This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Make tapioca pearls (boba pearls) at home with just three ingredients! Follow my simple method to make boba perfect for bubble tea, taro milk tea, and more delicious bubble tea varieties!
In this post, I’ll walk you through a simple DIY for making tapioca pearls, including how to cook them with dark brown sugar, and a simple brown sugar bubble milk tea recipe. Once you master the art of making boba pearls at home, you can customize them with flavors like mango (see Mango Tapioca Pearls) and add them to your favorite bubble tea, milk tea, or other fruity drinks for that perfect chewy texture. They also make a fantastic topping for desserts like puddings and shaved ice.
Want to save this recipe?
What are tapioca pearls?
Tapioca pearls are small, chewy, dark brown balls made from tapioca starch, brown sugar, and hot water. Once cooked, they are spooned into milk bubble tea and other drinks.
Making and using these boba pearls requires two techniques. First, you need to make the tapioca dough and form the dried pearls. Once these are ready, you have to cook them before you can use them in your drink.
Watch the tapioca pearls video
Ingredients
- Tapioca flour: This is also known as tapioca starch.
- Sugar: For an authentic taste, you can try to find Taiwanese brown sugar (“black sugar”). However, brown sugar, muscovado, or white sugar will work. Depending on what sugar you use, the balls’ color and caramel-like flavor might differ a bit.
- Water
- To make the boba drink: White or brown sugar and your favorite tea, iced tea, flavored milk, or juice/smoothie. I often use this Blue Milk from Star Wars recipe to wow my guests.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to make boba
Make tapioca dough: Start by heating the water and sugar in a medium-sized pot over medium heat. Stir until all the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is almost boiling. Remove from the heat.
Add about one tablespoon of the tapioca starch and stir until well combined. Make sure there are no lumps. Then, place over low heat and stir until the mixture starts thickening like a paste.
Once it becomes thicker, remove from the heat. Add the rest of the tapioca starch and mix well until you obtain a sticky, shaggy dough.
Then, on a lightly floured surface (floured with tapioca starch), knead the dough until it becomes smooth and uniform. Knead the dough while it’s still warm so it’s pliable. Tapioca dough can be very sticky, so sprinkle some extra starch if needed.
Shape the dough into pearls: It’s more convenient to work with half of the dough at a time. So, make sure to cover the other half so it doesn’t dry out (use a wrap or a damp towel).
Roll the dough into thin, long rod-like pieces. Each roll should be quite thin, as the tapioca pearls will expand when cooked later. Then, cut the rolls into small pieces and roll each piece into a tiny ball.
Place the rolled pearls in a bowl and dust them with tapioca starch to avoid sticking. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Now, you have your dried tapioca pearls ready. Make sure each boba pearl is coated with tapioca starch to prevent them from sticking together. At this point, you can choose to store them (see the notes below for more information).
Cook the tapioca pearls in boiling water: In a large saucepan, boil enough water to cover your tapioca pearls (at least 4 cups of water per cup of dry pearls). Carefully add the tapioca pearls to the boiling water and stir well to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pot or to each other. Cover the pot and boil for 20 minutes, then remove from the heat and let them rest for another 20 minutes. The boba pearls will become chewy and almost translucent.
Finally, drain the tapioca pearls and quickly place them in cold water to prevent sticking. Alternatively, you can put them in sugar syrup to prevent sticking and add sweetness and flavor. For a quick and extra special treat, cook the tapioca pearls in brown sugar.
Cook the tapioca pearls in brown sugar: To make the brown sugar tapioca peals, first warm up the brown sugar over medium heat for a couple of minutes. The sugar only needs to be warmed up, not completely melted.
Add the boba and stir well to coat all the pearls with the melting sugar.
Make bubble milk tea: To make bubble milk tea, use black tea or other herbal teas, flavored milk, and even juices as the base. You might also enjoy my classic bubble tea recipe.
If using tea, make it as you would typically in warming water, adding milk to dilute it. Chill the tea in the fridge. Pour warm brown sugar boba pearls into a glass, coat the walls with melted sugar, add ice cubes, pour in the tea, and serve with a boba straw.
Tips and notes for success
- Boiling Hot Mixture: Make sure the water and sugar mixture is boiling when adding the tapioca starch. This helps incorporate the starch properly and form a sticky dough.
- Stir Quickly: Stir quickly and thoroughly when you add the first tablespoon of tapioca starch. Remove from heat and add the rest all at once, mixing swiftly to prevent clumps and ensure a smooth dough.
- Knead While Warm: Knead the dough while still warm to keep it soft and easy to work with. If it becomes too hard, reheat it gently in the microwave for a few seconds.
- Dough Texture: The dough should be smooth and slightly sticky but not too wet. If it’s overly wet, sprinkle extra tapioca starch to reduce the stickiness. It should stick slightly to the surface but come off cleanly when picked up.
- Keep Dough Covered: To prevent the dough from drying out, cover it with a damp cloth or plastic wrap while shaping the pearls. If working with half the dough, make sure the other half is covered.
- Roll Small Pearls: Roll the dough into small, even-sized pearls, as they will expand during cooking. Remember to coat them lightly with tapioca starch so they won’t stick together.
- Boil, rest, and strain: Boil the pearls for about 20 minutes, then let them sit in the hot water for another 20 minutes to achieve the perfect chewy texture. Then, strain and quickly place them in cold water or sugar syrup to prevent stickiness.
- Storage: Uncooked pearls can be stored in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 6 months. Cooked pearls can be kept in simple syrup in the fridge for a few days or frozen.
If you love this recipe, try these out!
If you try this homemade boba recipe, let me know how it goes in the comments below. I’d appreciate a recipe card rating and would love to see your recipe recreations – tag me on Instagram @Alphafoodie!
Homemade Tapioca Pearls (Boba) + Video!
Equipment
- Boba straws when serving
Ingredients
For the Tapioca Pearls
- 3/4 cup tapioca starch plus a bit more for dusting (aka tapioca flour)
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar black sugar, muscovado sugar, or even white sugar will work
- 1/4 cup water
For the Brown Sugar Boba Drink
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- 4 cups almond milk or any other milk, tea, or drink
Instructions
Make tapioca dough
- In a medium-sized pot, heat 1/4 cup water and 2 Tbsp sugar over medium heat. Stir until all the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is almost boiling. Remove from the heat.
- Add about 1 tablespoon of the tapioca starch and stir until well combined. Make sure there are no lumps.
- Place over low heat. Stir the mixture until it starts thickening. Once it becomes thicker, like a paste, remove it from the heat.
- Add the rest of the tapioca starch and mix well while it still hot until you obtain a sticky dough.
- Lightly flour your working surface with tapioca starch. Knead the warm dough until it becomes smooth and uniform. Sprinkle some extra starch if needed.
Shape the pearls
- Work with half of the dough and cover the rest so it doesn't dry.
- Roll the dough into thin, long rod-like pieces. Cut the rolls into small pieces and roll each into a tiny ball. The tapioca pearls will expand when cooked, so make small balls.
- Place the rolled pearls in a bowl and dust them with tapioca starch to avoid sticking. Repeat with the rest of the dough.At this point, you can store the dry pearls.
Cook the tapioca pearls
- Boil water in a large saucepan. Use at least 4 cups of water per cup of dry pearls.
- Carefully add the tapioca pearls to the boiling water. Stir well so they don't stick to the bottom of the pot or each other.
- Cover the pot and boil for 20 minutes, then remove from the heat and let them rest for another 20 minutes. The boba pearls will become chewy and almost translucent.
- Drain the boba and quickly place them in cold water to prevent stickiness.At this point, you can enjoy them with your drink or cook them with sugar syrup.
Cook the tapioca pearls in brown sugar
- Warm the brown sugar over medium heat for a couple of minutes – it doesn't have to melt completely, just warm.
- Add the boba and stir well to coat all the pearls with the melting sugar.
Make bubble milk tea
- Prepare your drink of choice. You can keep it in the fridge until ready to use. The simplest way to enjoy these pearls is with some milk or plant-based milk.
- Pour about 1/4 cup of the warm pearls into a cup or glass (use glass for a great visual effect) and roll the cup or glass to coat the walls with melted sugar.
- Add ice cubes (optional) and your drink of choice. Serve with a boba straw, and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe worked a treat it was easy to make and simple to follow the method. It was easy to read and I’m a thirteen year old. Thank you for the recipe I enjoyed. 🙂
Thank you so much for your comment, Joel. Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
I have made this with my students a few times, thank you for a simple and delicious recipe.
Thank you so much for your comment! Glad you’ve enjoyed the recipe 🙂
It turns out good in the end but a problem I have is that the dough keeps crumbling a lot? I’ve tried adding more water but just messes it up even more. Any tips?
Hi Atlas,
Did you use hot water and did some of the dough perhaps dry out while you were rolling it into balls? These are the only 2 reasons I can think of.
I was so blown away at how easy and chewy this recipe was! The cook time was a bit long, but definitely worth it. It made a lot, so I would recommend to half the recipe. Thank you for coming up with the recipes! 🙂
Thank you so much for your comment, Sienna 🙂
Wow, amazing!
It’s a lot easier and less stressful than I thought it to be originally. I thought I had messed it up too bad when the dough turned somewhat hard and crumbly, but I kneaded each piece before rolling them into strips and that warmed/softened them up! I cooked them and ended up with soft, chewy balls of delight!! I’m 14 and could follow this recipe easily, so thanks. :)))
Thank you for your comment, Sophia! Glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
hi can i replace tapioca flour with cornstarch? would that work?? thank you
Hi Josefa,
You cannot use cornstarch as the boba won’t form. You need to use tapioca starch/flour – in different places, it’s called either starch or flour but it’s the same thing. But it has to be tapioca. I hope you give this recipe a try!
They were great when I made them fresh, but after leaving the uncooked pearls in a Tupperware on the counter for about a week, they got moldy!
Thank you for your feedback, Zelda. Oh no, did it perhaps get any moisture? Or was it perhaps very hot?
Thank you so much! I’m always looking out for places that sell Boba at a reasonable price. Not anymore this will be my go to recipe 🙂
Thank you for your comment, Samantha 🙂
What can you use if you don’t have Taiwanese Brown Sugar? Where can you find it?
Hi Cristina.
You can use regular brown sugar. If there’s a choice in the store, I recommend one with more molasses (it will be darker in color). I hope this helps.
The tapioca pearls turned out really well. Best reciepe so far for making pearls!
Thanks, Annie! Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
TURNED OUT AMAAAZING
Thank you so much Bob, glad you liked it 🙂