Transparent spinel ceramics were directly additively manufactured by laser direct deposition, a blown powder additive manufacturing (AM) process. With a laser melt-growth process, the need for powder binders and post-processing procedures was eliminated. Transparent spinel ceramic samples were directly fabricated from micron-size magnesium aluminate spinel powders. The optical transparency of the printed spinel samples was mainly affected by residual porosity and cracking. Among other processing conditions, powder flow rate and laser power showed the most significant effects. An obvious transition from opaqueness to transparency was observed after reducing the powder flow rate below 0.1 g/min. The obtained optical transmittance, morphology, and phase composition of the printed spinel samples were systematically investigated. Microstructural aspects including porosity, cracking, and grain size were also characterized. A highest optical transmittance of 82% was obtained at a wavelength of 632.8 nm, which was nearly comparable to that of traditionally sintered counterparts. As laser power increased, residual porosity steadily decreased with a minimum porosity of 0.2 % achieved. Meanwhile, total crack length obviously increased while a relatively smaller variation of crack density was observed. Mechanical properties including hardness and fracture toughness were also measured for the printed samples. The obtained values were found to be nearly comparable to those of sintered counterparts. With reduced manufacturing costs and simplified fabrication procedures, these well demonstrated the potentials of the proposed laser AM method in direct fabrication of transparent ceramics.