Make Starbucks Vanilla Latte at home in a few minutes with just 3 ingredients! This popular drink is easy to make, especially if you have a Nespresso machine.
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Recipe Highlights
- Starbucks Vanilla Latte is a coffee drink made with espresso, frothed milk, and vanilla syrup.
- This drink cannot be made without espresso so an espresso machine or Nespresso is necessary to recreate this drink at home.
- Store-bought or homemade vanilla syrup can be used to make this drink.
- This copycat recipe makes a grande (16 ounces) Vanilla Latte.
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Vanilla Latte at Starbucks
Vanilla lattes are one of the most popular drinks at Starbucks and have been for many years. A latte is made into a vanilla latte with vanilla syrup, which sweetens and flavors the drink.
Vanilla syrup is added in pumps according to the size of the drink. Short drinks get 2 pumps of vanilla syrup, tall gets 3, grande has 4, and venti has 5 pumps.
As with all lattes at Starbucks, 2% milk is used unless you request otherwise. For dairy-free, there is almondmilk, soymilk, oatmilk, and coconutmilk.
Dark roast espresso is used to make a vanilla latte at Starbucks but you can also request blonde espresso.
Starbucks hot lattes come in 4 drink sizes: short, tall, grande, and venti. Short and tall use 1 shot of espresso, and grande and venti both use 2 shots.
A popular customization is a skinny Vanilla Latte, which replaces 2% milk for nonfat and the regular vanilla syrup for sugar-free vanilla syrup. The vanilla syrup is the only syrup that’s sugar-free at Starbucks.
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Ingredient Notes
- Espresso: To make the drink taste as close to Starbucks as possible, use their Signature Espresso Roast.
Whole beans: Starbucks Espresso Roast
Nespresso Original: Starbucks Espresso Roast
Nespresso Vertuo: Espresso Roast - 2% Milk: Starbucks makes lattes with 2% milk but you can use any milk you like.
- Vanilla Syrup: Use homemade vanilla syrup or buy it from Starbucks. They’ll sell you a bottle of vanilla syrup if they have extra in stock.
For full ingredients and detailed instructions, please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Put vanilla syrup and espresso into a cup.
Use 2 Nespresso espresso pods or pull 2 shots from an espresso machine.
Step 2: Add frothed milk. Frothed milk can be made using an electric milk frother or with the steam wand from an espresso machine. Another method is to simmer milk on the stovetop, pour it into a French press, then pump the plunger a few times to create froth.
Photo Credit: williams-sonoma.com
Nespresso Notes
You can’t make a Vanilla Latte without espresso and the easiest way to make espresso at home is with a Nespresso machine.
1 shot of espresso = 1 Nespresso espresso capsule
For a 16 ounce drink, like for this copycat recipe, you’ll need 2 Nespresso espresso pods, which will make 2 espresso shots.
Use 2 espresso pods, 2 ristretto pods, or 1 double espresso pod. Don’t use a pod that makes bigger cups of coffee (7.77 ounces).
To recreate Starbucks taste at home, use Starbucks Signature Espresso Roast pods. Starbucks pods are made by Nespresso and are available for both Original and Vertuo Nespresso machines.
You can also use Starbucks blonde espresso, which is more popular than the dark espresso.
Expert Tips
- Too much foam will turn a latte into a cappuccino. A big difference between a latte and a cappuccino is the amount of foam. A latte should have steamed milk and a light layer of foam.
- Nespresso Aeroccino doesn’t hold enough milk to fill a grande size latte. Running the Aeroccino twice will end up with much more foam. Instead, use a milk frother that can make more than 1 cup, like the Breville milk frother which makes up to 3 cups of frothed milk.
- Milk will increase in volume when steamed or frothed, so to get 1 ½ cups of steamed milk for this recipe, use 1 cup of cold milk.
- Making homemade vanilla syrup is super easy, taking only 5 minutes with 3 ingredients.
- Starbucks sells vanilla syrup in their stores but only if they have extra in stock. Ask the barista if they have any vanilla syrup available for purchase. It’ll be about $14 for the bottle.
- To assemble the drink the Starbucks way, add the syrup into the cup first, then espresso, followed by the frothed milk.
Questions You May Have
All grande Starbucks lattes start with the basic latte recipe which is 2 shots of espresso plus 2% steamed milk. A Vanilla Latte adds pumps of vanilla syrup to sweeten and add flavor.
Yes, you can use any espresso you like, although Starbucks uses their Signature Espresso Roast to make a Vanilla Latte.
Yes, replace the 2% dairy milk with a plant-based milk like oat milk, coconut milk, soy milk, or almond milk.
Yes! But, only if they have extra in stock to sell. Just ask the barista if they have any available for purchase. Only syrups with barcodes can be sold and those include Classic syrup, caramel, and vanilla.
Skinny Vanilla Latte has less calories than a regular Vanilla Latte and it’s made with nonfat milk and sugar-free vanilla syrup.
Related
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- Starbucks Iced Latte Copycat
- Starbucks Salted Caramel Mocha Copycat
- Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte Copycat
- Starbucks Peppermint Mocha Copycat
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Starbucks Vanilla Latte Copycat
INGREDIENTS
- 2 tablespoons vanilla syrup
- 2 capsules Nespresso espresso (or 2 espresso shots)
- 1 ½ cups frothed 2% milk
INSTRUCTIONS
- Add frothed milk.Frothed milk can be made using an electric milk frother or with the steam wand from an espresso machine. Another method is to simmer milk on the stovetop, pour it into a French press, then pump the plunger a few times to create froth.
EQUIPMENT
NOTES
- 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.
- Starbucks makes lattes with 2% milk but you can use any milk you like.
- Milk will increase in volume when steamed or frothed, so to get 1 ½ cups of steamed milk for this recipe, use 1 cup of cold milk.
- Making homemade vanilla syrup is super easy, taking only 5 minutes with 3 ingredients.
- Starbucks sells vanilla syrup in their stores but only if they have extra in stock. Ask the barista if they have any vanilla syrup available for purchase. It’ll be about $14 for the bottle.
- To assemble the drink the Starbucks way, add the syrup into the cup first, then espresso, followed by the frothed milk.