How To Make Turmeric Tea At Home: 7 Easy Recipes

Turmeric has gained popularity because of its incredible health benefits. A delicious way to add turmeric to your diet, is to drink turmeric in tea.

So here’s how to make turmeric tea 7 different ways at home to fit your schedule and diet.

Psst! This blog post contains affiliate links in it which sends me a bit of extra money if you use them… at no extra cost to you!

7 Delicious and healthy turmeric tea recipes you need to try!

7 Simple Turmeric Tea Recipes

You can make turmeric tea as simple or as complicated as you like either using turmeric tea bags, turmeric powder, or follow my turmeric tea recipe with fresh root if you have time!

Continue reading below to find out why you might want to use the fresh turmeric root vs. the powder…

1. Ultimate Turmeric Tea Hack For Quick Tea: Vahdam Tea Bags

The easiest way to make a turmeric tea at home is to buy tea bags from Vahdam Teas. They sell a variety of delicious turmeric tea blends that are already packaged and ready to steep.

They’re a great backup for when you don’t have time to make turmeric tea from scratch. I always make sure to have a few bags on hand!

Don’t worry, these aren’t typical tea bags that hide bad quality tea either. I’ve opened the bags to find beautiful dried pieces of turmeric inside. So you’re getting the benefits of the root, without any of the mess!

A look inside Vahdam Trumeric Ashwagandha tea packed. There's a closed package on the side, a tea bag next to it where you can see the contents, but the contents have also been poured out into a pinch bowl to see more clearly: a bunch of yellow and orange dried roots, they look like tiny little coloured rocks.

If you aren’t a huge fan of the turmeric taste, I recommend Turmeric Ginger, Turmeric Moringa, and Turmeric Spice. I find the turmeric isn’t as strong in these blends.

If you want a strong turmeric taste, I recommend their Turmeric Ashwagandha. Unfortunately, they don’t have just turmeric tea.

How To Make Simple Turmeric Tea With Vahdam Tea Bag

What You’ll Need

Kettle
2 cups water
1 bag Vahdam turmeric tea

Directions

Bring 2 cups water to a boil
Add 1 bag Vahdam tea
Let steep for 3 – 5 minutes
Enjoy!!

2. Basic Turmeric Tea Recipe With Turmeric Powder

This is a quick and easy turmeric tea recipe if you want to make turmeric tea from scratch. I use turmeric powder for this recipe, but there’s nothing stopping you from using the fresh or dried root either.

It’s as simple as pouring boiling water over turmeric powder, adding some pepper to taste, and letting it steep. It’s as simple as that!

If you are going to use turmeric powder, I recommend picking up an organic turmeric powder because it will be the healthiest option.

How To Make Turmeric Tea With Turmeric Powder

What You’ll Need

Kettle
2 cups water
1/2 tsp turmeric powder or 2 tbsp grated turmeric root
Pepper

Directions

Bring 2 cups water to a boil
Add 1/2 tsp turmeric powder (or 2 tbsp grated turmeric root)
Pour water over turmeric, let steep for 3 – 5 minutes
Add pepper to taste
Mix & enjoy!!

an overhead photo showing two circular kitchen ware items: a mug, and a pinch bowl. The mug has a deep orange brew, but inside the punch bowl is a heap of slightly lighter orange turmeric powder

3. Simmer In A Pot: Best With Fresh Root & Bulk Batches

This is a much more involved turmeric tea recipe, but if you have the time, it’s worth it. Instead of boiling water in a kettle, you’ll make turmeric tea on the stove in a pot, which gives you a few additional benefits.

For starters, you can make a much larger batch of turmeric tea all at once. Double or triple the recipe and make turmeric tea for the rest of the week!

If you’re using turmeric powder, it dissolves more in the water when simmering in a pot.

I also really like using a pot when using fresh turmeric root, again simmer the water will extract more of the flavours and benefits of the turmeric.

But on the other hand, using a pot can be quite the hassle. It takes longer, it’s messier, and a pot isn’t exactly designed for the contents to be poured directly into a mug (p.s. for this step, I recommend putting your mug in the sink when you’re ready to pour it out of the pot).

How To Make Turmeric Tea In A Pot

What You’ll Need

A pot
2 cups water
2 tbsp grated turmeric root
Pepper
Strainer

Directions

In a pot, add 2 cups water, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder (or 2 tbsp grated turmeric root)
Bring to a boil
Lower heat and let simmer for 5-10 minutes
Add pepper to taste
Pour over strainer into a mug
Enjoy!!

A striking photo of a mug in focused with a deep rich orange brew inside. The colour compliments the outer blue rim of the mug. The mug sits on a wood cutting board. So next to it are two turmeric roots. They have a funny shape to it, one is even cut open to reveal the bright orange inside.

4. The Powerful Rhizome Duo: Turmeric Ginger Tea Recipe

I’m going to be completely honest – I don’t like ginger. But for some reason I love the combination of turmeric ginger tea. I find the ginger really cuts the pepperiness of the turmeric. It makes drinking turmeric tea a lot easier.

I don’t find I need to add a lot of ginger to counterbalance the strong turmeric flavour either. But if you love ginger, feel free to add more to taste!

Plus, ginger tea has even more benefits! Now you’re getting twice the antioxidant and anti-inflammation power. And ginger can also help with digestion, nausea, headaches, and migraines, blood pressure, and weight loss.

I like adding fresh ginger and making this recipe in a pot on the stove. Follow my tips for making turmeric tea in a pot, or follow my basic turmeric recipe if you’d rather steep the tea!

You can also use dried ginger pieces, instead of grating the fresh root.

How To Make Ginger Turmeric Tea

What You’ll Need

Pot
2 cups water
2 tbsp grated turmeric root
1/2 tbsp grated ginger root
Pepper
Strainer

Directions

In a pot, add 2 cups water, 2 tbsp grated fresh turmeric root, 1/2 tbsp ginger
Bring to a boil
Lower heat and let simmer for 5-10 minutes
Add pepper to taste
Pour over strainer into a mug
Enjoy!!

an overhead photo of a full ginger root and shaved yellow pieces of ginger, and a full turmeric root with shave orange pieces of turmeric on a marble counter top.
Although the turmeric and ginger are similar, they have completely different colours schemes, a the the turmeric root looks a bit more like it was just recently pulled out from the ground. The ginger roots looks cleaner, and almost smoother.

5. Immune Boosting Turmeric Tea Recipe

Turmeric is a crazy immune booster making it the ultimate drink to warm up with and keep you healthy in the colder months.

To build up your immune system even more, add some other immune boosting ingredients – like honey and lemon to make the most powerful health tea yet!

You can make this recipe using both a kettle and steeping the ingredients, or you can make it in a pot.

How To Make Immune Boosting Tea

What You’ll Need

Kettle
2 cups water
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
Lemon juice (~1/4 of a fresh lemon)
1/2 tsp honey
Pepper

Directions

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil
Pour water over 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
Add lemon juice to taste (I use 1/4 of a lemon)
Let the tea cool for 2 minutes
Stir in 1/2 tsp honey (see why I let the water cool before adding honey)
Add pepper to taste
Stir & enjoy!!

The ingredients you need to make a immune boosting healthy tea. There's a double walled mug with a beautiful orange tea inside. Next to it are the three ingredients used to make it: a jar of honey, turmeric powder, and a full lemon

6. Caffeinated Turmeric Tea Recipe

If you aren’t a huge fan of teas that aren’t caffeinated, or maybe you’re in need of a pick me up, I have the turmeric tea recipe for you!

Simply mix in some turmeric with your morning (or afternoon) cup of tea. I like to use a basic orange pekoe tea, nothing too fancy, but you can use your favourite black tea for this recipe as well.

As with the other recipes, you can choose to use either turmeric powder or the root – just make sure to adjust the amounts. And you can choose to steep it or make it in the pot.

How To Make Morning Caffeine Boost Turmeric Tea (2 Ways)

Quick kettle method with powder

What You’ll Need

Kettle
2 cups water
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 bag black tea
Pepper
Optional: honey, lemon, or milk to taste

Directions

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil
Pour water over 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and 1 black tea bag
Let steep for 5 minutes
Remove tea bag
Add pepper to taste
Optional: honey, lemon, or milk to taste
Stir & enjoy!!

Pot method with fresh turmeric

What You’ll Need

Pot
2 cups water
2 tbsp fresh grated turmeric root
1 black tea bag
Pepper
Strainer
Optional: honey, lemon, or milk to taste

Directions

In a pot, add 2 tbsp fresh grated turmeric root and 1 black tea bag.
Bring to a boil
Simmer for 5 minutes
Add pepper to taste
Strain over mug
Optional: honey, lemon, or milk to taste
Enjoy!!

The ingredients needed for caffeinated turmeric tea, and a finalized cup of this elixir. There's a pinch bowl of peppercorn, strips of dried turmeric, and a pinch bowl of black tea bags.

7. Golden Milk Turmeric Tea Latte

A golden milk turmeric latte is the perfect recipe if you aren’t a fan of turmeric tea on its own (which is understandable), want even more benefits of the turmeric, or are just in the mood for a cozy latte.

But did you know the milk in a turmeric tea latte actually helps your body absorb more of the health benefits from turmeric? So it’s somehow even healthier than simple turmeric tea – read more about how that works in my complete golden milk latte recipe guide.

This is a delicious creamy and sweet pick me up! I only ever make this recipe in a pot to let the ingredients steep in the milk.

How To Make Golden Milk Latte

What You’ll Need

Pot
Whisk
Strainer
2 cups milk
2 tbsp grated turmeric root
1 tsp grated ginger
1/8 tsp vanilla (optional)
Pepper

Directions

In a pot add 2 tbsp turmeric, 1 tsp ginger, pepper to taste, 1/8 tsp vanilla (optional), and 2 cups milk
Bring to a boil
Let simmer for 10 minutes. Whisk frequently to avoid a top layer forming on the milk and to make foamy
Strain and pour into your favourite latte mug!
Enjoy

P.S. For a quick turmeric tea latte, check out Vahdam’s latte mix.

a simple photo of a marble counter top design with a white on white patterned embossed cappuccino mug. There's a bright yellow drink inside, a turmeric tea latte. The are two fresh stalks of vibrant orange turmeric leaning on each other and the mug

What Is Turmeric?

Turmeric is actually a flowering plant part of the ginger root family. Funny enough though, we don’t use the flower itself (not even to make turmeric tea). It’s all about using the turmeric root.

The roots of the turmeric plant are known as a rhizome. These are a specific type of root that grows horizontally. Turmeric is a thick rhizome root that’s a vibrant orange colour.

Typically the root is crushed down to a powder and used for cooking. Unsurprisingly, it also used to be used as a dye.

You can use the powder, the root, or even the dried root to make turmeric tea. P.S. if you use the fresh turmeric root, it stains… everything.

three pinch bowls filled with different stages of turmeric, plus arrows with text that describes each one. The first one is a fresh turmeric root, they look like thick brown misshappen skinnier sweet potatoes, with a bright orange inside. In the middle are shaved and dried pieces of the turmeric root, they still have an orange inside, but the outside is more yellow instead of brown, and they've shrunken. Finally, you have powdered turmeric, which is a bright orange powder

Should You Be Using The Fresh Root Or Powder?

There are both pros and cons to using either turmeric powder and the root.

If you are swapping out the powder for the root (or vice versa) you always need to use a lot more of the root than the powder. The powder is very strong and a lot more concentrated.

So 2 tablespoons of chopped or grated turmeric root, is only about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric. To use the root, you can use a grater or you can finely chop it.

Turmeric Powder: Pros Vs. Cons

Turmeric powder is the easiest way to make turmeric tea.

You should be able to find turmeric powder in almost any grocery store with the other spices. When I’m using turmeric powder in tea I like to buy a bit better quality, so I’ll often gravitate towards organic powders and avoid buying no name brand that I would typically use for cooking.

The main problem with using turmeric powder for tea is that you loose some of the health benefits of turmeric during the process of turning the root into a powder.

a close up of orange turmeric tea powder in a white punchbowl on a white and grey marbled counter top. A bit of the powder has spilled out onto the counter, staining the white to be yellow

Fresh Turmeric Root: Pros Vs. Cons

If your main interest in drinking turmeric tea is for the health benefits, you’ll most likely want to use the root instead.

For starters, you know exactly what you’re getting. There are no questions about artificial colouring or flavours being added. The curcurmin (the compound we have to thank for the health benefits) is a lot more concentrated in the root than in the powder as well.

But there are two problems with using the fresh root. First, fresh turmeric root harder to find than turmeric powder. You can try looking at your local health food store, Asian food market, or I found it at a small specialized fruit and vegetables store.

If you are able to find it, the bigger problem is actually using it. Fresh turmeric root is a vibrant orange colour that essentially stains everything it touches. And I mean EVERYTHING! This makes it a huge pain to use it and especially to clean up.

To use the fresh root itself in turmeric tea, you have to peel it and grate it. So if you decide to use turmeric root, I recommend using food safe plastic gloves to save your hands from turning yellow.

See how to properly store turmeric root to maximize it’s shelf life.

a close up of a gloved hand. What use to be a white glove has been stained to a golden yellow / orange from cutting and grating turmeric. Below the hand, slightly blurred is the aftermath of grating turmeric. On a cutting board, theres a grater, a peeler, a large orange pile, which is presumably the grated turmeric root.

What About Dried Turmeric Root?

You may be able to find dried turmeric root. This is a very interesting alternative to both the powder and the root.

Dried turmeric has been peeled, boiled, and then dried. You can find it either whole or already grated into smaller pieces. It be a lot cleaner and easier to use AND it will last longer than the fresh root.

But What about the health benefits of using dried turmeric root? I’m still a bit unsure about the loss of health benefits of dried turmeric root. It’s obviously more processed than using the fresh root, but it’s less process than the powder. It is cooked, and we know that some benefits are lost in the cooking process.

So although you may loose some health benefits, it’s not as much as turmeric powder. Plus, you know that nothing else has been added – it’s still the pure root. And most of all, if you buy dried turmeric root pieces, you avoid the mess.

A vertical image showing all the types of turmeric you can use, and a small mug of deep orange turmeric tea in the middle. Each turmeric type is in a pinch bowl. There's a dried turmeric root, that looks like dried out carrots. Then there's dried turmeric that's been turned to pieces, and finally there's turmeric powder

When You Make A Turmeric Tea You Always Need To Add…

You may have noticed that all my turmeric tea recipes include pepper, even the Vahdam tea bags include pepper. That might seem like an odd combination at first, but there’s a reason behind it…

Turmeric’s health benefits are all thanks to the compound curcurmin. Unfortunately, our body doesn’t easily absorb curcurmin. So researchers found that pepperine (the active compound in pepper) can increase your body’s absorption of curcumin by 2000%.

If you don’t like the taste of black pepper, or just find it downright weird to have turmeric tea with pepper, you’re in luck. Researchers found a second option that increases absorption – fat. This can be anything from oil, butter, and …. milk!

Aren’t you glad I didn’t say you have to add oil or butter to your tea!

The ingredients you need to use in turmeric tea to absorb all the benefits. In the middle is a finalized cup of turmeric tea, with speckles of black pepper laying on top. In front of the mug, you have a pinch bowl with black peppercorns, the full turmeric root, and finally a mini double walled espresso mug filled with milk.

So if you don’t like turmeric tea with pepper, simply turn your tea into a turmeric tea latte (otherwise known as A golden milk latte… see my full recipe guide.

You need to add milk that’s high in fat to reap the benefits of curcurmin. That means no skim milk lattes! If milk isn’t your thing you can also add a high fat content milk alternative like coconut milk, soy, cashew, or oat milk or cream.

And if you want to really maximize absorption – you can always add both!

FYI Drinking Turmeric Tea Is Strange…

I won’t lie, turmeric tea is quite strange at first if you aren’t used to it. It was hard to finish an entire cup when I first started drinking turmeric tea, especially with the addition of black pepper. It’s was quite spicy and because it was hot, my tongue would be on fire by the end.

A striking photo of a mug in focused with a deep rich orange brew inside. The colour compliments the outer blue rim of the mug. You can see the speckles of pepper that were added on top of the tea. The mug sits on a a marbled counter top. So next to it are two turmeric roots. They have a funny shape to it, one is even cut open to reveal the bright orange inside.

If you’re just starting out drinking turmeric tea, I highly recommend making a turmeric latte or trying a Vahdam blend.

Adding milk to turmeric tea really helps to lessen the heat of the pepper and turmeric, making it much easier to drink.

How Often Should You Drink Turmeric Tea?

Turmeric tea is safe to drink everyday. In fact, turmeric is one of the safest and most beneficial spices to consume.

The World Health Organization says that 1.4 mg of turmeric per pound of body weight is okay for daily intake.

That being said, there are some risks to be aware of especially with over consumption. I would recommend limited your turmeric tea consumption to 1 drink/ day.