Name: Strawberry Boba Recipe (Tapioca Pearls)
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 65 min
Ingredients: 100 g strawberry ((about 5 medium size strawberries)); 40 g sugar; 110 g tapioca starch; 2 tbsp strawberry jam; ¼ cup boiled strawberry bobas; ½ cup ice cubes; ¾ cup oat milk (or milk); 1 tsp matcha powder; 3 tbsp hot water; 2 matcha ice-cream balls

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This recipe teaches you how to make homemade chewy, sweet, bouncing strawberry boba with fresh strawberries!

Pink and shinny strawberry boba paired with creamy and refreshing iced matcha ice-cream latte, this pretty and delicious drink will bring you so much afternoon delight!

Boba Tea

Originating in Taiwan, boba/bubble tea has been a popular sweet treat all over the world for years.

The special chewing experience of the sweetened tapioca pearls makes boba tea much more fun to drink.

Teeth are busy chewing.

Tongue is having fun tasting.

Brain, at the same time, is enjoying an energy-boosting massage provided by sugar and caffeine.

Even if you haven’t yet got a chance to try boba tea yet, you must have seen some popular bubble tea chains in your city, such as Sharetea, Kung Fu Tea, Coco, Gong Tea, Wushiland, Moge Tea…

My personal favorite bubble tea shop is CHICHA San Chen in San Gabriel. Mr He and I only had their boba tea once when we traveled to California last year. But we both agree that their signature bubble milk tea is the best bubble tea we’ve ever had in US！

Can I use cornstarch instead?

Classic boba is made from 3 simple ingredients: tapioca starch/flour (there’s no difference between tapioca flour starch and tapioca flour), brown sugar (so traditional boba is brown), and water.

You may curious if you can substitute tapioca starch with cornstarch.

The answer is a yes and no.

Theoretically, it’s okay for you to use cornstarch, potato starch, sweet potato starch, or glutinous rice flour to replace tapioca flour. However, boba made from these ingredients are not going to be as chewy as tapioca boba.

I have tried to make boba with cornstarch. See the detailed recipe and comparison between cornstarch and tapioca boba in this post.

You can also substitute the other two ingredients (brown sugar and water) with many other things to DIY your own flavor of boba!

In this recipe, I used fresh strawberries and sugar to DIY my pink strawberry flavor boba. You can also make your boba into mango, dragon fruit, cocoa, or any other flavor you like!

Brown Sugar Boba

To make brown sugar boba, you can simply substitute the strawberry juice in this recipe with brown sugar water, and probably some black food coloring.

A key step for making delicious brown sugar boba is to boiling them in brown sugar syrup.

Check out my newest post of brown sugar boba tea for how to make brown sugar boba, brown sugar syrup, and the most special air fryer milk tea!

How to make Strawberry Boba

Equipment

Kitchen Scale

Blender (Good to have but optional)

Nonstick saucepan

Kneading Mat (Good to have but optional)

Ingredients:

To make strawberry boba (4 servings)

100 g strawberry (about 5 medium size strawberries)
40 g sugar
110 g tapioca starch

To make matcha ice-cream latte (1 serving 16oz)

2 tbsp strawberry jam
¼ cup boiled strawberry boba
½ cup ice cubes
¾ cup oat milk or milk
1 tsp matcha powder
3 tbsp hot water
2 matcha ice-cream balls

Step-by-step Instructions:

– To make strawberry boba

1. Crush strawberries with a blender or a fork until smooth. Weight to make sure that you get 100g strawberry puree. (If you use a blender, you may need about 120g strawberries to get 100g strawberry puree.)

2. Add 40g sugar and 100g strawberry puree to a nonstick saucepan. Stir and bring to a boil over medium heat.

3. Once the mixture starts to form bubbles, add half of the tapioca starch (about 55g) to the saucepan. Mix roughly with a spatula. Turn off the heat.

add tapioca starch to make strawberry boba

4. Add the rest of the tapioca starch to the saucepan. Mix roughly with a spatula. Transfer the dough out to a kneading bowl or a kneading mat.

5. Knead the dough for about 3 minutes until it turns smooth. (It might look dry at the beginning, but DON’T add water to the dough. While the surface looks dry, the inner part is wet and sticky. We need to knead the dough until the dry part and the wet part are well combined.)

6. Roll the dough into some thin long rods. Cut each rods into small pieces.

7. Then roll each piece into a pea-size ball. (The boba will grow bigger after cooked. So we want to make them small at this step.)

8. In a pot, boil half pot of water. Use medium high heat. Add the boba to the boiling water. Stir gently to prevent them from sticking to each other.

9. Once the water is boiling again, cover the pot with a lid, simmer over medium low heat for 20 minutes. (If you prefer softer boba, keep the pot covered and let the boba rest for another 20 minutes.)

10. Drain the bobas. Make them go through iced water for a chewier texture.

– To make matcha ice-cream latte

1. Add 2 tbsp of strawberry jam to a 16oz glass. Roll the glass to coat the wall with strawberry sauce.

2. Add strawberry bobas, ice cubes, and milk of your choice (I use oat milk).

3. In a heat resistant cup, melt 1 tsp of mathca powder with 3 tbsp hot water.

4. Pour in the matcha over the glass of milk.

5. Add 2 scoops of matcha ice cream on the top.

My other dessert recipes you will also like:

Kohakutou (Japanese crystal candy) — Crystal Candies

Strawberry Boba Recipe (Tapioca Pearls)

Ms Shi and Mr He

This recipe teaches you how to make homemade chewy, sweet, bouncing strawberry bobas with fresh strawberries. Pink and shinny strawberry bobas paired with creamy and refreshing iced matcha ice-cream latte, this pretty and delicious drink will bring you so much afternoon delight!

5 from 6 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 40

Cook Time 20

Assembling Time 5

Total Time 1 5

Course Dessert, Drinks

Cuisine Chinese

Servings 4 servings (boba only)

Calories 142 kcal