Iced Chai Latte, Dairy-Free

Dairy-free iced chai latte is a refreshing blend of bold spices and tea, perfectly chilled and lightly sweetened, offering a delightful plant-based alternative to the classic favorite. It’s super easy to make too, with the use of chai tea bags and a frother wand. Enjoy the soothing combination of flavors without compromising on taste, this Starbucks vegan iced chia latte copycat recipe is the perfect way to get your icy chai-spiced a dairy-free twist for your daily caffeine fix.

I don’t often go for the expensive coffee shop orders simply because I don’t have time for that. There isn’t a convenient stop on the way to work for me and…the “expensive” part. But I’ve always been super intrigued with their dairy-free iced chai latte – (though it’s not vegan because of the honey in the chai syrup) and so set out to make my own. Vegan of course!

I love veganizing restaurant "copy cat" recipes! You'll want to try cranberry bliss bars - yep, they are a copycat and vegan of course:) And for the savory side try a famous restaurant's copycat minestrone soup and zesty Italian salad - and not an olive in sight!

I had two requirements for my vegananized Starbucks iced chai latte copycat drink. It had to be super tasty (which this one is!) And it had to be super easy to make. You’ll love how quickly this lightly spiced gently sweet chilled beverage pulls together with just a few ingredients to make it easy!

Ingredients needed to make your own copycat iced chai latte

• You’ll need boiling water to steep the tea bags
• four chai tea bags
• some granulated sugar – use organic sugar if you are a sugar vegan
• oat milk – try extra creamy oat milk for extra deliciousness (or any other dairy-free milk that makes for happy)
• vanilla extract
• ice – for the “iced” part
• You’ll need a frother wand or some other device with which to froth. Perhaps an immersion blender or countertop blender would work for you.

How to make vegan iced chai latte at home

The exact ingredients with measurements can be found in the recipe card below along with more concise abbreviated instructions. Read on for more details, tips, and tricks so that you will feel confident making this recipe.

Steps 1 and 2: Make the chai tea

This recipe takes a super quick short cut by using chai tea bags. You won’t need to measure out any spices for this recipe. Is it a cheat? Okay, yes. Does it matter? Not to me! You will be making a super concentrated tea because you are using four tea bags in only one-half cup of boiling water.

Place the four tea bags in a heat-safe cup. Boil the water in a microwave oven, over the stove, or in a teapot. Pour the boiling water over the four tea bags. Set a timer and allow the tea to seep for five minutes.

After five minutes, remove the tea bags from the hot water, pressing lightly to remove the seeped tea. Add the sugar and vanilla and stir to dissolve the sugar. Set the hot chai tea in the refrigerator for another five minutes while you are frothing the milk

Step 3: Froth the oat milk

While the tea is cooling, you can froth the milk. If you don’t have a frother wand, you can place the oat milk in a blender and blend, use an immersion blender, or even froth briskly with a fork (but that’s a lot of work). You just want to get a little air in the milk and make a few tiny bubbles.

Final step: Make your chilled chai dairy-free beverage

Fill two 10-ounce glasses halfway with ice. Add the frothed milk to the filled glasses. Pour the cooled tea over the top and stir to combine. You can top with some dairy-free whipped topping if you’d like.

The printable recipe card