Make Homemade Tapioca Pearls with just 2 ingredients! Round, glossy, and deliciously chewy, these turn out just like the ones you get in your boba tea at your local coffee shop!
Ready in just 30 minutes.
Homemade Tapioca Pearls or Boba pearls
Tapioca pearls are just about the only reason I get boba tea but back where I used to live, they had never even heard of these, let alone boba teas, so I had to make my own at home!
It sounded inconvenient at first but I quickly realized that these only require water and tapioca flour/starch (it’s the same thing) while a packet of dried tapioca pearls off Amazon was like 30$… so that’s how this recipe came about!
Why this recipe works:
- 2 ingredients and 30 minutes: these pearls just call for water and tapioca starch and 30 minutes of your time!
- Real deal boba pearls: perfectly round, glossy, and chewy. These turn out just like the ones you get in your regular boba tea!
- Save money. Making these costs less then 5$ and you’ll literally have hundreds of boba pearls for later. How much do you usually spend on a boba tea? hehe.
- No preservatives or other chemical agents so stuff your drink to the brim and enjoy these! Unless you add in food coloring, these are totally natural.
Ingredients for Tapioca Pearls
Water. Yes, just water, even tap water if it’s okay to drink in your area.
Tapioca starch or flour, they’re the same thing. You can get a bag of this at your local Asian grocery store for like 1$ or less. It looks just like cornstarch and it’s usually sold in clear plastic bags. If you come across yuca starch/flour in a Latin grocery store, get it, it works! You can also tapioca starch on Amazon but it’s probably way more expensive as you’ll get the “westernized” version with the pretty packaging and all which makes it more expensive for no reason.
Food coloring. This is optional. If you don’t add in any food coloring, you’ll get clear boba pearls. If want them black like the ones in the pictures, you need black food coloring. For pink, red or pink will work, etc ⎯ you get the idea! I recommend using gel because it’s stronger and you’ll need less product. If you want to keep these natural, you can use natural food colorings.
How to make tapioca pearls at home
STEP ONE: Make the tapioca dough. Add the water to a medium saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, turn off the heat and add in the tapioca starch and food coloring (if using). Mix until a dough starts forming.
STEP TWO: Knead. Dust a surface with tapioca starch, then transfer the dough to the surface and knead as you would bread dough. Knead until fully smooth, the texture should be similar to that of Play-Doh.
STEP THREE: Make the pearls. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts and roll each part into a rather thin log. Cut the rolls into small pieces and roll each piece into a round ball. At this point, if you added any food coloring, you’ll notice that the color you used is quite muted, it’s okay, it’ll pop once you cook them.
STEP FOUR: Cook. Add the water to medium saucepan over high heat and bring the water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add in the tapioca pearls and stir them around with a large spoon. Cook for 6-10 minutes for extra chewy pearls or up to 10-12 minutes.
STEP FIVE: Sweeten. Once the tapioca pearls are done cooking, turn off the heat, remove them from the water and place them in a clean bowl or the bowl of an air-tight glass container. Immediately drizzle with liquid honey, maple syrup, or simple syrup* to keep them from sticking. Allow to come down to room temperature before adding to any drinks.
Storing Instructions
To store tapioca pearls, soak them in liquid honey, maple, or simple syrup to keep them from sticking together and place them in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days.
If they turn dry or shrink a bit, boil them again to get them back to their original plump state!
HAPPY COOKING!! I hope you'll love this Homemade Tapioca Pearls Recipe as much as I do!
PS: Please leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ if you make it! Your comments make my day!! You can also tag me on Instagram @itsdamnspicy 🌈💘
More recipes you'll enjoy:
Homemade Tapioca Pearls aka Boba Pearls
Ingredients
For The Tapioca Pearls
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) water
- 1 cup (125 g) tapioca starch/flour
- Food coloring (optional, to taste, if you don't add in any you'll get clear boba pearls, for my boba pearls I used black gel food coloring)
- Honey, maple syrup, or simple syrup* (see notes) (for sweetening and storage)
Instructions
- Make the tapioca dough. Add the water to a medium saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, turn off the heat and add in the tapioca starch and food coloring (if using). Mix until a dough starts forming.
- Knead. Dust a surface with tapioca starch, then transfer the dough to the surface and knead as you would bread dough. Knead until fully smooth, the texture should be similar to that of Play-Doh.
- Make the pearls. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts and roll each part into a rather thin log. Cut the rolls into small pieces and roll each piece into a round ball. At this point, if you added any food coloring, you'll notice that the color you used is quite muted, it's okay, it'll pop once you cook them.
- Cook. Add the water to medium saucepan over high heat and bring the water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add in the tapioca pearls and stir them around with a large spoon. Cook for 6-10 minutes for extra chewy pearls or up to 10-12 minutes.
- Sweeten. Once the tapioca pearls are done cooking, turn off the heat, remove them from the water and place them in a clean bowl or the bowl of an air-tight glass container. Immediately drizzle with liquid honey, maple syrup, or simple syrup* to keep them from sticking. Allow to come down to room temperature before adding to any drinks.
Rilynn says
This was an AMAZING recipe and I highly recommend it!! It is easy and fun to do with family and friends!!! They turned out well and I’m planning on using this recipe A LOT ❤️
Ava Grace says
This recipe is AMAZING!!😍 I originally saw it to make as a fun experiment, for my siblings and I.. We’re all Boba Lovers haha! It mixed up well and the texture is amazing! I boiled the pearls for 8 minutes to get a more chewy like texture. And I drizzled honey over it, after I drained it slightly. Cooled it and enjoyed!!❤️ Highly recommend! ,Ava
Bianka says
YAY! Happy to hear that you loved this recipe and had fun with your siblings, Ava! Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback! 🧡