Chai Spice Blend

A good chai spice blend can help you add the taste of fall to so many delicious recipes. Making your own chai spice mix can help you quickly and easily add fall flavors to your favorite baked goods, snacks, and breakfasts. 

This homemade blend is great to keep in your spice cabinet. I love to make it in small batches to have on hand, especially for these Chai Spice Muffins.  

I'll show you how to make a delicious chai mix, how to use it, and how to store it.

What is Chai Spice?

Chai spice is a blend of spices that have a bit of sweetness and spice to them. Much like pumpkin spice and apple pie spice, it has a unique, aromatic flavor that's popular in the fall and makes a great spice for baking. 

A typical chai spice mix contains spices like cinnamon, black pepper, cardamom, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. You can also add additional ingredients to make it your own. This recipe also uses fennel because I love the flavor it adds. Some recipes also add a little star anise.  

Chai spice is great in muffins, cookies, oatmeal, and as a little flavor in your coffee. 

Why You'll Love This Chai Spice Blend

This chai spice blend comes together with common spices you can find at your grocery store. It tastes delicious and is the best way to season your favorite recipes in the fall and winter. Plus, the aromatic spices will make your kitchen smell amazing while you're mixing. 

Add this homemade chai spice blend to your coffee, oatmeal, and baked goods for a delightfully easy way to get the taste of fall. 

Making your own spice blends is a great way to keep cooking flavors on hand to make your favorite recipes faster. 

Ingredients You'll Need

This spice mixture uses pre-ground spices, so it comes together quickly, but if you only have whole spices, you can still make this mix. Just blend them in a spice grinder or a coffee grinder. 

Here's what you will need:

• Ground Cinnamon
• Ground Black Pepper - You can also use whole black peppercorns. Add 2 teaspoons of whole peppercorns to your grinder to make a powder prior to mixing. 
• Fennel Seed - For whole fennel seeds, add 2.5 teaspoons to your grinder. 
• Ground Cardamom - If you have the green cardamom pods, break 2-4 of them open to get the seeds out. You'll need to grind about 36 of the cardamom seeds that are inside the pods. 
• Ground Ginger - Generally, you need double the amount of fresh ginger as you do ground ginger, but since this is a spice blend meant to be stored on your spice rack for a while, I recommend using ground ginger in this recipe. 
• Ground Nutmeg - If you have whole nutmeg, add one to your grinder for this recipe.  
• Ground Cloves - You can add 1.5 teaspoons of whole cloves to your grinder get the amount needed for this homemade spice blend. 

Though not required, if you love star anise, you can add in a small amount to this blend. 

How to Make & Store This Blend

If you're using pre-ground spices, all you need is an airtight container to add the spices to and to store them in. If you're working with whole spices, we've noted the conversions above, and you can grind them in a spice or coffee grinder before adding them to your container.

Just combine all the ingredients in your container of choice. You can use it immediately or store it for up to 3 months in an airtight container at room temperature.

How to Use This Chai Spice Blend

This chai blend is made for use in baking and cooking. It's not recommended for spiced tea recipes unless you plan on making them into a smoothie or a blended drink. The ground spices would be gritty in a sipping tea or a chai tea latte and you should strain any drinks you make with them.

Here are some great ways you can use chai spice:

Add to coffee - You can add a little pinch of this blend to your morning coffee for a nice chai flavor. You can even add it to your coffee grounds while brewing for a bit stronger flavor. Maple syrup and brown sugar make great sweeteners with the chai spice flavor. 

Chai Spice Muffins - These muffins are the best chai spice recipe! They're perfect for fall or even Christmas morning. They taste like a chai tea latte and include a tasty glaze on the top that's sure to be a hit. 

Oatmeal - Add a teaspoon of this chai spice mix to your overnight oats, or add a bit to this Slow Cooker Oatmeal recipe. Your taste buds will thank you. 

Hot Chocolate - Try adding a pinch of this chai spice to your hot chocolate. It will add a tiny bit of sweet spice and feel like a warm hug.

Make a batch of this chai spice blend today, and let us know how you use it. We know you'll love it! Connect with us on Instagram and share your photos, or leave us a rating.

Other Delicious Spice Blends to Try

I love making different spice blends and sharing a bunch in the spice guides! Here are some fun and delicious spices to try and inspire your next meal:

• Garam Masala - Another aromatic spice blend to try. This garam masala is great in soups, curries, and chicken. 
• Dukkah - A delicious Egyptian spice blend that adds a ton of flavor to so many dishes. I love it on avocado toast, on fish and in dips. 
• Moroccan Spice Blend - Give this delicious blend a try on roasted vegetables or chicken, and you won't be disappointed. 
• Homemade Ramen Seasoning - Made to replace instant packets of ramen seasoning with better ingredients, this seasoning is a great blend that can (of course) be used to flavor ramen but is also great on meat and vegetables!