An authentic recipe for Masala Chai (tea) or Indian Spiced Chai. This easy recipe uses black tea bags (or leaves) and whole spices and takes less than 20 minutes to make!
Cook time: PT20M
Total time: PT20M
Rating
4.96 stars (100 reviews)
Keywords
masala chai, masala chai tea, masala tea, spiced chai
Ingredients
2 1/4 cups filtered water
1 3-inch cinnamon stick (ceylon or cassia are both fine)
3 whole cloves
4 green cardamom pods (cracked open and deseeded (I throw seeds & pods in))
3 black peppercorns
1/2 tsp fennel seeds (optional)
1/2- inch fresh ginger (peeled and thinly sliced)
3 black tea bags or sub 3 tsp loose leaf black tea (depending on brand, tea bags/leaves vary in strength (See Note 1) )
1 cup whole milk (or 2% reduced fat milk)
4 tsp turbinado cane sugar (or raw cane sugar)
Categories
Drinks
Cuisine
Indian
Pakistani
Steps
Heat a medium saucepan over high heat. Add water, cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom pods, black peppercorns, fennel seeds (if using), and ginger. (See Note 2) Bring to a boil and add the tea bags or leaves.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently for 7-10 minutes, depending on how strong you’d like the tea and spices. It will turn a deep burgundy color and reduce slightly.
Add milk and sugar and stir. Raise the heat to high (or allow the milk to come to a boil on its own, as I do on any given day). Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for another 5 minutes.
When ready to serve, raise the heat to high and allow it to come to a rolling boil for 1-2 minutes, depending on how 'cooked' you like the milk. (See Note 3) If you’d like, use a ladle to aerate the chai to deepen the flavor and make it creamier.
Pour into cups through a strainer and add more sweetener, if desired.
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 115 kcal
Carbohydrates: 17 g
Protein: 4 g
Fat: 4 g
Saturated Fat: 2 g
Cholesterol: 12 mg
Sodium: 80 mg
Sugar: 13 g
Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
Reviews
Shea on 2026-02-22 (5 stars): Easy and made my kitchen smell amazing!
Deb on 2026-02-09 (5 stars): I followed your recipe. How can I make it spicy hot? Do we add more ginger and pepper? Or cayenne?
Thank you.
Alice on 2026-02-06 (5 stars): This is a really delicious treat -- worth the time it takes to make it! I make it with a pinch of powdered ginger rather than fresh and omit the fennel seeds. It's still good.
Carla on 2025-11-15 (5 stars): I love this recipe and I'ma drinking it twice a week now! Sometimes I change the black tea for Rooibos when others want to drink in the evening and don't want the caffeine. Tastes great as well!
When do you normally take out the teabags?
orangetracelace on 2025-10-15 (5 stars): I’ve tried a lot of chai tea recipes, and this one has become from favorite lately.
I misread the fennel seeds ingredient and used fenugreek seeds. It turns out fenugreek tea is a thing and it does taste good with it. I had been drinking boring old tea, milk & honey before I found this recipe. It’s really satisfying. I zing it up a tad with a bit more peppercorns & ginger, depending on my mood. I’m putting together a big batch of the dry ingredients so I can just grab what I need in the morning without trying to count out the right amount of tiny peppercorns et al while still half-asleep.
Kristin on 2025-10-12 (5 stars): Amazing! Followed recipe exactly and the tea turned out great! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Danielle H on 2025-10-07 (5 stars): So I only had some crappy chai tea bags, cinnamon stick, cloves, and black pepper. I didn’t want to use the ground cardamom I had. I also used 50/50 milk and half and half. It formed a skin but nothing a hand blender can’t fix. (I ran out of milk) - I made a double batch for iced chai.
All I can say is, I can’t wait to make it with the rest of the ingredients and good tea.
My subpar tea came out amazing. This recipe is definitely a keeper.
Now that it’s fall I’m definitely wanting cozy, spicy, warm, goodness.
Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Kisha on 2025-09-05 (5 stars): This is by far the best chai recipe I have come across. After trying many recipes, I have been doing this one on repeat since I first discovered this site.
Thank you!!!
