Easy recreation of the popular Starbucks iced drink made in just 2 minutes with 4 ingredients. Skip Starbucks and make this perfectly sweet and refreshing drink at home!
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Homemade Iced Vanilla Latte
Starbucks Iced Vanilla Latte is a cold coffee drink made with espresso, ice, milk, and vanilla syrup. It’s a customization of an Iced Latte by flavoring and sweetening it with vanilla syrup.
The drink is made with Starbucks’ signature dark espresso and 2% milk. But if you make it at home, you can use any milk you’d like.
You can also buy the vanilla syrup directly from Starbucks, though it’s easy enough to make at home.
RELATED: Starbucks Iced Latte Copycat
Recipe Highlights
- Only 4 ingredients are needed to make this copycat Starbucks Iced Vanilla Latte recipe at home.
- To recreate the iced drink, make espresso in a Nespresso or espresso machine.
- This Starbucks copycat recipe makes a grande (16 ounces) Iced Vanilla Latte.
RELATED: Starbucks Iced Blonde Vanilla Latte
Ingredient Notes
- Espresso: Starbucks makes this drink with their signature dark espresso, so use their espresso roast.
Whole beans: Starbucks Espresso Roast
Nespresso Original: Starbucks Espresso Roast
Nespresso Vertuo: Espresso Roast - Vanilla Syrup: Use store-bought or homemade vanilla syrup. Homemade is highly recommend since it’s easy to make in just 5 minutes with 3 ingredients.
- 2% Milk: Starbucks makes all their lattes with 2% milk but you can use any kind of milk you like.
- Ice: Use filtered water to make ice if possible.
For full ingredients and detailed instructions, please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Put espresso into a cup.
Use 2 Nespresso espresso pods or pull 2 shots from an espresso machine.
Step 2: Add vanilla syrup.
Step 3: Add milk.
Step 4: Top with ice.
Using a Nespresso
A latte is always made with espresso. The easiest way to make espresso at home is to use a Nespresso machine.
1 shot of espresso = 1 Nespresso espresso capsule
To make this grande size Iced Vanilla Latte, you’ll need 2 Nespresso espresso capsules.
Nespresso partnered with Starbucks to create Starbucks capsules and there are 3 Starbucks capsules that make espresso: Espresso Roast, Decaf Espresso Roast, and Blonde Espresso Roast.
The Iced Vanilla Latte at Starbucks is made with their signature espresso roast, so go with the Espresso Roast if you want it to taste as close as possible to the one at Starbucks.
Nespresso Starbucks Espresso Vertuo capsules
Nespresso Starbucks Espresso Original capsules
But, I recommend the Blonde Espresso Roast since it’s more popular and better reviewed.
You can also use any 2 Nespresso espresso or ristretto capsules or 1 double espresso capsule. Just don’t use the 7.77 Vertuo coffee capsules.
Expert Tips
- Instant coffee can be used if you don’t have espresso. Combine 1 tablespoon of instant coffee and ¼ cup hot water to replace the 2 shots of espresso in the recipe.
- Homemade vanilla syrup can be made ahead of time. Make a batch and use it to make several iced vanilla lattes.
- Instead of homemade, you can get vanilla syrup directly from Starbucks by going to any of their locations and asking if they have any vanilla syrup available for purchase. They’ll sell it to you if they have enough in stock. It should cost around $14.
- Customize the drink by topping the drink with Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam!
Questions You May Have
Starbucks makes this drink with the same 4 ingredients that’s in this copycat recipe: ice, 2% milk, 2 shots of espresso, and 4 pumps of vanilla syrup in a grande-sized drink.
For a drink to be a latte, it needs to be made with espresso. You can use strong coffee or cold brew but it won’t have the same taste as using espresso.
Starbucks iced drinks are half ice. So a grande 16-ounce drink has 8 ounces of ice.
Related
- Starbucks Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew Copycat
- Starbucks Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam Copycat
- Easy French Vanilla Creamer
- Best Starbucks Iced Coffees
- Starbucks Iced Mocha Copycat
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Starbucks Iced Vanilla Latte Copycat
INGREDIENTS
- 2 capsules Nespresso espresso (or 2 espresso shots)
- ¼ cup vanilla syrup
- ⅔ cup 2% milk
- 1 cup ice
INSTRUCTIONS
- Put espresso into a cup.Use 2 Nespresso espresso pods or pull 2 shots from an espresso machine.
- Add vanilla syrup and milk. Top with ice.
EQUIPMENT
NOTES
- 1 shot of espresso = 1 Nespresso espresso capsule
- To make a 16 ounce (grande) Starbucks drink, you’ll need 2 Nespresso espresso or ristretto capsules. You can also use 1 Vertuo double espresso.
- With the Vertuo machine capsules, only use espresso capsules and not the coffee capsules that make 7.77 ounces.
- Starbucks uses 2% milk in all their iced lattes but you can use any milk you like including almond milk or oat milk.
- Instant coffee can be used if you don’t have espresso. Combine 1 tablespoon of instant coffee and ¼ cup hot water to replace the 2 shots of espresso in the recipe.
- Homemade vanilla syrup can be made ahead of time. Make a batch and use it to make several iced vanilla lattes.
- Instead of homemade, you can get vanilla syrup directly from Starbucks by going to any of their locations and asking if they have any vanilla syrup available for purchase. They’ll sell it to you if they have enough in stock. It should cost around $14.
- Customize the drink by topping the drink with Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam!
I loved this recipe!
Should the espresso roast bean be set to grind for course or fine?
Hi Jennifer, for espresso, the coffee beans should always be a fine grind.
Your coffee recipes are the best. Better than Starbucks