This Pumpkin Spice Chai Latte is the most delicious flavorsome fall hot drink that combines two favorite fall flavors: chai and pumpkin flavors.
Plus, it only takes 5 minutes to prepare, and it’s as good as your local coffee shop, except it’s healthier, refined sugar-free, dairy-free to make it a vegan pumpkin spice latte!
What’s A Pumpkin Chai Latte?
Chai spices and pumpkin spices have many spices in common, like cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. But, what pumpkin spice doesn’t contain, and that makes chai drinks so special, is the touch of cardamom, cloves, star anise, and ground pepper.
When both spice mixes come together into a latte hot drink, you create the most fragrant, comforting fall drink that I love to call Pumpkin Spice Chai Latte. Of course, you can add caffeine to the drink by adding brewed coffee or tea bags, but it’s also a delicious caffeine-free fall drink on its own with real pumpkin flavors.
Ingredients and Substitutions
The ingredients you need to make this drink are very simple. Let’s see what you need:
- Pumpkin Puree – You can use canned pumpkin purée – not pumpkin filling, which contains added sugar. You can also make homemade pumpkin puree for this recipe.
- Maple Syrup – You can also use different liquid sweeteners. Any of them work, but granulated brown sugar or coconut sugar tastes amazing as well.
- Pumpkin Pie Spices – I personally like to make my own with a combination of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.
- Chai Spices – Same here. I made my own by adding cloves, star anise, cardamom pods, and ground pepper to the mix.
- Unsweetened Almond Milk
- Vanilla Extract
- Black Tea or Brewed Coffee if you want a tea-based drink or skip it for a caffeine-free latte.
If you love to order Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte or Chai Latte, but you cant’ decide which one to get, then try this Pumpkin Spice Chai Latte.
It combines both flavors into a 5-minutes velvety drink!
- First, in a medium saucepan over medium heat, warm the pumpkin puree, maple syrup, chai pumpkin pie spices, and vanilla extract.
- Keep cooking and stirring until the pumpkin puree and spices are well combined and a delicious pumpkin flavor is released from the pan.
- When the pumpkin puree turns brown, and the flavors are intense, stir in the plant-based milk you love.
- Stir until well combined and bring to a light boil.
- Use a sieve to remove the cardamom pod, clove, and star anise. Discard them.
- Add one or two black tea bags to the hot milk, reduce to low heat, and cover and infuse for 2-3 minutes or until it reaches your favorite tea drink. Of course, feel free to swap tea for 1/4 cup of strong brewed coffee or skip this step for a caffeine-free pumpkin spice latte.
Serving
To serve your drink, add 1/2 cup of almond milk in a milk frother until foamy. Serve the frothed milk on top of your pumpkin chai latte with 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon on top if you like for extra flavor.
This spice latte is also delicious topped with whipped cream – we like to use canned coconut cream that has been whipped in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment.
Cold-Brew Version
You can also use this recipe to make a cold pumpkin chai latte. First, follow the recipe below and let the mixture cool down for 10 minutes before adding it to the blender.
When the mixture is cold, add to a blender with one cup of ice cubes and blend at high speed until frothy. For a frothier spice latte, add more ice cubes to the blender, or add a scoop of dairy-free vanilla ice cream.
Allergy Swaps
This pumpkin spice latte is naturally:
- Gluten-free
- vegan
- Dairy-free
- Paleo
- For a keto sugar-free pumpkin spice latte, swap maple syrup for erythritol or sugar-free monk fruit syrup.
Caffeine-Free Version
You can make the recipe with or without the tea bags.
This is up to you. I do like tea chai latte and always add the two tea bags, but for an after-dinner drink, skip the tea and serve it as is.
More Hot Vegan Drink Recipes
If you enjoyed making this spice latte at home, then I have plenty of other Starbucks-style hot drink recipes for you to try below.
Did You Like This Recipe?
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Pumpkin Spice Chai Latte
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Pumpkin Puree - canned or homemade, not pumpkin pie filling!
- 2 tablespoons Maple Syrup - note 1
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 cups Almond Milk - note 2
Spices
- ¾ teaspoon Cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon Fresh Ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon Nutmeg
- 1 Cardamom Pod
- 1 Clove
- 1 Star Anise
- ⅛ teaspoon Ground Pepper
- 1-2 Black Tea Bags - optional
Instructions
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm pumpkin puree, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and spices. Stir and cook for 1 minute until fragrant and the puree turns brown.
- Stir in unsweetened almond milk and bring to a light boil, whisking gently to combine the ingredients.
- When fragrant, remove the star anise and cardamom pod. Add the tea bags, reduce to low heat and wait 2-3 minutes for the tea to infuse.
- Remove the tea bag and serve immediately. You can froth some almond milk to serve on top, as seen in my pictures above.
- Serve with a pinch of extra cinnamon if you like.
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