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Home » Holidays » 4th of July

Copy Cat McDonalds Sweet Tea {Video}

Published: Apr 4, 2020 · This post may contain affiliate links

How to make McDonalds Sweet Tea at home! You only need three things to make this great refreshing tea.

Contents hide
Copy Cat McDonalds Sweet Tea
Great Copycat Recipes
Copy Cat McDonalds Sweet Tea
Ingredients
Instructions
Nutrition

Copy Cat McDonalds Sweet Tea

I was not a tea drinker until I got married. I grew up in a soda house and pretty much lived on diet soda up until getting married. John grew up in the South and thought it was crazy that I did not drink tea.


Well, many years later I am now a tea drinker and have given up soda. One of my favorite treats, when we are out and about, is tea. I thought it would be fun to make this Copy Cat McDonald's Sweet Tea and see how it turned out.

This is such a cheap recipe to make! Oh my goodness a couple of tea bags, water and sugar and you have a 2-quart jug of sweet tea ready to go!

This recipe can also be made without the sugar to make unsweet tea. I make it both ways depending on who is visiting.

There are days we make this without the sugar and then serve it with a container of equal or splenda so guests can decide how sweet they want their tea.

It is a really easy recipe to adapt to your tastes.

Ingredients

  • Water
  • Lipton Teabags
  • Sugar

Equipment Needed

Saucepan - To boil the water and steep the tea

Tea Pitcher - I use this glass pitcher daily for iced tea. It is easy to clean in the dishwasher and holds the perfect amount of iced tea for the day. Made of Heat-resistant Borosilicate Glass, lead-free, lightweight, durable, withstands temperature 0 ℉ to 300 ℉, so you can pour boiling water into it safely.

So I have to admit something that is funny yet embarrassing about this post....

When I started typing this post I realized that I had mistakenly written sweat instead of sweet tea. Yep! I almost posted about sweat tea which I am pretty sure would not taste anywhere near as good as this Copy Cat McDonald's Sweet Tea. Thankfully and hopefully none of us will try sweat tea any time soon. 🙂

Great Copycat Recipes

Sonic Cherry Limeade

Chili's Calypso Cooler

Orange Julius Strawberry Julius

Chili's Jamaican Paradise 

Texas Roadhouse Butter

Do you love recipes? Check out our copy cat recipes, dessert recipes, and our Crock Pot Recipes.

Follow Tammilee Tips on MSN, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter for all of our recipe posts.

Copy Cat McDonalds Sweet Tea

Easy to make copy cat McDonalds Sweet Tea Recipe you can make at home!
Print Rate
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Resting Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
Servings: 4
Calories: 194kcal
Author: Tammilee Tips

Ingredients

  • 8 Cups Water
  • 3 Lipton Teabags Regular Size
  • 1 Cup White Sugar

Instructions

  • Bring water to a boil over high heat
  • When water starts to be a rolling boil remove from heat
  • Add in the tea bags and cover pot, allow tea to steep for 1 hour and then remove tea bags
  • Add 1 cup of sugar to tea mixture.
  • Stir to dissolve sugar, serve over ice

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Copy Cat McDonalds Sweet Tea
Amount Per Serving
Calories 194
% Daily Value*
Sodium 24mg1%
Carbohydrates 50g17%
Sugar 50g56%
Calcium 14mg1%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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Recipe originally shared on July 29, 2013. Updated on April 4, 2020

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About Tammilee

Lifestyle blogger who travels the world and drinks too much Chai tea. Travel blogger, award winning photographer, sunset hunter, Birkenstock girl, bird nerd
You can find Tammilee on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lynn

    June 08, 2019 at 10:09 am

    I make sweet tea....a recipe from my Mom.....I usually pour the cup of sugar in while the water is boiling so it well melt and kind of make a syrup....then I add 9 teabags to steep for an hour and pour it into a gallon pitcher with lemons or oranges and then add cold water to fill the pitcher. I know it’s not like McDonalds, but the extra fruit helps me feel like I am doing something good after adding in a cup of sugar!

    Reply
  2. Theresa

    March 24, 2019 at 8:34 am

    Wonder if McDonald's does this for every gallon bag it puts in those medal cantainers.

    Reply
  3. JaDePC

    February 14, 2019 at 6:50 am

    I really love this recipe, but I make it sugar free, by adding Splenda instead of sugar.

    Reply
    • Tammilee

      February 22, 2019 at 9:46 am

      That is a great idea!!!

      Reply
    • Sherry

      April 08, 2019 at 9:41 am

      How much Slenda do you use?

      Reply
  4. Laurie

    November 21, 2018 at 1:44 am

    Does this refer to the family size tea bags or the individual size tea bags?

    Reply
  5. Marife Tan

    May 17, 2018 at 7:24 pm

    Hi,

    I would like to t these recipe. Just to clarify, the suga will be added to the boiled tea water or another 2 quarts of water?

    Thanks,

    Marife

    Reply
  6. Gala Wiseman

    March 24, 2017 at 1:20 pm

    Do you use the regular size tea bags?

    Reply
    • Sherry

      April 08, 2019 at 9:43 am

      Di we double the recipe for a gallon?

      Reply
  7. Misty O'Brien

    September 24, 2014 at 7:50 pm

    If you add a quarter teaspoon of baking soda to the water before it boils, you can cut out that "bite," creating a really smooth sweet tea

    Reply
    • Judy

      July 26, 2017 at 10:01 am

      I tried that add baking soda to my sweet tea just like you said oh my I could taste it I ended up throwing it away, please don't thing I'm being rude, that was just me or even because I new it was In there

      Reply
  8. Samantha

    April 12, 2014 at 3:18 pm

    I always thought McDonalds used brown sugar in their sweet tea. Whatever they use, I love it!

    Reply
  9. Dina

    December 29, 2013 at 7:34 pm

    I want to print the sweet tea recipie and can't find your printer friendly button.

    Reply
  10. Dina

    December 29, 2013 at 7:31 pm

    I want to print the sweet tea recipie, but can't find the printer friendly button. I know its probably staring me right in the face.

    Reply
  11. Tim Reddock

    September 28, 2013 at 3:17 pm

    In the south, we call this ...tea. :-p

    Reply
    • Angela

      August 16, 2014 at 6:00 pm

      Hilarious! When I read the ingredients and instructions, I thought....well that's no different than I do now! I guess it's a southern thing. I love tea. I drink it almost everyday.

      Reply
    • Laurie

      November 21, 2018 at 1:50 am

      ❤️

      Reply
  12. Tracy

    August 16, 2013 at 4:26 pm

    this is the way my family has made tea for generations. We just make it a gallon at the time.

    Reply
  13. Holly

    August 12, 2013 at 5:39 am

    Hate to be a bummer anyway you can cut out some of that sugar with a substitute

    Reply
  14. shelley smith

    August 04, 2013 at 4:45 pm

    is that 3 regular or family size bags? thanks! my mom is totally addicted...

    Reply
    • Shirley

      September 30, 2013 at 3:27 pm

      I was curious about the same thing, family size tea bags or regular, as it does not say.......

      Reply
      • Tammilee

        September 30, 2013 at 11:18 pm

        I used family size tea bags

        Reply
        • Bonne Saum

          June 15, 2019 at 1:50 pm

          Any particular brand tea bags?

          Reply
  15. Amber

    July 30, 2013 at 9:06 pm

    Steep for an hour? Geez that's gonna be strong tea!

    Reply
    • Tammilee

      July 30, 2013 at 10:20 pm

      It is really strong. Some times i just let it steep for a half hour or less depending on how fast I want it.

      Reply
      • stacey

        June 29, 2014 at 6:29 pm

        I make mine with making a simple syrup. . 2 cups sugar and water on stove bring to boil than remove and add 10 tea bags regular size and let sit at least 4 hours or more than just add more water ..not strong at all

        Reply
  16. Emily

    July 29, 2013 at 5:00 pm

    Sugar dissolves easier and more completely in hot water, so if you add your sugar to your water before you put in your tea bags and then stir it really well to dissolve the sugar, you can avoid the potential of sugar settling to the bottom of your pitcher. You could always go the extra mile and mix up some 'simple syrup' to add to your tea to sweeten it, but it's reinventing the wheel at that point because 'simple syrup' is nothing but boiling water mixed with sugar. Which, voila!, you've just done.
    Sweet tea is the best!

    Reply
    • J Otto

      July 31, 2013 at 9:44 am

      McDonalds Tea is made with simple syrup.

      Reply
      • Former McD's Manager

        September 01, 2013 at 11:27 am

        No it's not. The original recipe is 2 gallons of extra strong brewed hot tea, a 4 pound bag of sugar, 5 gallon bucket of ice.

        Reply

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