Chai calories: 1 cup, a US mug and cutting chai
Also called masala chai, chai tea, cutting chai and milk tea.
By Shivam Verma Updated 10 sources linked below
One cup of masala chai, 150 ml (158 g), made with half whole milk and 8 g of sugar, has about 77 calories, 2.4 g of protein and 2.4 g of fat, or 49 per 100 g. Without sugar it is 46. A US mug is 120, and a glass of cutting chai 38.
77calories
Protein
2.4 g
Carbs
11.6 g
Fat
2.4 g
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About chai
Masala chai is black tea boiled with milk, water, sugar and spices, usually ginger and cardamom, then strained. The tea leaves and spices bring almost no calories, so a cup is counted by its milk and its sugar. Our cup is 75 g of whole milk, 75 g of water and 8 g of sugar, about 1.9 teaspoons. Those three lines are the whole story, and each household sets them differently.
Home vs takeout
All four rows use the same half milk, half water. The headline cup has 8 g of sugar; the plain cup none; the US mug holds more of everything; cutting chai, the half glass sold at a street stall, is half the cup.
| Version | 1 cup | Protein, 1 cup |
|---|---|---|
| 1 cup (150 ml), 2 tsp sugarHeadlineHalf milk, half water. | 77 | 2.4 g |
| 1 cup, no sugarThe same cup, unsweetened. | 46 | 2.4 g |
| US mug (240 ml)The same proportions, more sugar. | 120 | 3.8 g |
| Cutting chai (75 ml), street stallHalf a cup, the tapri's glass. | 38 | 1.2 g |
Milk, sugar and the size of the cup
Of the cup's 77 calories, the milk brings 60 percent, 46 calories, and the sugar 40 percent, 31. Every teaspoon of sugar, 4.2 g, adds about 16 calories. Leave the sugar out and the cup is 46 calories, with 3.8 g of sugars, all of them the milk's own lactose.
The cup size is the other lever. A US mug of 252 g, the same milk to water and 12.0 g of sugar, about 2.9 teaspoons, is 120 calories. Cutting chai, the half glass from a tapri, is 79 g and 38 calories, which is why two cutting chais are one cup.
The milk is also where the cup's protein and fat come from: 2.4 g of protein and 2.4 g of fat, all of it from 75 g of whole milk. A US mug, with more milk, carries 3.8 g of protein. Per 100 g the cup is lighter than the whole milk in it, 49 calories against 61, because half the cup is water.
Two cups a day, over a year
Two of our cups a day is 153 calories. Over a year that comes to about 55998 calories and 5.8 kg of sugar; of those calories, 22601 are the sugar alone. Two unsweetened cups a day are 33398 calories over the same year.
Those are totals, not a forecast of anything: they only show that a small cup drunk every day adds up, and that the sugar is the part you control most easily.
Chai with a snack
Chai is rarely drunk alone. A cup with one home onion pakora is 170 calories; with a medium samosa, 338; with a plate of home poha, 347. The snack is most of each total: in the chai and samosa pair the cup is 23 percent of the calories.
Against USDA's survey record
USDA's survey record for tea with milk, which lists Indian masala chai among its names, is 51 calories per 100 g; ours is 4 percent below it. It weighs a cup at 240 g, about 122 calories. Its recipe is half milk and half brewed tea, like ours, with about 6.4 g of sugar in every 100 g against 5.1 g in our cup, and a little cinnamon and nutmeg. Its cup of 240 g is close to our US mug of 252 g, which comes to 120 calories against the record's 122.[4]
Is chai healthy?
On its own numbers a cup of chai is a small drink: 77 calories, 2.4 g of protein from the milk, 3.1 g per 100 calories, and 1.4 g of saturated fat. The sugar is the part to watch: 8 g in our cup, 1.9 teaspoons, measured against the health bodies' advice on added sugar below. A glass of sweet lassi, by comparison, is 199 calories.
Two sweetened cups a day carry 16.0 g of added sugar: 64 percent of the 25 g a day the World Health Organization gives as its lower aim, and 53 percent of the 30 g the NHS sets for adults. Unsweetened, the same two cups carry none.
| Guideline | What it says | One cup of chai, added sugar |
|---|---|---|
| World Health Organization | Free sugars under 10% of daily energy, ideally under 5%, which is about 25 g a day. | 8.0 g, 32% of 25 g |
| NHS (UK) | No more than 30 g of free sugars a day for adults. | 8.0 g, 27% of 30 g |
| American Heart Association | About 6 teaspoons of added sugar a day for women and 9 for men. | 1.9 tsp, against 6 (women) or 9 (men) |
| Heart & Stroke (Canada) | No more than 10% of daily calories from added sugars, ideally under 5%. On a 2,000 calorie day, 10% is about 48 g. | 8.0 g, 17% of 48 g |
| Australian Dietary Guidelines | Limit foods and drinks containing added sugars. No daily number is set. | 8.0 g |
One cup of chai carries 2.4 g of protein and 2.4 g of fat, 1.4 g of it saturated: 3.1 g of protein for every 100 calories. The ghee page sets the NHS and American Heart Association limits for saturated fat side by side.
How we calculated this
Every number on this page is for 1 cup (150 ml), worked out from the recipe below. Piece and 100 g figures are scaled from it.
- Whole milk75 g
- Water75 g
- Sugar8 g
- Tea leaves and masala (ginger, cardamom)trace
One cup of 150 ml, 158 g: whole milk and water in equal parts with 8 g of sugar. Tea leaves, ginger and cardamom are counted as traces; brewed black tea is 1 calorie per 100 g in USDA's record.
USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy for the milk and sugar, with USDA's survey records for tea with milk and for brewed black tea as cross-checks.
Confidence: high
Sources
- USDA FoodData Central 171265: Milk, whole, 3.25% milkfat, with added vitamin D
- USDA FoodData Central 169655: Sugars, granulated
- USDA FoodData Central 170923: Spices, cumin seed
- USDA FoodData Central 2710506: Tea, hot, with milk
- USDA FoodData Central 2710488: Tea, hot, leaf, black
- World Health Organization. WHO calls on countries to reduce sugars intake among adults and children, 2015.
- NHS. Sugar: the facts.
- American Heart Association. Added sugars.
- Heart & Stroke. Reduce sugar.
- National Health and Medical Research Council. Australian Dietary Guidelines 1 to 5.
Common questions
How many calories in a cup of chai?
About 77 for a 150 ml cup with half whole milk and 8 g of sugar.
How many calories in chai without sugar?
About 46 for the same cup, all of it from the milk.
How many calories does a teaspoon of sugar add to chai?
About 16 for each 4.2 g teaspoon.
How many calories in 2 cups of chai a day?
About 153 a day, or 55998 over a year, with 5.8 kg of sugar.
How many calories in cutting chai?
About 38 for a 79 g glass, half our cup.
How much sugar is in a cup of chai?
8 g in our cup, about 1.9 teaspoons, and 12.0 g in a US mug.
Is chai healthy?
A cup is 77 calories with 2.4 g of protein; most of what moves it is the sugar and how many cups you drink.
How many calories in chai with a samosa?
About 338 for a cup of chai and a medium samosa, and 170 for a cup with one home onion pakora.
These figures are estimates from stated recipes, for general information. They are not medical or dietary advice. If you manage a health condition, check with a registered dietitian or your doctor.
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