Dirty Chai Latte

This dirty chai latte is sweet and spicy and so easy to make at home with just a handful of ingredients.

It’s the season for sweet and warming coffee drinks. I have a bunch of them on the site, mochas , caramel lattes , white chocolate mochas , etc., but you can never have too many recipes involving coffee, so I have another one for you today.

Friend, have you ever had a dirty chai latte?

What is a dirty chai latte?

If you’ve never had a dirty chai latte before, a dirty chai is simply a chai latte with a shot or two of espresso.

It’s the best of both the tea and coffee worlds because it takes the simple and sweet, slightly spicy chai latte and adds a little depth and bitterness from the espresso and an extra boost of caffeine.

At Starbucks or your corner cafe, a chai latte is made with chai concentrate, milk, and freshly brewed espresso.

But since you probably don’t have chai concentrate and espresso ready to go at home, we’re going to modify the recipe a bit so you can still make this in your kitchen without having to run to the store or drop $$$ on an espresso machine .

Dirty Chai Tea Latte Ingredients and Equipment Notes

Chai tea bags: Use your favorite chai brand. Regular or decaf will work just fine.
Granulated sugar: If you want to experiment with flavors, try swapping brown sugar in for the white granulated sugar called for in the recipe.
Milk: Any milk, including non-dairy milks will work great here (I love a chai latte with oat milk). For an extra rich and creamy latte, you can add a splash of half and half or heavy cream to the measuring cup before filling it up the rest of the way with milk.
Coffee or espresso: True lattes are made with espresso, but most people don’t have espresso-making capabilities at home, so this recipe uses strongly brewed coffee. However, if you would like to use espresso, you absolutely can. You’ll need slightly more milk, just shy of ¾ cup.
Handheld milk frother: A handheld milk frother is totally optional, but I love using one. While they can’t fully recreate the microfoam of a milk steamer, they do a pretty good job of making your at home latte feel a little extra special.

How to Make a Dirty Chai Latte

Collage photo of dirty chai latte being made. - 5

Collage photo of dirty chai latte being made. - 6

Make the chai concentrate: In the microwave or a small pot on the stove, bring water to a boil. Pour water into an 8-ounce mug. Add tea bags and steep for 5 minutes until you have a dark, extremely concentrated cup of chai.
Heat milk: While your tea bags steep, heat milk to steaming. You can do this in the microwave (about 45 seconds to a minute) or on the stove. Whisk vigorously or use a handheld milk frother to foam the milk.

Frothing the milk is optional, but it can give your at-home latte a little more of that cafe magic.

Finish the concentrate: Once steeped, discard the tea bags. Add the sugar, and stir until completely dissolved.

Collage photo of dirty chai latte being made and poured into a cup. - 7

Collage photo of dirty chai latte being made and poured into a cup. - 8

Assemble: Pour most of the milk into the chai mixture, using a spoon if needed to hold back the foam before adding the coffee or shot of espresso. Stir, taste, and add more sugar if needed.
Enjoy: Pour the last of the milk and the foam over the top of the latte. Sprinkle with cinnamon or cinnamon sugar if desired, and enjoy!

What’s the difference between chai latte and dirty chai?

The only difference between a chai latte and dirty chai is the espresso. Before you add espresso you have a chai latte and as soon as the espresso is mixed in, it’s a dirty chai.

Can I double this recipe?

Absolutely. To double the recipe, hover over the serving size in the recipe card below or click if you’re on mobile, and slide the slider.

Close up photo of chai tea latte with cinnamon sprinkled on top. - 9

Close up photo of chai tea latte with cinnamon sprinkled on top. - 10

Recipe Notes

This recipe makes a 1-cup (8-ounce) latte. If you want to fill an oversized cup, double the recipe.

Equipment

Handheld milk frother, optional

Ingredients

▢ ¼ cup filtered water
▢ 2 chai tea bags
▢ 2 teaspoons ( 8g ) granulated sugar * plus more to taste
▢ ½ cup milk any percentage
▢ ⅓ cup strongly brewed coffee
▢ Cinnamon or cinnamon sugar optional for topping

Instructions

In the microwave or on a small pot on the stove, bring water to a boil. Pour water into on 8-ounce mug. Add tea bags and steep for 5 minutes.
While your tea bags steep, heat milk to steaming. Whisk vigorously or use a handheld milk frother to foam the milk.
Once steeped, discard tea bags and stir in sugar until completely dissolved.
Pour most of the milk into the chai mixture, using a spoon if needed to hold back the foam. Add coffee or shot of espresso. Stir, and add more sugar if needed.
Pour the last of the milk and the foam over the top of the latte. Sprinkle with cinnamon if desired, and enjoy!

Notes

Vodka sauce is a restaurant favorite that is so, so easy to make at home. You just need a handful of ingredients and 15 minutes to make this ultra rich and creamy pasta sauce.

Have you ever made vodka sauce at home? If not, friend, say hello to your new favorite quick and easy pasta sauce.

Pasta tossed with a quick vodka sauce is perfect for busy weeknights when you need something that feels a little (a lot) indulgent but don’t want to spend a ton of time in the kitchen.

Spoon scooping pasta in vodka sauce. - 12

Spoon scooping pasta in vodka sauce. - 13

15-minute Pasta Sauce With a Special Ingredient

From start to finish, this sauce takes about 15 minutes. When you factor in boiling time for water and cooking the pasta, you can have a big bowl of pasta drenched in vodka sauce on the table in around 20 minutes.

Many vodka sauces use canned tomatoes, but this recipe uses tomato paste, so you get an ultra-concentrated tomato flavor and a luxuriously rich and creamy texture without having to blend the sauce in a food processor or blender.

Ingredient & Equipment Notes

Vodka sauce ingredients on a counter. - 14

Vodka sauce ingredients on a counter. - 15

Pasta: You can serve vodka sauce over whatever pasta you’d like. Penne alla vodka is the classic, but rigatoni (which I used in these photos) is fast becoming the go-to pasta for vodka sauce.
Tomato paste: This recipe won’t use an entire can of tomato paste. Check out my post What to Do With Leftover Tomato Paste for storage tips and recipe ideas for the rest of the can. P.S. Measure your tomato paste by weight if you have a kitchen scale ! It’s way faster and easier than scooping sticky paste in out out of a measuring cup.
Heavy cream: And if you have leftover heavy cream, go check out What to Do With Leftover Whipping Cream .
A large pot: While you can technically make vodka sauce in a skillet, use a large pot because it will help contain splatters while making the sauce.
A spider skimmer: If you have one, a spider skimmer/strainer is really helpful for scooping up the pasta out of the pasta water.

How to Make Vodka Sauce

Collage photo of vodka sauce being made part 1. - 16

Collage photo of vodka sauce being made part 1. - 17

Boil water and assemble ingredients: Bring a medium pot of water to boil and salt generously. While your water comes to a boil, assemble your ingredients. Parts of this sauce come together pretty quickly, and assembly will go more smoothly if your ingredients are ready to go.
Start pasta: Once the water is boiling, add pasta and cook until al dente.
Brown garlic: For optimal timing, immediately begin cooking your sauce when you start your pasta. Cook garlic and red pepper flakes in a mixture of butter and oil until the garlic begins to turn lightly golden.
Add tomato paste: Stir in the tomato paste and whisk until paste darkens in color and begins to caramelize on the bottom of the pan, 3 to 5 minutes.

This cooks the raw taste out of the tomato paste and really deepens its flavor. Once the sauce reaches this point, you’ll actually be able to smell the difference.

Collage photo of vodka sauce being made part 2. - 18

Collage photo of vodka sauce being made part 2. - 19

Add vodka: Turn the heat down and carefully add the vodka. When the vodka hits the pan, the sauce will begin to simmer and pop quite aggressively. It will settle down within a few seconds. Just whisk the mixture, scraping any cooked-on bits from the bottom of the pan until the vodka is incorporated into the sauce.
Add heavy Cream: Keep the sauce over low heat and whisk in heavy cream. Bring the sauce up to just barely a simmer, and let it cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Keep a close eye on the sauce and do not allow it to come to a full boil.

Collage photo of rigatoni in vodka sauce being made. - 20

Collage photo of rigatoni in vodka sauce being made. - 21

Add pasta water: When the pasta is a minute or two from being done, use a heat-proof measuring cup and scoop out ¼ cup of the cooking water and whisk it into your sauce. At this point, your sauce is definitely going to need some salt. Taste, and add salt as needed. Don’t skip this step!
Add pasta: Use a slotted spoon or spider skimmer to scoop cooked pasta out of the pasta water and add it your sauce. Stir to combine. The sauce is going to seem a little thin at first, but it will thicken as it sits. Serve up the pasta topped with parmesan and fresh basil if desired, and enjoy!

Variations

Many vodka sauce recipe contain onions and/or cheese. While developing this recipe, I tested variations containing both and preferred the ease, texture, and flavor of the vodka sauce without them. But you might differ from me! If you’d like to include them, here’s how to do it:

Onions: Finely dice ½ small onion and cook over medium heat in 1 tablespoon of the oil (use 1 tablespoon less oil later in the recipe so you still use 3 tablespoons total). Cook for 5 minutes or until the onions soften and begin to turn translucent. If at any time the onions begin to brown, turn down the heat. Once onions are softened, follow the rest of the recipe as written.
Parmesan: After you stir in the pasta, add cheese and an additional 2 tablespoons of pasta water and stir until the cheese melts into the sauce and becomes smooth, adding more pasta water as needed.
Chicken: If you’d like to make Penne alla Vodka with chicken , cut 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts into 1-inch pieces and season with salt and pepper. Cook in 1 tablespoon olive oil until cooked through. Transfer the chicken to a plate and deglaze and wipe out your pan before starting the sauce. Once the sauce is finished and pasta added, add the chicken back to the pot and let it sit with the rest of the hot ingredients for a couple of minutes to reheat.

Pasta in vodka sauce in a white pot. - 22

Pasta in vodka sauce in a white pot. - 23

What does the vodka do in vodka sauce?

While vodka is technically flavorless, alcohol helps bring out the flavors or the other ingredients in the sauce. If you compare this sauce made with and without vodka, the sauce with vodka is a little brighter, a little sweeter and more aromatic.

What can I use instead of vodka in vodka sauce?

If you don’t have vodka on hand, you can omit the vodka in vodka sauce. Use a bit of pasta water instead of the vodka to deglaze the pan before adding the cream, but otherwise, make the sauce as written. The flavor of the sauce will be a little muted, with less depth of flavor, but it will still be a good time.