This Chai Spice Mix is a game-changer! It's packed with all the classic Chai spices but without the caffeine kick. Sprinkle it into your bread, muffins, pancakes, oatmeal, hot chocolate, coffee, smoothies, or anything else. It's easy to make and so delicious!
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What's Chai?
Chai, also known as masala chai, is a spiced tea beverage that originated in India. It is made by brewing black tea with a mixture of aromatic Indian spices and herbs. The most common spices used in chai are cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, and black pepper. The tea is typically brewed with milk and sweetened with sugar. It can be served both hot and cold.
The word "chai" simply means "tea" in Hindy. In English-speaking countries, chai often refers to Indian spiced tea but for those in India, chai is any tea.
Why You'll Love This Spice Mix
Chai flavor without the tea - Making your own homemade masala chai spice allows you to give various dishes and drinks a chai flavor without any caffeine from the classic black tea. You can add it to baked goods, desserts, oatmeal, smoothies, ice cream, homemade chocolate, cocktails, and more! It's especially great in baking because you add the flavor without having to add any additional liquids to your batter or dough.
Customizable - Making your own spice blends allows you to customize the blend to your taste preferences. You can make it spicier by adding more ginger or black pepper or adjust any of the other spices.
Good quality and freshness - By making your own blend, you can make sure that the spices are fresh and of good quality! Store-bought blends may have been sitting on the shelf for a while which makes them lose their strength and flavor. Grocery store spice blends also often contain fillers and anti-caking agents.
Ingredient Notes
I use all ground spices but you can also use whole spices and ground them yourself before measuring the exact amounts. Use ground spices that are as fresh as possible as they start to lose their potency the moment they're ground up.
- Cinnamon - Ground cinnamon makes up a majority of this spice. My go-to is Ceylon cinnamon but Cassia cinnamon works as well.
- Ginger - Ground ginger is a spice made from dried ginger root. It tends to get a little clumpy, but this is okay. You can sift the ginger through a fine-mesh strainer but it's not necessary.
- Cardamom - Ground green cardamom pods are an important ingredient in this chai mix as well as any masala chai.
- Allspice - Allspice is a single spice that tastes like a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. It's warm, aromatic, and usually used in chai.
- Star anise - Star anise is a star-shaped spice with a licorice-like flavor, commonly used in Asian cooking and spice blends. Ground star anise is also an important part of my Czech Christmas Spice Blend.
- Nutmeg - You can either buy ground nutmeg or whole nutmeg and grate it yourself for the best flavor. I always have ground nutmeg on hand to make things easier.
- Black pepper - Finely ground black pepper is best if you have it. I always use freshly ground but I grind it on a finer setting than for any savory dishes. No one wants to bite into a big piece of peppercorn in a dessert!
- Fennel - Ground fennel seeds are optional but a nice flavor addition if you have them on hand.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Add all spices to a jar or a small bowl and shake or whisk everything together until well combined.
- Store the spice blend in an airtight jar at room temperature for up to 6 months.
Pro tip: If your ginger is too clumpy, you can sift it through a small fine-mesh strainer before you mix it with the rest of the ingredients but this is optional. I usually just smush the bigger pieces with a spoon at the end to get rid of them.
Serving Suggestions
You can add this chai spice blend to practically anything sweet from baked goods to smoothies and cocktails, there are so many different ways to use it! Below are a few suggestions to give you some ideas.
- Baked goods - You can add this spice pretty much anywhere you'd normally add cinnamon. It's great in muffins like these Chai Muffins but it also works great in cakes, breads, cookies, or brownies!
- Pancakes and waffles - Add a teaspoon or two to your favorite pancake or waffle batter for added flavor. It's delicious in these Chocolate Chip Pancakes!
- Oatmeal - Add ¼-1/2 teaspoon of the spice to your oatmeal with some berries, cacao, or diced apple. It would be a nice flavor addition to this Mocha Oatmeal.
- Ice Cream: Mix chai spice into homemade or store-bought ice cream for a spicy, aromatic treat.
- Spiced Nuts: Use chai spice to season nuts before roasting for a flavorful snack.
- Coffee - I often use Chai Simple Syrup or Chai concentrate for my coffee but when I don't have it on hand, this chai spice is a great substitute along with some brown sugar. Try it in this Iced Dirty Chai Latte or simply add a ¼ teaspoon of this spice to your morning coffee.
- Matcha - Chai and matcha are an unexpectedly good combination of flavors! You can either mix matcha with chai syrup or use maple syrup and this spice. Try it in this Iced Matcha Chai Latte!
- Hot chocolate - Try it in this Chai Hot Chocolate!
- Chai latte - If you don't have chai tea concentrate or chai tea bags, you can make a chai tea latte by mixing some hot milk with your favorite black tea and a little bit of this chai blend. Just add more or less to your own taste. It's great for making both hot and cold chai lattes.
- Cocktails - Chai flavors also work great in cocktails with coffee, dark rum, or whiskey. Try the spice in this Chai Espresso Martini or this Chai Old Fashioned.
- Smoothies - If you're craving the warming chai flavors in the summer, add this spice to your favorite smoothie! It's great with bananas, chocolate, cherries, or blueberries. Try it in this Mocha Smoothie.
Storing
This spice mix will keep best in an airtight container or a jar in your spice cabinet, preferably in a cool dry place away from sunlight. It can be kept at room temperature wherever you'd normally store your spices.
It will stay fresh for about 6 months. As with any ground spice, this chai mix has a decently long shelf life but it slowly loses its potency as it sits. The longer you have any ground spice, the less flavor it will have.
FAQs
The word "chai" (pronounced as "ch-ai") is actually the Hindi word for "tea." In English-speaking countries, "chai" often refers specifically to spiced Indian tea, but in Hindi and some other languages, it simply means "tea."
Chai means tea so technically when you say chai tea, you're saying tea tea. In the West, this drink is often called chai tea latte to explain to customers better what it is but this is technically. Technically, it should be Masala Chai Latte.
Other Sweet Spice Blends
To see all the latest spice mixes, check out the Spice Blends category. Below are two of my favorite spice blends for anything sweet. The Christmas blend is very similar to gingerbread but it has no ginger and a few more spices. I highly recommend it!
Print📖 Recipe
Chai Spice Mix
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 0 mins
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: ½ cup + 2 tbsp 1x
- Category: Spices
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Chai Spice Mix has all the flavor and none of the caffeine! You can use it in baking, pancakes, oatmeal, hot chocolate, coffee, smoothies, and more!
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp ground ginger
- 2 tbsp ground cardamom
- 1 tbsp ground allspice
- 2 tsp ground cloves
- 2 tsp ground star anise
- 1 tsp ground fennel seeds
- ½ ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp finely ground black pepper
Instructions
- Add all spices to a jar or a bowl and shake or whisk everything together until well combined.
- Store in an airtight jar at room temperature for up to 6 months.
Notes
- You can use a small fine-mesh strainer for the ginger if it's too clumpy before you mix it with the rest of the ingredients but this is optional. I usually just smush the bigger pieces with a spoon to get rid of them.
- The spice will keep best in a cool dry place away from sunlight but it doesn’t need to be in the fridge.
- The recipe yields ½ cup and 2 tablespoon and makes around 33 servings when using 1 teaspoon per serving.
Veronika Sykorova says
Give me chai flavored everything! Love this spice in oatmeal and smoothies.