Sugar-Free Southern Sweet Tea
Smooth, amber, porch-style sweet tea brewed strong and sweetened with allulose, which dissolves completely and never turns gritty in the fridge. It has less than 1 g net carbs a glass.
Nutrition per serving
1 cup, over ice- Net carbs
- 0.7g
- Calories
- 10kcal
- Protein
- 0g
- Fat
- 0g
- Total carbs
- 19 g
- Fiber
- 0 g
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for each ingredient (optional ingredients excluded). Brands vary — check your labels if you track closely.
Ingredients
Arnold Palmer (half lemonade): Half sweet tea, half lemonade, made in one pitcher with fresh lemon juice. It is tart, sweet and very refreshing on a hot day.
- Steep the 6 tea bags (with the baking soda) in 4 cups of just-boiled water as directed, so the tea is double strength, and dissolve all the allulose in it.
- Add the lemon juice and the cold water instead of the remaining plain water, then chill.
Raspberry sweet tea: A quick raspberry syrup stirred into the pitcher makes a fruity, ruby-red iced tea.
- Simmer the raspberries with ½ cup of the water and the allulose for 5 minutes, mashing them, then strain the syrup into the hot tea, pressing on the pulp. Continue with the cold water.
- Nice to have (optional)
- Also add
- Nice to have (optional)
- Also add
- Nice to have (optional)
Estimated cost $5.65 for 8 servings ($0.71 each) · how we estimate
Instructions
-
Bring 4 cups (950 ml) of the water to a boil, take it off the heat and add the tea bags and the baking soda. Steep 6–8 minutes, then lift out the bags without squeezing them, since squeezing releases bitter tannins.
-
Stir in the allulose until it dissolves completely.
-
Pour into a 2-quart (2 L) pitcher and add the remaining 4 cups of cold water.
-
Taste and add more sweetener if you like it very sweet, the Southern way. Refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours, and serve over plenty of ice with lemon slices and mint.
Tips for success
-
The tiny pinch of baking soda is an old Southern trick. It softens the tannins so the tea stays smooth and clear instead of bitter or cloudy. - Allulose is the best sweetener for iced tea because it dissolves completely and stays dissolved when cold. Granulated erythritol tends to crystallize at the bottom of the pitcher.
- Half sweet tea, half sugar-free lemonade makes an easy Arnold Palmer. See the version below for a one-pitcher method.
Nice to have, not needed
- Lemon slices and a sprig of mint make it porch-ready — plain over ice is classic too.
Storage & meal prepMeal-prep friendly
- Keeps 4 days in the fridge
- Doesn’t freeze well
Reheat: Serve cold over ice.
Prep tip: Freeze some of the tea in an ice-cube tray so melting ice doesn't water it down.
Refrigerate in a covered pitcher up to 4 days. Tea left out at room temperature can turn cloudy and sour.
Variations
2 variations, each with its own ingredients and macrosArnold Palmer (half lemonade)
FlavorHalf sweet tea, half lemonade, made in one pitcher with fresh lemon juice. It is tart, sweet and very refreshing on a hot day.
- strong black tea → double-strength black tea
- + ¾ cup fresh lemon juice
- + ¼ cup extra allulose
- + 3½ cups cold water
1.8 g net · 16 kcal · 0.1 g protein · 0.1 g fat · ≈$0.89 per serving (+1.1 g net carbs vs the original)
Raspberry sweet tea
FlavorA quick raspberry syrup stirred into the pitcher makes a fruity, ruby-red iced tea.
- + 1 cup raspberries
1.6 g net · 18 kcal · 0.2 g protein · 0.1 g fat · ≈$1.01 per serving (+0.9 g net carbs vs the original)
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