Stovetop Masala Chai Latte with Oat Milk
A stovetop oat milk chai latte recipe built on whole spices and strong black tea — no coffee, no syrup pumps, just a 15-minute pot of real masala chai.
- Prep
- 5 min
- Cook
- 13 min
- Serves
- 2
Stovetop Masala Chai Latte with Oat Milk is a vegan drink recipe made with water, green cardamom pods, cinnamon stick. It takes 18 minutes of hands-on time, serves 2, and each serving has 137 calories, 2 g of protein and 2 g of fiber.
Cafe chai lattes are usually a sweet concentrate poured over milk, which is why they taste flat. This version does it the way chai is actually made: crushed whole spices boiled in water first so the cardamom and pepper have somewhere to go, then tea, then oat milk added at the end and held at a bare simmer so it stays glossy instead of splitting. Barista-style oat milk froths best, but any unsweetened oat milk works if you keep it below a hard boil.
A flavor profile + caffeine source (masala chai brewed from whole spices and black tea instead of coffee and pumpkin purée) take on our Real-Pumpkin Vegan Pumpkin Spice Latte with Oat Milk.
Ingredients
Chai
- 1½ cups356 gwater
- 6 3 ggreen cardamom pods, lightly crushed
- 1 2.5 gcinnamon stick, broken in half
- 3 0.3 gwhole cloves
- 4 0.3 gblack peppercorns, cracked
- 1 tbsp6 gfresh ginger, coarsely grated (about a 1-inch piece)
- 2 tsp10 gloose-leaf Assam or other strong black tea (or 2 tea bags)
- 1¼ cups300 gunsweetened oat milk, preferably barista style
- 2 tbsp40 gmaple syrup, or to taste
- 1 pinch0.4 gsalt
To finish
- 1 pinch0.2 gground cardamom, for dusting (optional)
Kit: small saucepan, mortar and pestle or heavy mug, fine-mesh strainer
Tips
- Boiling the spices in water before any milk goes in is the whole trick — fat coats the spices and blunts extraction, so the water stage is where the flavour is built.
- If your oat milk looks grainy or flecked, the pan got too hot. Keep it under a hard boil and add the milk to hot chai rather than cold chai to the milk.
- Warm the mugs with hot tap water while the chai simmers; a 10-ounce drink loses heat fast in a cold cup.
- Tea bags work, but slit them open and use the leaves loose so the spices and tea brew together.
Swap ideas
- Use 1 teaspoon ground ginger in place of the fresh
- Sharper and drier heat, and the chai needs straining more carefully to stay smooth.
- Swap oat milk for full-fat coconut milk thinned with water
- Much richer and slightly sweet, with a clear coconut note behind the spice.
- Use rooibos instead of black tea
- Caffeine-free, with a softer, rounder body — simmer it 4 minutes instead of 2.
- Replace the maple syrup with coconut sugar
- Deeper, more molasses-like sweetness closer to the jaggery used in some Indian kitchens.
The numbers
Nutrition per serving
137kcal per serving
Everything else · 2 servings per recipe
- Saturated fat
- 0.3 g 2%
- Sugars
- 16.5 g
- Sodium
- 150 mg 7%
- Potassium
- 322 mg 7%
- Calcium
- 261 mg 20%
- Iron
- 0.6 mg 3%
- Vitamin C
- 1 mg 1%
- Vitamin B12
- 0.24 µg 10%
% Daily Value on a 2,000 calorie diet. Calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for each ingredient; optional ingredients are excluded. Estimates vary with brands and portions.
Sources: Beverages, water, tap, drinking, Spices, cardamom, Spices, cinnamon, ground, Spices, cloves, ground, Spices, pepper, black, Ginger root, raw, Beverages, tea, black, brewed, prepared with tap water, Oatly Original Oatmilk (Nutrition Facts per 1 cup / 240 ml: 120 kcal, 5 g fat, 0.5 g sat fat, 100 mg sodium, 16 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 7 g sugars, 3 g protein, 350 mg calcium, 0.3 mg iron, 390 mg potassium, 0.4 mcg B12). Converted to per 100 g assuming ~244 g per cup (density ≈ 1.02 g/mL); vitamin C not listed, treated as 0., Syrups, maple, Salt, table
Method
Crush the cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, cloves and peppercorns in a mortar and pestle (or press them under the base of a heavy mug) just until the pods split and the cinnamon breaks into shards — you want them opened, not powdered.
Put the crushed spices, grated ginger and water in a small saucepan and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Boil uncovered for 5 minutes, until the water has taken on a pale tan colour and smells strongly of cardamom and ginger.
Add the black tea, lower the heat to a steady simmer, and cook for 2 minutes, until the liquid is dark reddish-brown. Don't push past 3 minutes or the tea turns bitter.
Pour in the oat milk and add the salt. Bring back to a bare simmer over medium-low heat — small bubbles only around the edge, never a full boil — and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the chai is the colour of milk chocolate and a skin of foam rises up the sides of the pan.
Stir in the maple syrup off the heat and taste. Add more a teaspoon at a time; the spice should stay ahead of the sweetness.
For a frothy top, lift the pan 8 to 10 inches above the saucepan and pour the chai back into it two or three times, or whisk it briskly for 15 seconds.
Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into two warmed mugs, pressing the spices with a spoon to get the last of the liquid, and dust with ground cardamom if you like.
Storage: Best straight from the pot. Leftover chai keeps in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to 2 days; rewarm gently over low heat without boiling, as the oat milk can turn grainy. You can also boil the spice-and-tea decoction (steps 1–3) ahead, refrigerate it up to 4 days, and add fresh oat milk when you want a cup.
Questions
- How much protein is in stovetop masala chai latte with oat milk?
- Each of the 2 servings has 2 g of protein, 2 g of fiber and 137 calories, calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for every ingredient.
- Is stovetop masala chai latte with oat milk vegan?
- Yes. It contains no dairy, eggs, honey or other animal products.
- How long does stovetop masala chai latte with oat milk take to make?
- 5 minutes of prep and 13 minutes of cooking, so 18 minutes of hands-on time.
- Can you make stovetop masala chai latte with oat milk ahead?
- Best straight from the pot. Leftover chai keeps in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to 2 days; rewarm gently over low heat without boiling, as the oat milk can turn grainy. You can also boil the spice-and-tea decoction (steps 1–3) ahead, refrigerate it up to 4 days, and add fresh oat milk when you want a cup.
- What can I substitute in stovetop masala chai latte with oat milk?
- Use 1 teaspoon ground ginger in place of the fresh — sharper and drier heat, and the chai needs straining more carefully to stay smooth.. Swap oat milk for full-fat coconut milk thinned with water — much richer and slightly sweet, with a clear coconut note behind the spice.. Use rooibos instead of black tea — caffeine-free, with a softer, rounder body — simmer it 4 minutes instead of 2.. Replace the maple syrup with coconut sugar — deeper, more molasses-like sweetness closer to the jaggery used in some indian kitchens..
- Does stovetop masala chai latte with oat milk contain gluten?
- Yes — the ingredient list includes gluten. Check the labels on the products you buy if you're cooking for an allergy.
Nutrition is calculated from USDA data for every ingredient — how we work it out.
Published September 22, 2026 ·Indian
