This easy turmeric tea recipe is made with simple and fresh ingredients. Ginger, honey and lemon combine with spices to create an anti-inflammatory hot drink that helps to boost your immune system. Perfect if you are fighting a cold or want to soothe a sore throat. Full of health benefits and great for a detox. Ready to drink in less than 5 minutes.
The cold weather has well and truly arrived, and so with it have the seasonal colds! We were both hit with it, so I decided to make a hot version of my Anti Inflammatory Smoothie. It's like a cold and flu hot lemon drink, but homemade and full of natural and healthy ingredients. It may have been psychosomatic, but it definitely seemed to help ease some of those symptoms!
What is in this turmeric tea recipe and their benefits
- Turmeric: A natural anti inflammatory, that has many scientifically proven health benefits. Be sure to check out these other delicious turmeric recipes.
- Lemon juice: A great source of vitamin C as well as promoting hydration and aiding digestion.
- Honey: Rich in antioxidants and can help sooth a sore throat as well as having antibiotic properties.
- Ginger: An anti inflammatory that can ease muscle pain and nausea.
- Black pepper: Black pepper help to activate the turmeric and aids absorption of it, so it's is a really important ingredient in this drink!
- Cayenne: Can help kill germs and raises your metabolism.
How to make turmeric tea in 3 easy steps
- Add all of the ingredients, apart from the boiling water and whisk well (photo 1).
- Add hot, not boiling, water to mixed ingredients. Whisk well until combined (photo 2).
- Pour the turmeric tea into mugs and enjoy (photo 3).
An easy and healthy hot drink that will warm your soul
Regular readers will know I'm not a health food blog. I love my veggies but prefer them doused in butter! We all have those times when we need an extra hit of goodness and that's where this drink comes in. I'm a huge fan of turmeric and often include it in easy weeknight recipes like my Green Lentil Daal and Chickpea & Spinach Curry, but when you need goodness and quickly, this drink is perfect.
Why drink turmeric tea?
All of the ingredients in this drink have amazing proven health benefits. It's dead important to include anti inflammatories in your diet as they can help to reduce the risk of nasty things like heart disease.
I'm not over here bringing you a tonne health claims, you know me better than that, but what I can tell you is that this will help boost your immune system and it is anti inflammatory. Them are the facts.
A couple of these ingredients, the lemon juice and cayenne, are widely thought to aid weight loss, but personally I'd rather get my butt to the gym than rely on a drink...if you wanted my opinion that is!
What does turmeric tea taste like?
This is one of those drinks, that just tastes healthy AF, but not in a gross bad way. It has a little bit of a kick to it from the black pepper and cayenne and a tartness from the fresh lemon juice. The turmeric has an earthy and slightly bitter taste to it and it's all balanced out with the sweet honey.
A few notes on the ingredients you should use
This ginger turmeric lemon tea is all about using the best and freshest ingredients:
- Fresh lemon juice is a must, please, for the love of god, do not use the bottled stuff!
- You want to use a really good quality honey, preferably raw, natural and unprocessed.
- Check that your turmeric powder isn't stale. Take a little of the powder, rub it between your fingers and it should be fragrant. If not, buy some more!
- When you add the water it shouldn't be boiling. Boil the kettle but let it sit for a few minutes before adding it.
- This drink isn't for strict vegans due to the honey used. You could sub the honey with maple syrup - I haven't tried this but pretty sure it will work well.
More than warm water with honey and lemon!
Honey and lemon mixed with warm water is a classic old school cold remedy, and it's been around forever because it can help to ease those symptoms. My version is boosted with the magic spice that is turmeric as well as other ingredients that help fight those bugs.
There may not be a cure for the common cold, but this for sure will give your body a proper boost of goodness.
For more healthy drink recipes:
- Berry Oat Smoothie with Coconut Milk
- Flavoured Water with Lemon, Mint and Ginger
- Easy Beet Smoothie: A Cold Busting Drink
I love hearing from you!! If you have tried this ginger turmeric lemon tea recipe, be sure to scroll down, give it a star rating and let me know what you thought!
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Ginger Turmeric Lemon Tea
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon turmeric powder
- juice of 1 large lemon
- 3 tablespoons honey
- ½ tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- pinch cayenne
- 3 cups water freshly boiled, but not boiling
Instructions
- Boil a kettle of water.
- In a pyrex jug, or other heat poof jug, add all of the ingredients, apart from the boiling water, and whisk until you have a smooth consistency and everything is incorporated.
- Let the kettle boil, and then let it sit for a few minutes before puring the water into the jug with the other ingredients. Don't add the water if it's boiling.
- Whisk again well to incorporate all of the ingredients and then pour into two cups.
Notes
- Fresh lemon juice is a must, please, for the love of god, do not use the bottled stuff!
- You want to use a really good quality honey, preferably raw, natural and unprocessed.
- Check that your turmeric powder isn't stale. Take a little of the powder, rub it between your fingers and it should be fragrant. If not, buy some more!
- When you add the water it shouldn't be boiling. Boil the kettle but let it sit for a few minutes before adding it.
- This drink isn't for strict vegans due to the honey used. You could sub the honey with maple syrup - I haven't tried this but pretty sure it will work well.
Rose says
Would this be safe for a pregnant woman just into her second trimester? I feel a cold coming on and can’t take medication due to be pregnant.
Slow The Cook Down says
Hi Rose, sorry for the late reply - I'm on maternity leave myself right now! Congrats on the pregnancy! As always with these things, it's best to check with your Doctor, but I would class this as any herbal tea and one cup a day will be beneficial.
Itana says
Thanks so much for this recipe! I wanted to ask--how often would you recommend someone to drink this to continue improving immunity? Once a day? Thanks!
Slow The Cook Down says
Hi Itana, I'm not a nutritionist, but one of these a day is a great idea as it's loaded with lots of the good stuff! It definitely won't do any harm 🙂
Laurie says
My boyfriend has been super sick for the past few days and I finally started to feel a bit icky like I was starting to catch what he has.
I made this tea for us and while it made my boyfriend feel better, he was already too sick for this tea to cure him.
I however drank two cups of this and also made myself and oregano capsule (really great for when you are starting to feel sick) and I woke up this morning feeling absolutely great!
Thanks so much!
Slow The Cook Down says
Ah glad it helped Laurie!
Dee says
I have this drink every morning and it really boost my energy for the day,i would recommend it yo anyone,taste good too
Mandy says
Do you think adding apple cider vinegar to this recipe would work? I usually drink ACV with lemon, but this looks like a good variation to add ginger and turmeric. Just wondering if you think the flavors would jive.
Slow The Cook Down says
Hi Mandy, I haven't tried this myself, butI think a little, maybe a tablespoon would work fine. You could also substitute half of the lemon juice for ACV - the acidity definitely wouldn't be overpowering that way. Would love to know if you try it!
Yvette rice says
I have been drinking this mixture since 2020 and stopped but started back up after knee surgery in 2022 and my kneees feel 80% better plus I lost 85 pounds
Slow The Cook Down says
Glad you enjoy it Yvette! Turmeric is so great for inflammation! Wishing you a speedy recovery and congrats on the weight loss!
Carlin says
Works very good
Shaline says
I halved the receipe for 1 cup... its delicious. I plan to make it with almond milk and more cayanne pepper next. Thanks
Slow The Cook Down says
So glad you enjoyed it Shaline! Love the idea of adding some non-dairy milk!
Juli Bastien says
I have an amazing tea containter. I add all the ingredients into the strainer insert, poor the hot water over, it steeps until I am ready to poor it over my ice. I love it cold!
Slow The Cook Down says
Oooh I haven't tried it cold, that's a great idea for the hot weather! Glad you enjoy it 🙂
Lei says
Just saw your recipe while scrolling and searching for a turmeric tea. and i tried it BECAUSE i was suffering from asthma, dry cough and sore throat.
In 3 weeks. And voila it works..
Thank u😊😘
Slow The Cook Down says
Ah so glad it helped Lei! There's a tonne of goodness in this one!
Marissa Tyler says
I made this and I loved it. I wanted to make a turmeric tea but since I love lemon and ginger, this is perfect for me. Thanks for a great tea recipe idea.
Kelly Baumstark says
it tastes good
Tamara Andersen says
I recently bought Michael Symon's cookbook Fix It With Food dealing with anti inflammatory foods. Turmeric is one of them. I am trying to include more turmeric in my diet, and this looks like a great way to use it. I just need a cooler day! Haha!
Ben says
I had a stinking cold and made this. It worked wonders and really pepped me up!