This year, the winter will be different. Because of the covid-19 situation, we’re spending much more time at home than what we’re used to. So we have to hold ourselves up with the pleasant little things that we can have inside our house!
If you’re one of those people that doesn’t have super fancy ingredients in the kitchen but likes to try new things, we’ve got you covered! Here are 5 vegan hot drinks that you can easily make at home to warm you in the winter, with actual ingredients you have in your kitchen.
5 Vegan Hot Drinks to Warm You in the Winter
1. Vegan Hot Chocolate (with Peanut Butter!)
What kind of hot drinks list would this be if it didn’t include hot chocolate!? This is the most famous vegan hot drink and there are so many possibilities to make it. You can use all different kinds of plant-based milk, sweetened or unsweetened cocoa, and add other stuff if you want to (this is how the peanut butter comes in).
The best one I’ve tried so far is totally sugar-free and I just made it accidentally by heating up a smoothie that I have made (I’m serious). Jokes aside, this is how I do it:
- Put one cup of plant-based milk (I usually use soy milk), banana, a teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa powder and a tablespoon of peanut butter into the mixer.
- Heat it up!
I have been doing this smoothie for years but it was a game-changer the day I decided to drink it hot. So it’s a versatile drink both for winter and summer!
2. Golden Milk
There are a lot of golden milk recipes around the internet, but as I promised you, this is a great-tasting and simple one, with easy-to-find ingredients! This one I took the recipe from Simple Vegan Blog. The ingredients are:
- 2 cups plant milk
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- black pepper
How to do it:
Add all ingredients in a saucepan, stir until well combined and cook until hot (about 3-5 minutes).
3. Hot Pumpkin Spice Drink
If you happen to cook a meal with pumpkin, why not save some and make a great tasting drink later? This is a simple recipe that you can make in 5 minutes. This recipe, I took from The worktop.
How to do it:
Mix 2 cups of plant-based milk with 1 and a half cup of pumpkin puree, brown sugar according to your taste and 1 teaspoon of pumpkin spice. If you have vegan whipped cream, you can use it for topping and get a really fancy drink.
4. Mulled Wine
Even though we have to stay at home, it doesn’t mean we can’t party by ourselves (or with people that we live with), with a glass of wine. For the colder nights, there is nothing better than a mug of mulled wine, giving you the spirit of commemoration and a Christmassy sweet smell on your home!
How to do it:
Basically, you just have to mix red wine with a few fruits and spices and add a liqueur of your choice, if you’d like to. The most common fruits and spices are orange slices, orange juice, cloves, cinnamon sticks, star aniseed and a sweetener (for instance, brown sugar or maple syrup).
For the wine and cider, if you want to look for the vegan options, here is a great website for your search: barnivore. It’s basically a database of alcoholic beverages and it tells you which ones are vegan and which ones are not. I find it very handy!
5. Spiced Apple Cider
If you’re more of a cider than a wine person, this is basically your best alternative to the previous recipe. It also gives you the sweet taste of cinnamon with the orange citrus, but it’s a completely different flavour.
How to do it:
Mix 4 cups of apple cider with 1 apple, 1 orange, 2 slices of fresh ginger, 3 cinnamon sticks and 1 teaspoon of whole allspice. This recipe I took from darngoodveggies.com, so if you want to dive more into the specifics of this recipe, check out their article with the recipe.
So you see, with a few ingredients you usually have at home, you can make pretty cool vegan hot drinks! Even if you don’t have any of these, it’s always nice to use your creativity and try new things. Maybe you’ll create or discover a new awesome recipe like I did by having the idea of heating my banana smoothie!
Need some snacks to have with your vegan hot drinks? We’ve got you covered:
About the author: Ana Barreiro is a Portuguese animal lover who’s passionate about using her creativity to make a positive change in the world. Besides her work as a digital marketer, she also loves writing and illustration. Check out her portfolio here.
