Ingredients You’ll Need
What’s in the Pistachio Latte at Starbucks? I counted 16 ingredients in the nutrition label, and while it does include real pistachios, it also includes natural flavors and preservatives.
This homemade version requires only 3 simple ingredients!
Pistachios Dates or maple syrup Brewed coffee
Pretty simple, right? This hardest thing about making the homemade version is finding pistachios that aren’t salted, but I managed to find some at my local grocery store. If you can only find salted pistachios, I imagine a salted Pistachio latte might actually be delicious, too.
How to Make It
To make a pistachio latte, blend together the pistachios and water first, to make a a creamy “milk.” If you’re using dates as the sweetener, it’s a good idea to start blending them with the pistachios, too, so they can break down as smoothly as possible. Or use maple syrup, if you don’t have a powerful blender.
Note: For a piping-hot drink, you can use boiled water to make the pistachio milk, so the drink is as hot as possible. For an iced drink, use cold water and cold coffee, then pour over ice. Once the pistachio milk is prepared, you can add in the hot, brewed coffee. Blend again, and your pistachio latte is ready to serve.
Safety Tip: When blending hot liquids, make sure there’s a vent open in the top of your blender lid, so that steam can escape. I loosely cover the blender vent with a thin dishtowel, so steam can escape, but my kitchen won’t get splattered. There’s not always vent option in single-serving “bullet” style blenders, so you may want to opt for the iced version if that’s the type of blender you own. You can use regular or decaf coffee for this recipe, if you need to watch your caffeine intake. If you’re not a coffee drinker, you can also take a page from my London Fog recipe and use brewed tea instead! Don’t have a high powered blender? You can catch any pieces your blender might have missed, by pouring the latte through a fine mesh strainer. That way your pistachio latte will be silky smooth!
Feel free to adjust the sweetness to your taste. I think 2 big squishy dates, or 1 1/2 tablespoons of maple syrup, is sufficient for giving this drink a coffeehouse sweetness, but you can use more or less, as you like.
Tips for Making Dairy-free Lattes
It’s normal for homemade dairy-free milks to separate as they sit. Since this recipe doesn’t have any gums or thickeners, don’t be surprised if you need to stir it every now and then to help the latte look creamy again.
I love the natural foam that this latte develops from being blended. I find that the foam is extra-thick when you use dates as the sweetener, but there’s still plenty of foam with the maple-sweetened version, too. If you try this Pistachio Latte, please leave a comment below letting me know how you like it. And if you make any modifications, I’d love to hear about those, too! We can all benefit from your experience. – Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite drink? Let me know if there are any other copy-cat recipes I should try next!
