In recent years, tapioca pearls have become a favorite in bubble tea, shaved ice desserts, and sweet dessert soups across Asia and in Asian communities in the West. But what if you want to cook your own tapioca pearls at home?
Some store-bought tapioca pearls can be cooked in a matter of minutes, but dried white tapioca pearls require longer cooking.
We noticed that these packaged tapioca pearls often come with few to no instructions on how to prepare them, so we thought we should publish a post specifically about how to do it. Then you can add them to milk tea to make bubble tea or whatever dessert you like!
(We’ll be coming out with some awesome desserts in the next couple weeks that do use these as well!)
What Are Tapioca Pearls?
Tapioca pearls, also called tapioca balls or boba, are small translucent spheres. Their cooked size is usually somewhere between a pea and a marble, and they’re made with tapioca starch, which comes from the cassava root.
They are also pretty flavorless, added to drinks and desserts solely for their delightfully chewy texture (they’re similar to mochi, but a little less soft and sticky).
Important Tips for Cooking Tapioca Pearls
Before we get into the recipe, here are some key tips for properly cooking dried tapioca pearls:
- Do NOT wash or rinse tapioca pearls before cooking. They must go from the package directly into boiling water.
- You must pre-boil the water before adding the tapioca. Do not add them until the water is at a rolling boil.
- The size of tapioca pearls can vary, and you may need to adjust the cooking time accordingly. For these white/clear tapioca pearls, you’ll know they are cooked once they are completely translucent, without any opaque white center. You can also taste them throughout the process to test for the right texture.
- You’ll need to use a lot of water when cooking tapioca pearls, as they are quick to absorb water and also very starchy. Not using enough water may cause them to become starchy and sticky, which we don’t want!
- Because they are so starchy, you’ll have to change the water a couple times and discard batches of starchy water.
- Note that 1 cup dried tapioca pearls yields roughly 2 1/2 cups cooked tapioca pearls.
How to Cook Tapioca Pearls: Instructions
Bring 6 cups water to a boil in a deep pot, and add the tapioca.
Bring it to a boil again, cover, and turn the heat down to medium low. Cook covered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
After 15 minutes, turn off the heat, keep the pot covered, and allow to sit for another 15 minutes.
Drain the tapioca pearls and rinse under cold water.
If the tapioca pearls still have opaque white centers, repeat STEP 1 and STEP 2 until all the tapioca balls are translucent.
You may have to repeat a few times depending on their size.
In the meantime, dissolve 3 tablespoons sugar into 1 cup warm water.
Once the tapioca pearls are cooked, drain and rinse under cold water one more time.
Then put them into the sugar water to prevent them from sticking together.
The cooked tapioca pearls lose their chewiness rather quickly, so it’s best to use them within 1-2 days.
How to Cook Tapioca Pearls
Ingredients
- 6 cups water
- 1 cup large tapioca pearls (160g)
- 3 tablespoons sugar (plus 1 cup water)
Instructions
- Bring 6 cups water to a boil in a deep pot, and add the tapioca. Bring it to a boil again, cover, and turn the heat down to medium low. Cook covered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. After 15 minutes, turn off the heat, keep the pot covered, and allow to sit for another 15 minutes.
- Drain the tapioca pearls and rinse under cold water.
- If the tapioca pearls still have opaque white centers, repeat STEP 1 and STEP 2 until all the tapioca balls are translucent. You may have to repeat a few times depending on their size.
- In the meantime, dissolve 3 tablespoons sugar into 1 cup warm water.
- Once the tapioca pearls are cooked, drain and rinse under cold water one more time. Then put them into the sugar water to prevent them from sticking together.
Why does the bag say might cause cancer?
Hi Barbara, I have never heard of such a thing; you might want to look into it further.
If you plan to use them over the course of a couple days then do you refrigerate the pearls or leave them out? Do you strain them if the sugar water or kept them in the sugar water?
You should refrigerate them in a little sugar water. But the best thing is to use it ASAP, since cooked tapioca will loose its chewy texture after too much soaking.
How big is the packet?
So far everything has come out well. I made a strawberry guava simple syrup to go with the lime tea I just finished making. Query: How long do the pearls need to be in the simple syrup to absorb the flavors? They are currently sitting in the fridge in their simple syrup until dinner tonight. Mahalo nui loa!
You are so welcome, ReBecca.
Thank you for this. I bought a bag of tapioca pearls a couple of months ago. It had absolutely no instructions, like they were saying: “if you buy it you better already know how to cook it!” Lol.
Now, I know how to cook them!
We are so glad that we can be helpful, Uraina :-)
Hi, would this method work with very small tapioca pearls? I ordered online what I thought were large (like yours) tapioca pearls. Instead, I received a package of tiny ones! They’re about 3mm in diameter. Can you use these tiny pearls in bubble tea? Or are they just for making a pudding-type snack? Thanks!
Hi Brigitte, tiny tapioca cooks pretty fast. I usually add them to red bean soup and other sweet soups for thickening purposes, because they are barely visible once cooked. Please follow the recipe: “bring 6 cups water to a boil in a deep pot, and add the tapioca. Bring to a boil again, cover, and turn the heat down to medium low. Cook covered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. After 15 minutes, turn off the heat, keep the pot covered, and allow to sit for another 15 minutes.”
I have always cooked Australian sago just in milk and sugar etc without cooking in water
Could not purchase anywhere locally today sago or tapioca. The product no longer on supermarket shelves. I managed today to purchase Kang Bao brand Tapioca Pearl, without any insructions on the packet.
Looking at instructions for tapioca pearl I am not heartened to cook this product – purchased today
I just want a quick, cooked in milk with sugar and vanilla recipe
Thankyou Yvonne Dite
You can cook them any way you like – they just won’t look like the bubble tea “bubbles” if you don’t cook them in water as directed on this page. If you don’t care for it to come out as bubble tea, it’s not like it’s poisonous or anything to do otherwise, so you do you.
Just a question would you put them in the fridge for 1-2 days or just in room-temperature for 1-2 days?
Definitely in the refrigerator :-)
Hi, I couldn’t find black tapioca pearls for bubble tea at the store, so I had to buy white tapioca pearls like these. Is there a way to use this recipe to make them like the black boba?
I believe traditionally tapioca pearls end up looking black because of the black sugar syrup used for the syrup soak: black sugar is commonly found in Japan/Taiwan & very different in taste to any other sugar. You can probably find it sold in blocks in major Asian grocers. I last bought some in Hmart in San Diego.
I have not yet tried, but this article gave very clear instructions, descriptions, cautions about how to start, how it progresses, what to look for and taste test. I think I can reach a successful outcome.
You will, kim. ^_^