Padma Lakshmi Shares 3-Ingredient Tangerine-Peel Tea
padma lakshmi shared a three-ingredient tangerine-peel tea on Instagram earlier this year, calling it “a perfect salve for a sore throat.” She made the drink on camera with Awkwafina, turning a kitchen-cabinet remedy into a quick demo for anyone looking for a simple hot tea.
Awkwafina Tastes the Tea
Lakshmi’s recipe starts with tangerine peels, then adds a pinch of ground cloves and honey. She showed Awkwafina how to make the tea, and the first sip drew a blunt review: “Oh my god, that’s so good.”
The method is flexible. Lakshmi said the tea can be made in a teapot or steeped directly in a mug, and she also said, “You can let this sit on the counter all day and just sip it.”
Tangerines, Lemons, and Oranges
Other citrus peels can stand in for tangerines, including mandarins, lemons, or oranges. If honey is not on hand, the tea can take maple syrup instead, which keeps the drink close to the same pantry-staple formula.
That makes the recipe more practical than a one-off celebrity kitchen flourish. It uses scraps from fruit that would usually be discarded, a pinch of spice, and a sweetener most readers already have, so the barrier to making it is low.
Padma Lakshmi’s Home Routine
Lakshmi is a cookbook author and television host, and this tea sits neatly alongside the other home-centered habits she has shared over time, including making her own perfume for decades and arranging flowers at home. The sore-throat tonic fits that same pattern: useful, aromatic, and built from everyday ingredients rather than a specialty store run.
For readers who want the fastest version, the playbook is simple enough: save the peel, add clove and honey, and steep until it tastes the way Lakshmi described it. In a category crowded with elaborate wellness content, this one works because it behaves like an actual kitchen recipe, not a performance.
