Turmeric tea is a warm and soothing blend of ground turmeric, lemon juice, and honey. It provides a good-for-you wellness boost, it’s easy to make at home, and it just tastes good!
No matter the season, it always makes sense to wrap your hands around a warm cup of turmeric tea. Similar to golden milk, it’s comforting and soothing, with a bold earthy flavor that’s slightly sweet. The tea’s vibrant color comes from turmeric, the golden-hued ground spice that gives curry its signature color.
It’s widely know that turmeric is an anti-inflammatory ingredient and possesses many health benefits – that’s why it’s a favorite of mine! I use the spice in many recipes from my jamu juice to turmeric smoothie, but this warm turmeric tea is especially soothing during the cold weather months.
Turmeric Tea Ingredients
While you can buy turmeric tea bags at the market, I love this easy homemade version. Here’s what you need to make it:
- Turmeric: I use ground turmeric in this recipe as it’s a staple item in my spice drawer and I always have it on hand.
- Lemon Juice: Freshly squeezed lemon juice lends a bright pop of citrus flavor.
- Honey: I like my tea with a hint of sweetness. If you prefer, you can use maple syrup instead of honey.
- Black Pepper: Just a pinch of black pepper helps your body absorb the curcumin from the turmeric.
Can you use fresh turmeric instead of dried turmeric? Absolutely! Just grate about 1 ½ teaspoons of fresh turmeric root.
Find the printable recipe with measurements below
How to Make Turmeric Tea
If you can boil water, you can make turmeric tea! There’s just three simple steps:
- Mix: Add the water, turmeric, lemon juice, honey, and black pepper to a small pot, then whisk together.
- Simmer: Bring the liquid to a boil, then turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Serve: Let the tea cool for a minute or two. Then pour into your favorite mug and enjoy!
How to Customize Your Tea
Once you’ve got a handle on making this easy turmeric tea, you can tweak the recipe a bit and have a fun with it!
- Add spices: Add a sprinkle of cinnamon, nutmeg or ground cloves for a toasty spice flavor.
- Add earthiness: Make this a more robust tea by adding a bag of chamomile tea or green tea to the pot while it simmers.
- Add citrus: Try swapping the lemon juice for freshly squeezed orange juice.
More Healthy Drink Recipes
When it comes to healthy drinks I’ve got plenty of options for you. Give some of these other recipes a try!
- Matcha Tea – A simple, energizing green tea.
- Green Smoothie – My go-to green smoothie recipe.
- Ginger Shots – Skip the store-bought wellness shots and make them at home.
- Elderberry Tea – Dried elderberries are simmered in this easy homemade version.
- Green Juice – A power-packed juice chock-full of nutrients.
I hope you enjoy this turmeric tea recipe! If you make it, I’d love to hear how it turned out in the comment box below. Your review will help other readers in the community.
Description
Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- pinch freshly ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons honey
Instructions
- In a small pot, add water, turmeric, lemon juice, and black pepper. Whisk together and heat over high heat. When the tea just starts to boil, turn the heat down to low and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Once the tea is finished simmering, turn off the heat, add the honey, and let the tea cool for a minute or two.
- Pour the tea into a mug through a strainer to remove the black pepper and enjoy.
Nutrition
©Downshiftology. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
Recipe originally published September 2020, but updated to include new information for your benefit!
Interesting recipe! Turmeric is the best immunity booster. But we should try to get only pure haldi otherwise no effect at all.
I have doubt.
Can you drink turmeric tea everyday? What Do you share with us about daily quantities?
Thank you.
I’m glad you like the recipe! In terms of drinking daily, that would be a great question for your doctor or dietician.
Sounds delicious. Is it ok to add ginger?
Of course! Ginger and turmeric make for a strong, anti-inflammatory duo :)
Is this the turmeric tea everyone says will help with belly fat and is white ground pepper ok to use?
I am not too sure if this is supposed to help with belly fat. But this tea is a great anti-inflammatory drink, along with many other health benefits! Black pepper is best for this.
I made this tea for the first time yesterday. So delicious that I’m having it again today. I’m curious though, it’s spicy. Is turmeric the spice or is it the black pepper? I mean it’s got a KICK.
It’s the turmeric :)
Perfect Tea for Winter.
Regards,
Reshu
This is a great and easy tea to make. I especially enjoy the benefits pertaining to inflammation since I have fibromyalgia.
Instead of using regular pepper I am using a drop of black pepper essential oil.
I’ve been pouring this over ice all summer. It’s a fantastic summer drink! I have also been drinking it every day – with my rheumatologists blessing – with no adverse effects. My goal was to eliminate the daily NSAID that was prescribed and that goal has been successful. (Though I have regular old Ibuprofen at the ready if I have sudden onset of swelling. I have only had to take the ibuprofen once in the last 3 months when I overdid it .)
Happy to hear you’ve been enjoying this over ice as a summer refreshment!
Can I make a larger batch and refrigerate and reheat later and get the same benefits?
Yep, that should be fine :)
I don’t normally use black pepper. What can I use as substitute in this recipe?
Unfortunately black pepper is needed in this recipe to help break down the turmeric nutrients. But, you won’t taste it since it’s such a small amount :)
Love this tea 🫖 thank you for all the good recipes!! I’ve tried quick a few.
Glad you enjoyed this turmeric tea!
I am fascinated by this recipe. I will try it by following your steps. I’m sure this tea is great for boosting immunity. <3
It’s absolutely a great immunity booster, amongst other health benefits.
Is the black pepper ground or whole?
I’m using ground pepper for this.
I got finely ground pepper and not course. Is that fine? Or does it need to be course? I don’t even have to strain it.
That’s fine :)
How much or how often can you drink the Turmeric Tea? making this Now!!
I would say you can drink this a few times a week if you’d like.
Turmeric tea is the best,easy to make and loaded with health benefits
It surely is the best of all worlds!
Can you make this tea without the black pepper? Substitute white pepper possibly?
Black pepper is best to absorb all the goodness of Turmeric.
Love this tea.
I ‘m looking for this kind of tea to make a gallon(s) of. Can you tell me how much and storage in the refrigerator.
In the recipe card, you can choose the (x3) option to triple the recipe.
Made some this morning with fresh squeezed orange juice, as I didn’t have any lemons. It tastes wonderful and will purchase some lemons today to try . Mmmmmm
Sounds great! Glad you enjoyed this turmeric tea Brian.
How often does this need to be drank? And my father has copd he is the one drinking it. We just want to know how often he can drink this? And can we use turmeric in a season bottle? Thank you!
I always say to drink things in moderation :) And yes, you can use turmeric in a bottle.
Yummy
I made mine with fresh grated turmeric.
Thanks
Wonderful Connie!
Love the recipe! I found it a little spicy as I couldn’t strain out pepper because I didnt have a strainer small enough. Did the strainer shown in video truly take out that fine pepper. It seems like it would go through. Does straining the pepper reduce the absorption of the turmeric? Don’t you need to ingest the pepper too?
Hi Debbie – You don’t need to strain out the pepper. The strainer was to make sure there were no extra bits from the turmeric powder so it comes out a smooth, clean tea. The black pepper is there to help absorb the turmeric.
I think she was confused because in the directions it says to strain it “to remove the black pepper” :) Thank you for clarifying! Excited to give this a try!!
Can I drink this cold?
Yes, you can if you’d like!
I just tried the tea n its yummy 😋 I am sure it will be one of my favorite tee 🫖
Glad you enjoyed this turmeric tea Mavis!
I just made this, and it was yummy. Two thumbs up for sure. Thank you
Happy to hear you enjoyed this turmeric tea Cynthis!
thank you so much I always love herbs for my health
This tea is great for anytime you need an immunity booster :)
I only have lime juice can I use that instead of lemon
Hi Ramonna – Lemon is ideal for this recipe!
I have the Turmeric tea w/ 1/4 tsp cinnamon, every
morning I have beeing that for a long time,
I read that you can give your dogs the same thing
but a little less think you.
PS I fill it is helping my imune system.🐩🐩
I have HATED every single type of tea I’ve tried (except Alrnold Palmer half lemonade half tea, but I don’t count that). This recipe has lead me to believe that I may just hate teabags type tea. This was AMAZING! I only used one cup of water as I was afraid two might make it taste watered down which is my gripe with teabags. Bravo to the first person to make me like tea!
Hi Ivy – yay, I’m so happy you loved this recipe! Cheers to you becoming a tea lover. :) Enjoy!
I have to watch how much turmeric I take it does not agree with my stomach.I made this tea and I really liked it.Only drank half to see how it works with my stomach.Thank you for the recipe
Remember to drink this in moderation and listen to your body!
Hi Lisa,
Is there a particular reason why the lemon juice has to be added before simmering? Would it still work if I added it at the end just before drinking? (Just thinking about preserving vitamin C, which may be lost when the lemon comes to a boil).
Thank you in advance.
Fátima.
Hi Fatima – no, you can add that right before drinking as well. Enjoy!
I made the turmeric tea but added ginger. Love it I make a batch to have during the week. Wish there wasn’t so much residue, tried using cheesecloth but still gathers at the bottom of the jar.
How about a turneric capsule, which has the black pepper (Bioperine) included? Are the added calories from the honey worth it? I’m hoping to see a weight loss benefit taking 800 mg turneric twice per day. The tea would be a nice way to get at least one dose.
Surprise! It tastes rather good. I used honey and Stevia for added sweetness. I hesitated on adding the pepper but used my fresh ground 4 types of pepper, very good.
Hi! I am wondering if this can be made ahead and warmed up without losing any health benefits? I am making it for my husband and want to make it an evening in advance
Hi Alison – I can’t speak to it losing any health benefits (as I’m not aware), but taste-wise I’d say no problem with re-heating it.
This recipe has help me with my morning flem. It taste good and easy to make. I love it.
Amazing! Happy to hear this recipe has done wonders :)
Thanks for posting ! I made the recipe for the first time this morning an love love love it! Can’t wait to share with my daughter.
Wonderful! Happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe :)
Delicious and super simple using powdered tumeric, and I added a little fresh ginger as well. I can’t wait to try the variations suggested. I do have a question. There is a ‘sludge’ that I see when I strain the liquid which I threw away (about 1 tsp full). Is that normal or do I need to do a better job of whisking in the tumeric? If it is normal, do I add that into the liquid and consume it? Thanks for your answer. I’m anxious to try some of your other recipes.
Hi Phyllis – I’m happy you loved the recipe! It sounds like the sludge would be from using fresh ginger, but that’s totally fine. You can just toss that after you strain it.
Very tasty! Highly recommend
Glad you love this tea Shelby!
I made tumeric and black seed powder tea with honey and it was a great one
That sounds amazing! Thanks for sharing :)
Super nice for these cold autumn/winter nights! My husband and I drink this now several times a week. Your new healthy drinks videos are great! Will try your Ginger Shots tomorrow, want to do the “Woooh” you did in the video as well ;) Greetings from Austria!!
Hi Celine – I’m glad you and your husband are enjoying the turmeric tea! It really is great for this time of year. Give the ginger shots a try…and yes, you definitely have to let out a “woooh!” Haha. Enjoy! x
Delicious and comforting!
Perfect for the cold days ahead!
5 stars for this recipe! It so simple but healthy drinking. Turmeric is good for stoma and makes your skin bright smooth. A cup of turmeric tea in the evening provides me a good sleep. Charactric of honey is warm, I love the sweety of honey.
So glad you enjoyed this recipe Megan!
This is the most healthy drinking in the morning. I like it’s light yellow, combines sweet of honey and little bit sour of lemon. Some time I add small ginger pieces to warm me up. It makes me relax.
Thanks for your recipe! It’s really excellent drinking. Both turmeric and honey are good for health. Especially fresh turmeric and forest honey. I like drink turmeric tea in the morning. I dish like black pepper.
Definitely a great way to start your morning :)
This is great even for those who normally don’t drink tea. Thanks for sharing!
I agree! It’s one of my favorites and so easy to make. I’m glad you enjoyed it Melissa!
Ahhhhh … like a sunshine-y hug in a cup! Perfect as the weather turns cooler and snuggly beverages are so crave-able, and as cold season approaches and we all could use a little antioxidant boost to bolster our immune systems!
It’s the perfect way to boost your immune system :)
I make turmeric latte often but never tried making turmeric tea! Given the health benefits, I am sure this must be good
It’s just as good as a golden milk :)
This is a must-have during the covid phase. Love the easy and superfoods you’ve used in here .. The need of the hour for sure
Most definitely an easy and delicious immunity booster :)
I love this tea. It looks so inviting too. With simple ingredients I can now make an invigorating tea. Thanks.
Perfect for the winter time ahead :)
Yum, this is perfect for a chilly fall day! Thanks for sharing, loved it!
So glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Can you drink this cold?
Yes you can! :)
Sounds great! If someone is allergic to citrus, would apple cider vinegar and a cinnamon stick still have the same health benefits?
Hi Danine – most of the health benefits in this drink come from the turmeric, but cinnamon is also anti-inflammatory as well. So I say give that version a try!
This sounds really good I will try this tea
Thanks for the recipe
Enjoy this turmeric tea Violet :)
A delicious and soothing drink!
Is it know to induce sleepiness?
Hi Michelle – I’m glad you loved the tea! Some websites do indicate that turmeric can help with sleep.