How to Make Iced Coffee with Instant Coffee

Easy Iced Coffee | Learn how to make iced coffee with instant coffee - and in less than five minutes. The quickest way of making iced coffee is to use instant coffee granules, because it dissolves instantly, so there is no waiting time for coffee to brew. With this little hack, you use less hot water, so there is literally no cooling time, just delicious, strong iced instant coffee.

So you want to make yourself and your besties some iced coffee to combat the hot temperatures this summer? Me too!

What if you don't have an espresso machine or even a percolator? Instant coffee granules to the rescue!

You'll have cafe-style cold drinks in no time (like seriously, you can make iced coffee with instant coffee in less than five minutes!) and your guests will name you their new favorite barista, I'm sure of it.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• What kind of instant coffee should you use?
• Instructions
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Storage
• Recipe Tips
• Snacks to serve with Iced Coffee
• FAQs
• Recipe

Cold coffee is usually made with shots of espresso, cold water, and then milk or cream.

But you can switch out the espresso for a strong mix of instant coffee - no special tools are needed besides a kettle or microwave for heating the water. Easy peasy. Making iced coffee with instant coffee takes only a few minutes!

Also - you can skip boiling the water it you want to, and I'll show the results below in the step-by-step photos - it works nearly as well as using boiling water.

Stay tuned to my website to find out how to make a Greek-style frappe with instant coffee - a beautiful whipped cold coffee that I've been drinking for years.

Ingredients

Here's an overview of the ingredients. See the recipe card below for exact amounts.

• Instant coffee granules - use your favorite brand. You can also use decaf if that's your thing! I prefer Nescafe Instant Coffee.
• Hot water - just a little bit of hot water to dissolve the instant coffee granules (optionally, you can skip this and I'll show you how below.)
• Ice - a bunch of ice to make your iced coffee dreams come true. I use 8-10 large ice cubes in each tall glass.
• Sweetener (optional) - I don't sweeten my coffee but you can use whatever sweetener you prefer like, brown sugar, white sugar, simple syrup, maple syrup, honey, or coconut sugar. Try a flavored coffee syrup or my gingerbread syrup for flavored ice coffee.
• Milk + cream - again, use what you like. I prefer plant based milks and creams but you can definitely use cow's milk in the fat percentage you like. You can skip the cream if you like. For this recipe I like Almond Breeze Unsweetened Coconut Milk and Silk's Oat + Coconut Half and Half.

What kind of instant coffee should you use?

I prefer Nescafe and opt for the Rich or Intense version when my grocery store has it in stock. I prefer the flavor of Nescafe over something like Maxwell House, but you can use whichever instant coffee you prefer.

Nescafe even has flavored instant coffee like vanilla and hazelnut.

Instructions

Using boiling water

To make iced coffee with instant coffee, boil a kettle of water and gather all of your ingredients as well as a tall glass or mason jar for serving.

1. Add a tablespoon of instant coffee to your glass. Add about the same amount of hot water and stir.
2. Add the cold water. This cools everything down and helps ensure all of the ice doesn't melt immediately.
3. Add the ice. I fill my glass to the top.
4. Finish with milk and cream. Stir and enjoy!

Add the water to a serving glass along with the instant coffee. You only need a tablespoon or two of hot water to mix.

Stir for 30-60 seconds to make sure the instant coffee dissolves into the hot water and then add the cold water. This helps ensure that the ice doesn't melt.

Stirring the cold water into hot water helps cool everything down. Add ice next. I like a bunch of ice, especially in the summer.

Adding milk and cream finishes off the drink and adds creaminess and flavor. I use a small splash of coffee creamer, sometimes a flavored one like caramel and then almond or oat milk.

Using all cold water

1. Add the instant coffee to a glass. I like to use one glass to mix and then a different glass to serve.
2. Add about ¼ cup of cold water. Stir well for about a minute, really making sure to touch the bottom of the glass and get the granules moving.
3. Optional step: pour the coffee mix into a serving glass. As you can see below the coffee doesn't quite mix all the way when using cold water instead of hot water.
4. Add the ice.
5. Finish with milk and cream. Stir and enjoy!

Substitutions

To enjoy the flavor of coffee without the jitters, use decaffeinated instant coffee granules.

To make this iced coffee dairy-free, use plant milk and plant-based cream.

Variations

To take this over the top for guests, serve cafe-style iced coffees with a pretty swirl of whipped cream on top.

Low carb - this fits in a low carb/keto lifestyle if you skip the sweetener or use a keto-approved sweetener like erythritol or something similar.

Try flavored creamer for different flavored iced coffee.

Try my kid-friendly Peppermint Hot Chocolate for a caffeine-free cafe-style drink for children.

Storage

If you accidentally (or purposely) make too much coffee you can pour the extra coffee into an ice cube tray and freeze it. Add the coffee ice cubes to your next iced coffee. As the ice cubes melt they won't water down and dilute your drink - keeping all the great coffee flavor!

Recipe Tips

EXPERT TIP: Pour the plant milk on top of the coffee and then add a splash of cream. You'll get a really beautiful effect as the coffee and milk swirl together. If you're serving his drink to guests be sure to serve right away and with a straw for each person to stir their drink themselves.

Snacks to serve with Iced Coffee

If you're feeling like a summer-time cafe style afternoon snack, try my pretty cinnamon twists, a slice of baked croissant French toast, or delicate Florentine cookies.

Or try a thick slice of a peanut butter banana bread, double chocolate loaf, or pumpkin walnut bread.

FAQs

Recipe

Save this image to your summer drinks board on Pinterest.