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Vegan Indian Masala Chai. Fabulous almond milk tea with fresh ginger and homemade chai spice blend with cardamom, cinnamon, pepper. Flavorful traditional Indian Chai tea made vegan.  Jump to RecipeÂ
Masala Chai was the last of the non-vegan foods to be eliminated from our diet. Hubbs and me both grew up guzzling cups of chai every morning with breakfast. It would be mostly milk and lightly flavored with tea till we hit the teens, then it was small cups every now then with friends, every time we visited anyone, at evening hang outs, in the wee hours of the morning during exams, and on and on. Dad still has a cup every 2-3 hours at work. No wonder we were so stuck to it, or more stuck to the dairy in it. The thick creamy concoction made with dairy milk, boiled for minutes and minutes, had not only the addiction from milk and tea but also several memories associated with it.
I have an older post with a creamer that was the recipe we settled on in the initial transition year. And now after trying several other plant milk options, this is our current vegan chai. The recipe works well with other almond milks and soy milk too. The additives in some of the packaged plant milks though change the texture and consistency of the chai enough that it can go from great to unpalatable if not used correctly(over heated or not heated enough, or curdles at high heat). Some of the preference is also related to the fact that the Chai has to uphold to our strong taste and texture memories. For someone who is flexible with the taste, the recipe will work with a lot of other plant milks as well. We’ve also loved oatmilk and soymilk versions(some brands)
Why the hassle to find the home made or packaged plant milks that works best? Same reason we all look to find cheese alternatives or other things from our pre-gan days. With the preference for steeped in water teas growing in this house, soon we might not be drinking the morning chai at all. It is a great option to have for anyone visiting though. Mom and dad drink Chai 3 to 6 times in the day. Mom loves the easy access to almond breeze when she visits.
There is also the option to use cashew milk, packaged or home made. The thing with cashew milk is that the heat thickens up the cashew milk really quickly and the thick texture might feel too different or new.
For any milk you use, give it some time. Try it a couple of times instead of just once. It takes time to get used to the change.Keep trying different plant milks for the ones that work best for you.
Chai in Hindi literally means tea, so Chai tea is basically tea tea 🙂 This often happens with non Indian (other non english) terms too. Its a translation that is helpful hence Chai tea is much bigger search term than just Chai.Â
More Indian Beverages
Thandai – Creamy Spiced Poppy Seed Almond milk Spring drink.Â
Aam Panna – Spiced Raw mango cooler
Mango Lassi – Sweet mango yogurt Smoothie
Steps:
Get all the ingredients for the chai ready. Clockwise from the top. Raw sugar, grated fresh ginger, Chai patti(dry loose tea), chai masala blend.
Boil the tea, chai masala, ginger and sugar in water. Bring to a rapid bubbling boil.
Pour the plant milk slowly.
Bring to just about a boil, then strain and serve.Â
This creamy Chai Latte.
You can also use an infuser. Add the tea and spices to the infuser and keep that in the boiling water. Add the milk, bring to just about a boil. Pour tea in a cup. Remove or keep the infuser in the cup and serve.
How to make a good Vegan Chai Tea
- Try different plant plant milk and try them atleast 3 times.
- Plant milks can tend to separate when added to boiling water. I usually do a slow pour so that the initial few seconds will cool the mixture. You can also add a tbsp of water before adding milk.Â
- You might need less or more loose tea depending on the brand and preference of flavor strength, and less or more non dairy milk.
- This is not the starbucks chai latte. Its stronger, thinner everyday Indian chai. More cardamom, less cinnamon and made with loose tea.
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Vegan Indian Chai Tea. Masala Chai. Gluten-free Recipe
Ingredients Â
- 3/4 cup water
- 1.5 Tbsp raw sugar or other sweetener to taste
- 2 tsp chai patti/loose tea
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp chai spice/chai masala blend, (see notes for large batch), or use 1/4 tsp ground cardamom, 1/8 tsp cinnamon, a good pinch of ground clove,, black pepper, ground ginger
- 1/2 to 1 tsp minced/grated fresh ginger, ,some fresh gingers are too strong, so use to taste
- 1.25 cup Almond breeze plain almond milk or oatmilk or soymilk other non dairy milk.
InstructionsÂ
- In a small deep pan at medium heat, add water, sugar, tea leaves, chai masala blend and ginger. Bring to a bubbling boil. 7 to 9 mins
- Slowly pour the almond milk. Bring the mix to just about a boil. 6 to 8 minutes.
- Strain into a cup and serve hot. Compost the tea leaves.
- Note: some plant milks tend to separate when added to the hot water. Add a Tbsp cold/room temperature water to the boiling water to bring the temperature down. Then pour in the plant milk.
Video
Notes
Grind 3/4 cup green cardamom pods, 1/4 cup cinnamon sticks or 2 Tablespoons cinnamon powder, 1/4 cup cloves, 2 Tablespoons whole black pepper, 2 to 3 Tablespoons ground ginger. 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds(optional). Store in airtight container.
Change the quantities around to preference. Add more ginger for a winter chai masala. Add a tsp of nutmeg and all spice for variations.  Use the spice blend in ice creams, doughnuts, caramel, bread, granola and more.  Nutritional values based on one serving
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Your receptors are awesome. I would like to try this. Have you used homemade milk or store bought fortified milk? Since in nutrition it’s 15% calcium. Please let me know. Thanks!
i use store bought almond breeze original or store bought oat milk
Interesting! I’ve tried various plant milks, and they always separate in the tea, but I never thought to add a little cold water first. The best experience I’ve had is with Ripple Plant-Based Half & Half, but it’s a little thicker than I’d like. I’ll have to try this.
I am almost vegan except the chai part.. I have cut it down to having chai on the weekend, but still haven’t found the perfect vegan alternative to dairy and that’ the only reason I go back to dairy for chai.. I guess almond breeze should go to my grocery list this week. Thank you for the recipe. Chai struggle is real..:)
It definitely is! it took us a few months to settle on almond breeze. It takes a while for the taste buds to switch. When you try any non diary milk, try it for atleast a week for generally the time it takes to figure out how much of it you like in the tea and for your taste buds to start switching from dairy to the new flavor. If you dont like it after the week, dry a different one and continue. Dairy has a lot more addicting properties, so just give some time to your taste buds to switch and guide you towards the non dairy option you will eventualyl like in the long run. Good look!
Thanks Richa. Just made this to go with my poha this morning. I had pretty much given up on trying to drink chai, tea, coffee for awhile. I love almond breeze but I also feel like chai is best with a bit thicker texture so I used Trader Joe’s soy milk on this and it was delicious. I think my chai masala was a tad stronger than needed so I will back it off a bit next time to the lower end of the spectrum but I am so excited that I can again enjoy chai!
thats awesome! yes chai is such a personal preference. certain textures, flavors and feel. so definitely try more non dairy milks till you find the one that works best for you. my parents like a thin and low milk tea and they make theirs will 3 to 1 water to almond breeze. We make more of a 1:2 water to almond breeze.
I was looking for some alternative to milk tea , since I am Delhite and tea drinker .. lately my stomach hurts due to rawmilk , I will with plant milk … did u use any specific brand ?
I use almond breeze in the US.You can try all the brands and options you have available. It takes some time for the taste buds to switch over, so stick with one particular type for 4 to 5 days and then decide. Also, you dont want to boil the non dairy milks, heat them to just about to boil
can you keep boiling the almond milk like regular cow milk for this Chai? If not, what are the disadvantages of boiling the plant based milk?
Thanks,
B
It depends on the type of plant milk. Soy milk does fine on boiling for some time, while almond milk usually changes in flavor which might not be to everyones liking. So test the milks to find the right amount of heating needed
Hi, I have two questions.
After boiling the spices and tea leaves for 7-9mins and you add the milk, you boil it for 6-8mins more? I wonder because you say that long boiling can give the milk a odd taste.
And second does use fresh or dry ginger make a huge taste difference?
Bring the milk to a boil. It takes 6 to 7 minutes for it to start to boil. As soon as it just starts to bubble, take off heat.
I don’t understand the ginger question. you can want to use which ginger instead of which.
I just made chai and it was delicous thank you for the recipe
Awesome!
I have a really silly question! When you make the masala mix, do you grind the whole cardamom pods, or just the seeds inside?
Thanks in advance!
Hi Tamar, I grind the entire pod. You can also use just the seeds. My small magic bullet grinds up the pods really well. If you plan to use the chai masala in several other recipes like cakes and cookies, then use seeds (half the amount mentioned for pods).
Many thanks and happy holidays!