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There is nothing quite like a cool glass of iced tea to refresh you on a warm summer day. As June is National Iced Tea month, I thought I might share an easy technique to brew up a huge amount of tea in the slow cooker that you can use the whole summer long!
Iced tea was a staple of my childhood; my mother always had a big jug of sun tea going on the back patio. I am not sure if she didn’t get the proportion right or the sun was never strong enough in that spot (or maybe she didn’t want us to have all that caffeine), but this was just about the weakest glass of ice tea you would ever drink.
By contrast, over at my best friend’s house, they had a machine just for making iced tea – I think it was even called Mr. Tea. Her family considered tea making an art from. To the machine, you would add just the right proportion of tea bags, lemon halves, and sugar. They had perfected this ratio so the iced tea at their house was like a sweet glass of ambrosia that made my mother’s sun tea concoction seem pallid in comparison (sorry Mom!).
If you love a good glass of iced tea, but don’t want to invest in yet another kitchen appliance that may get relegated to the dusty back corner of the cupboard, then try this idea for iced tea made in the slow cooker. You simply let the tea steep on low heat for two to three hours, strain it, sweeten and flavor to taste, chill, and serve over ice.
You can also convert any of your favorite hot tea slow cooker recipes, such as CDKitchen’s Tropical Tea (http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/61/Tropical_Tea57366.shtml) to iced tea simply by following the last step of chilling the finished tea. I pour mine directly into a pitcher with some lemon slices and place it in the fridge, and it is ready to go several hours later. If you are in more of a hurry to fill your jones for iced tea, then you can pour it over ice cubes so that it chills faster. Just keep in mind that the ice will melt into the tea so you may want to start with a stronger brew.
If like me, you love the flavor of strongly brewed ice tea, then stick with the longer brewing time. However, if like my mom, you just want a hint of tea flavor, then go with the shorter end of the cooking time, and steep for no more than two hours.
There are infinite variations of tea you can make – from the type of tea leaves to the flavoring you can use to spruce it up. Tea comes in so many more varieties than the standard black breakfast type. There are some lovely types of caffeine-free herbal tea, such as relaxing chamomile or bracing mint tea. Green and white teas, which are packed with antioxidants, also make a refreshing and healthy choice for iced tea.
As a final touch, don’t forget the lemon slices! But if you want to put a little twist on it, you can infuse flavor into your slow cooked tea with other citrus such as oranges or limes, mint leaves, or fresh sliced peaches.
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/pamela-chester/915-iced-tea/
A Cool Glass of Iced Tea from the Slow Cooker
There is nothing quite like a cool glass of iced tea to refresh you on a warm summer day. As June is National Iced Tea month, I thought I might share an easy technique to brew up a huge amount of tea in the slow cooker that you can use the whole summer long!
Iced tea was a staple of my childhood; my mother always had a big jug of sun tea going on the back patio. I am not sure if she didn’t get the proportion right or the sun was never strong enough in that spot (or maybe she didn’t want us to have all that caffeine), but this was just about the weakest glass of ice tea you would ever drink.
By contrast, over at my best friend’s house, they had a machine just for making iced tea – I think it was even called Mr. Tea. Her family considered tea making an art from. To the machine, you would add just the right proportion of tea bags, lemon halves, and sugar. They had perfected this ratio so the iced tea at their house was like a sweet glass of ambrosia that made my mother’s sun tea concoction seem pallid in comparison (sorry Mom!).
If you love a good glass of iced tea, but don’t want to invest in yet another kitchen appliance that may get relegated to the dusty back corner of the cupboard, then try this idea for iced tea made in the slow cooker. You simply let the tea steep on low heat for two to three hours, strain it, sweeten and flavor to taste, chill, and serve over ice.
You can also convert any of your favorite hot tea slow cooker recipes, such as CDKitchen’s Tropical Tea (http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/61/Tropical_Tea57366.shtml) to iced tea simply by following the last step of chilling the finished tea. I pour mine directly into a pitcher with some lemon slices and place it in the fridge, and it is ready to go several hours later. If you are in more of a hurry to fill your jones for iced tea, then you can pour it over ice cubes so that it chills faster. Just keep in mind that the ice will melt into the tea so you may want to start with a stronger brew.
If like me, you love the flavor of strongly brewed ice tea, then stick with the longer brewing time. However, if like my mom, you just want a hint of tea flavor, then go with the shorter end of the cooking time, and steep for no more than two hours.
There are infinite variations of tea you can make – from the type of tea leaves to the flavoring you can use to spruce it up. Tea comes in so many more varieties than the standard black breakfast type. There are some lovely types of caffeine-free herbal tea, such as relaxing chamomile or bracing mint tea. Green and white teas, which are packed with antioxidants, also make a refreshing and healthy choice for iced tea.
As a final touch, don’t forget the lemon slices! But if you want to put a little twist on it, you can infuse flavor into your slow cooked tea with other citrus such as oranges or limes, mint leaves, or fresh sliced peaches.
Serves/Makes: 6
- 2 peaches
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 4 whole cloves
- 6 tea bags
- 3 quarts water
Thinly slice two peaches and place them on the bottom of your slow cooker along with the cinnamon sticks and cloves. Add the tea bags and 3 quarts water.
Cover and cook on low for 3 hours. Strain and discard the solids. Chill tea and serve over ice, with additional sliced peaches, if desired.
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©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/pamela-chester/915-iced-tea/