A simple refrigerator iced tea recipe that is ready overnight. No heating required, perfect for those hot summer days! To sweeten, simply add in a liquid sweetener, like stevia, as granulated sugar will not easily dissolve in a cold drink. Easily customizable, add in some lemon, orange, mint or your favorite berries.
Perfect for a hot day, and safer than sun tea!
What do you do when the weather is too warm to boil water, but you still really want some delicious iced tea? You make refrigerator tea, of course! No heating of water, no sitting your tea pitcher out in the sun and no risk of bacteria while making sun tea.
This iced tea is THE simplest recipe I’ve ever made. Seriously, all you do is add room temperature water to a container, add in your tea bags, and place in the fridge. I would recommend adding a few more tea bags than you would when you boil, as the tea ends up a bit less strong than if you heated the water.
When it’s time to consume, simply pour into glasses of ice and enjoy! If you are a fan of sweet tea, you should know that granulated sugar does not dissolve well in cold tea.
To get around this issue, I would recommend using a liquid sweetener such as stevia drops or a simple syrup. This will dissolve much better in the cold liquid.
If you’re not a huge fan of plain tea, you can certainly add in numerous flavors to kick up the fun a notch. Mash up some fresh raspberries, squeeze in some lemon, chop up some fresh mint or add in some crushes peaches.
Simply add in whatever you’d like at the time you add in the tea bags, and you’ll have a delicious, flavorful tea!
My tea bag dissolved, what did I do wrong?
If your tea bag is made entirely of paper, it could dissolve as it sits. You’ll need a brand that has teabags with plastic added (most brands have this). I use the Luzianne brand and have not had any issues with my teabags dissolving.
If you give this refrigerator iced tea a try, please let me know what you think in the comments below. Also be sure to follow us on Facebook and Pinterest so you don’t miss a recipe!
If you enjoyed this recipe, you may also enjoy these other drink recipes:
Refrigerator Iced Tea
Ingredients
- 6 cups water, room temperature (1.4 L)
- 8 tea bags
- raspberries, mint, lemon, peaches or whatever add-in you'd like optional
- Sweetener to taste optional
Instructions
- Add water to a large container, along with tea bags. If desired, add in raspberries, mint, lemon, peaches, etc for flavoring.
- Cover and place in fridge overnight or for approximately 12 hours before consuming.
- If you like your tea sweet, I suggest adding a simple syrup or stevia drops. Granulated sugar/sweetener will not dissolve easily in cold tea.
8 comments
Hi there…I tried this method for iced tea last night…however my tea bags began to disintegrate within the first 10 minutes…the bags did not hold up…I love the idea of this method, but was wondering…if you could recommend a brand of teabag that will hold up…thank you!
Hi Lisa! I’ve never had that happen to me, very strange. I’ve used the Luzianne brand with no issues whatsoever. Hope you have better luck with that brand!
I’ve always been a big fan of sun tea, so I gave this a try for the first time last night. Great results! I’m looking for the perfect container to utilize my fridge space a little better so I can make it a regular thing! My wife’s father is a bee keeper, so we use fresh local honey as our sweetener! Thanks for the tip!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe, Andrew! I love the fresh local honey as a sweetener, that sounds delicious!
The jars from Marzetti salad dressing are the perfect size for making tea in the fridge (use 2 bags). I make it this way all the time. Aveda tea is my favorite.
That’s a great idea Laurie! I’ll have to look for the Aveda brand tea next time I make this. I’m almost out of my Luzianne tea, which also works well.
Is this method a way of natural decalf?
Hi Mimi, the caffeine would still be transferred if you use caffeinated tea bags. You’d have to use decaf tea bags if you want the tea to be decaf. Hope that helps.