Ingredients

4 cups water
3 tablespoon fresh ginger
2 tablespoon green cardamom- split
¼ cup fennel seeds
6 cinnamon sticks
18 whole cloves
3 teaspoon black peppercorn
4 tea bags of black tea (or decaffeinated
⅓ cup agave
4 cups milk (approximately) Milk is 1:1 with chai tea concentrate

Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions

Bring all ingredients except tea bags, and agave together to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat.
Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.
Add tea bags and let steep for 5 minutes.
Pour mixture through a strainer and reserve the liquid for concentrate. If refrigerating right away, let it cool to room temperature.
Add equal parts milk to make chai tea. And 2 teaspoon agave per cup (sweeten to your desired amount)
Or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to one week. *Concentrate can be refrigerated longer than if you add the mik to it.
Garnish with a little ground cinnamon, if desired.

Notes

Expert Recipe Tips:

Toast the Spices: If you have an extra minute, lightly toast the dry spices in the saucepan before adding the water. This releases their essential oils and makes the flavor even more potent.
Smash or Grate the Ginger: Don't just slice the ginger; give it a good smash with the broad side of your knife to release the juices, or use a zester to grate it (that's what I do). You can store it in the freezer so it lasts longer, and it's easier to grate. Just peel the section of skin off with a vegetable peeler and grate it frozen.
Don't Boil the Milk: If mixing the concentrate and milk together in a pot to heat, try not to let the milk come to a rolling boil, as it can scald and change the flavor profile.

🌡️Storage

This recipe is designed to be a make-ahead concentrate! But it can be stored with the milk added in.

Fridge: Store the strained tea concentrate (without milk or sweetener added yet) in an airtight container (like a Mason jar) in the refrigerator for up to one week.
If you store it WITH the milk, generally, once milk is added, the shelf life reduces to 3 to 4 days (or the expiration date of the milk used), whereas the concentrate alone lasts for one week.
Freezer: You can freeze the chai concentrate (without milk) for up to 3 months. Freezing it in ice cube trays is a great way to have single servings ready to go! Thaw in the fridge overnight before mixing with fresh milk.

Nutrition