Healthy Chai Hot Chocolate Recipe – Honey Sweetened!

Warm up with a mug of dairy-free, honey-sweetened chai hot chocolate! The chai spice blend really adds depth to this homemade hot chocolate mix. Cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, clove, and nutmeg bring that classic chai flavor to our sweet and delicious homemade chai hot cocoa!

Healthy Chai Hot Chocolate Recipe – Honey Sweetened!

I grew up enjoying a lot of hot chocolate from premade mixes. You know, those big tubs you simply add boiling water to? I sure enjoyed it!

It made me think that homemade hot chocolate may be hard to make.

Boy was I wrong!

Creamy hot chocolate is super simple to make and my favorite way to enjoy it. Every strawberry hot chocolate is easy to make at home!

All you have to do is warm your milk, add the powdered unsweetened cocoa, chai spices, and your favorite sweetener (honey here!) and you end up with a delicious cup of hot chocolate with all the warming chai-spiced flavor..

Top with a little coconut whipped cream, add a cinnamon stick or star anise, and you have the perfect cozy drink for the winter months!

What goes into chia spice?

Here are the spices that go into what you’d like in chai black tea bags:

• cinnamon
• cardamom
• allspice
• clove
• ginger

You can give your chia spice more bite by increasing the ginger or adding ground black peppercorns to it. Or just keep it as is for a kid-friendly, sweeter chocolate masala chai drink.

In a hurry and don’t want to pull out each individual spice from your pantry? Use 1-2 of your favorite chai tea bags and steep them in the warming milk!

If you’re looking for a protein boost take a tip from my collagen hot chocolate recipe and add a scoop of your favorite chocolate collagen powder!

Ingredients in chai spiced hot chocolate

Scroll down to view the recipe card below for the full ingredients list, nutrition facts, and step-by-step instructions.

• dairy-free milk (make your own almond milk)
• unsweetened cocoa powder
• cinnamon
• cardamom
• allspice
• clove
• ginger
• honey
• vanilla extract

How to make my favorite hot chocolate recipe

Step 1: Add the dairy-free milk to a small saucepan and warm over low to medium heat. Bring to a gentle boil and whisk in the cocoa powder, cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, clove, and ginger. Let the mixture simmer for a few minutes.

Step 2: Remove from the heat so that the gentle simmer stops. Stir in the honey and vanilla. Whisk until the honey has combined with the hot cocoa.

Step 3: Serve your chai hot chocolate drink with marshmallows or coconut whipped cream and a sprinkle of ground cinnamon!

PS – You can easily double or triple this recipe to serve a crowd! Make a batch, pack it in a thermos and take it along with you while you look at Christmas lights to stay warm and cozy.

Watch me make the best cup of hot cocoa!

The full how to video can be watched below, or on my YouTube channel!

Optional Variations & Dietary Adjustments 

Let this recipe be inspiration to make tasty hot drinks work for you! Here are some variations to try to and play with.

Go bold – Do you love spicy chai? Up the level of ginger or grate in some fresh ginger as your cup of cocoa simmers. Simply strain out the fresh ginger before serving to leave you with a smooth and creamy drink.

Make a mocha – Add in some coffee of a shot of espresso for the ultimate chai spice mocha mix! You’ll get a nice caffeine boost with the best warming flavors.

Bring in the holiday cheer – Add a candy candy at the end or peppermint extract to add some festive flavors to your cup. Pair a peppermint chai hot chocolate with hot chocolate protein waffles for a breakfast spread that’s not only naturally sweetened, but will put a smile on the faces young and old.

Substitutions

Below you’ll find a list of substitutions that will work well in this chocolate chai latte recipe. 

If you try something different out, please leave a comment below letting us all know how it turned out!

Dairy-free milk – My go-to for this recipe is almond milk, however, coconut milk, oat milk, and whole milk are great choices here too!

Cocoa powder – Two great options to substitute cocoa powder for include cacao powder and dark chocolate chips. Cacao powder can be substituted 1:1. If you use dark chocolate chips and let them melt into the warm milk, you’ll want to reduce the sweetener slightly as the chocolate chips add sweetness too.

Chai spices – If you don’t have all of the spices available, no worries! Add additional spices to what you have on hand. You can also open up a chai tea bag and use that. You can steep a chai tea bag as well in the milk. If you have chai concentrate on hand, you can also use that!

Honey – Good substitutes for honey include maple syrup, agave nectar, and coconut sugar.

Treats to enjoy with your hot chocolate

• Chewy orange almond butter oat cookies
• Healthy chocolate oat cookies
• Chocolate hazelnut almond pulp energy balls

If you try this classic hot chocolate with warm spices, I’d love it if you left a star rating and comment below letting me know how it turned out!

XO

Heather

Originally published in December 2010. Updated January 2025.