There’s nothing quite like sipping an icy cold latte on a hot Summer’s day.
So if you want to enjoy the taste too, try this easy iced vanilla latte recipe. Super quick and refreshing, my homemade iced latte recipe is sure to become a new favorite way to enjoy coffee at home.
Why You’ll Love This Iced Vanilla Latte Recipe
I love to make hot coffee drinks at home, but when it’s hot outside I’m much more likely to make a cold coffee. Which is why this recipe is one of my favorites for making coffee during the Summer.
With just 3 ingredients, it’s super quick and easy to make, and it’s healthy too – with no sugary additives.
The natural vanilla gives the coffee a lovely smooth taste and it can be made with any type of milk – whole, low fat or plant based.
So if you’re looking for a simple and tasty iced latte recipe to make at home – this is it!
Iced Latte vs Iced Coffee vs Cold Brew
There are quite a few ways you can enjoy coffee cold, so it can be a little confusing knowing the difference between a latte and iced coffee. So I’m going to quickly explain the different cold coffee drinks.
Iced Latte: An iced latte consists of 1 or 2 shots of hot espresso poured over ice and topped up with cold milk. Like a hot latte, it is a milk based coffee drink and has a higher percentage of milk to coffee than an iced coffee.
Iced Coffee: Iced coffee is a generic term used to refer to many different cold coffee drinks. But, it most typically refers to a glass of hot brewed coffee poured over ice and then topped with a small amount of milk and/or cream or even sweetened condensed milk.
Cold Brew Coffee: Cold brew is a slow immersion brewing method where coffee grounds are immersed in cold water for 16-24 hours. The method produces a flavorful coffee concentrate that can be enjoyed straight, over ice, and with milk.
If you love easy cold espresso drinks, you should also try this iced mocha espresso, a sweet easy brown sugar latte or this simple espresso tonic.
Iced Vanilla Latte Ingredients
In order to make this iced latte at home you need just three ingredients:
- Espresso coffee: 2 shots of espresso make this drink a nice strong coffee. You can reduce it to 1 shot if you prefer a milder coffee drink.
- Milk: I use whole milk in my iced lattes.
- Vanilla extract: I think vanilla adds a lovely smooth flavor to the drink and what makes it such a popular iced latte recipe. You can omit it, but I highly recommend investing in a good quality vanilla extract for your iced coffee drinks.
Substitutions
Espresso: If you don’t have a home espresso machine you can still make your iced latte with a coffee maker. Simply brew a batch of strong coffee in your coffee maker and use 1/2 cup of strong brewed coffee instead of the espresso shots in your iced vanilla latte.
You can also use cold brew coffee, but remember you can’t dissolve sugar in cold coffee. So if you want to sweeten your iced cold brew latte you will need to use a liquid syrup or sweetener instead of granulated sugar.
Note that using either of these espresso substitutes will result in a different tasting drink – as espresso coffee does have a unique, bold taste that is difficult to replicate with other coffee makers.
Whole Milk: If you don’t want to use whole milk, this recipe works well with any type of fat reduced dairy milk or dairy free milks too. Almond milk, oat milk and soy milk all work well for this recipe.
Vanilla extract: You can use vanilla syrup, but the drink will have a sweeter taste. I prefer the smoother flavor of vanilla extract, but you can use syrup if you don’t have any extract on hand.
How To Make An Iced Vanilla Latte At Home
Step 1 – Brew your coffee. Pull 2 shots of espresso. If not using an espresso machine, you will need 1/2 cup of strong brewed coffee.
Step 2 – Add flavors to espresso. Add vanilla and sugar (if using) to your hot coffee and stir to combine.
Step 3 – Add cold milk. Finally, place ice cubes in a tall glass, pour the flavored espresso over ice and add cold milk on top. Stir to combine and enjoy.
Note: You do not use hot milk in this iced vanilla latte recipe. Unlike a hot latte which has textured frothed milk, an iced latte coffee uses cold milk.
Recipe Variations
The magic of this recipe is that it is an excellent base for many iced latte variations.
While my homemade vanilla iced latte recipe includes vanilla extract and sugar to taste, there are other ways to customize your drink such as:
- Adding a tablespoon of your favorite flavored coffee syrup instead of vanilla.
- Topping your latte with a cold foam like this sweet cream cold foam.
- Using coffee ice cubes instead of regular ice for an extra caffeinated boost!
More Coffee Recipes
If you loved this iced espresso recipe, you may like to try these recipes too:
- Iced Dulce De Leche latte
- 36 Summer Coffee Recipes To Try
- Healthy Coffee Banana Smoothie
- Condensed Milk Iced Latte
Find more great iced coffee recipes here or browse all the coffee recipes.
Did you make this recipe? Please leave a rating below and join me on Facebook and Pinterest for more tasty coffee recipes.
Easy Vanilla Iced Latte
Ingredients
- 2 shots espresso see note 1
- 1 cup milk whole or plant based
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 ice cubes
- sugar to taste
Instructions
- Pull your espresso shots.
- Add vanilla extract and sugar (if using) to espresso and mix to combine.
- Fill a separate glass with ice cubes.
- Pour vanilla espresso shots over ice.
- Add milk and stir to combine.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
- If you don’t have an espresso machine, brew coffee on your preferred coffee maker and use 1/2 cup strong brewed coffee in this recipe.
- If using cold brew coffee, sugar will not dissolve so use a liquid sweetener instead.
- Add more or less milk and sweetener to taste.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Pin for later!
Can you make any of the Lattes “Skinny”? How about a white Chocolate mocha? Can that be made skinny? How?
Can you heat up the bottled Mochas?
Hi Joyce You can make an iced latte skinny by using low fat milk instead of full fat milk.
Perfect! If I had to give someone a starting point, I would say 1-1/2 tablespoons of sugar. I found that to be the perfect amount. Thanks for the recipe! 😊