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EASY HOMEMADE TAPIOCA PUDDING

February 17, 2019 by Amy Flanigan · 41 Comments

Homemade Tapioca Pudding is a simple, creamy, delicious, and timeless dessert. It’s better than
Hi, I’m Amy - the home
boxed Minute Tapioca and easier to make than you might think!
cook behind Belly Full
(formerly Very
Culinary). Come play
with me! Read More >>

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Have you ever tried to make Tapioca Pudding? When is the last time you even ate tapioca
pudding??

I sort of feel like tapioca pudding is the forgotten dessert. I mean, I never hear anyone talk
about it, and I definitely never see anyone serve it. And I never see any recipes for it…so I
want to change that!

Only the best memories come to mind when I think about homemade tapioca pudding – my
mom used to make it when I was a kid. But it was usually reserved for times when I was sick.
Like chicken soup. I have no idea why. And she always served it in footed dessert ice cream
bowls (like the ones in these pictures), never in parfait glasses or ramekins. So funny the
things we remember from our childhood!

I actually think I bought these footed dessert dishes a long time ago, specifically for serving
tapioca pudding, because otherwise it wouldn’t be the same, right? Ha.

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WHAT IS TAPIOCA?

Tapioca is a starch extracted from the cassava root, also known as yuca, a plant native to
Brazil, referred to there as “mandioca,” and its starch is referred to as “tapioca.” It’s become a
staple in many countries, but actually has zero nutritional value, and often just used as a
thickening agent in many foods, like stews, gravy, and pie.

Tapioca pearls come in all different sizes. Bobs Red Mill is my preferred brand, but you can
use any kind, adjusting my recipe depending on the package instructions.

FUN TAPIOCA FACTS!

1. It’s gluten-free. Because of this, it’s often ground into a flour and used as an alternative to
wheat in gluten-free breads, helping replace the texture and moisture missing from the lack
of gluten.

2. Unlike cornstarch, tapioca can handle freezing and thawing without losing its gel structure
or breaking down.

3. Tapioca pearls and powders are usually white, but the pearls used in desserts and drinks
can be dyed to just about any color – like you see in bubble tea!

4. When tapioca is added to filled bakery desserts, like danishes, it traps the moisture in a gel,
preventing the pastry from becoming soggy during storage.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BOXED MINUTE TAPIOCA

AND THIS HOMEMADE TAPIOCA?

Minute (or Instant) Tapioca, is a smaller grain than the pearls, which helps it cook faster,
making it widely popular. Tapioca pearls, although varying in size, are still larger than the
Instant version and usually require pre-soaking before being used in a recipe. BUT I just love
the texture of the larger pearls, you guys. And honestly, it’s worth the wait. Homemade
Tapioca pudding is still crazy easy!

Anyway, I adore homemade tapioca pudding and make it all the time for my kids – they don’t
need to be sick for such a treat. We all love it warm and cold, but I think the preference is
cold. I actually didn’t even know people ate it warm until a few years ago. Again…childhood.
My mother never served it warm.

You can add cocoa powder to it, giving it a chocolate flair. Or I’ve seen some pictures with
fruit mixed it. But I just love it simple like this.

OTHER CUSTARD OR PUDDING YOU MIGHT LIKE!

Slow Cooker Creme Brûlée

Chia Seed Pudding with Maple Strawberries

WATCH THE VIDEO OF HOMEMADE TAPIOCA PUDDING AND SEE

HOW EASY IT IS TO MAKE!

Homemade Tapioca Pudding

Easy Homemade Tapioca Pudding

Homemade Tapioca Pudding is a simple, creamy, delicious, and timeless dessert. And
easier to make than you might think!

5 from 10 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate Recipe

Course: Dessert Cuisine: American

Keyword: homemade, recipe, tapioca pudding

Cook Time: Stand Time: Total Time:

10 minutes 45 minutes 55 minutes

Servings: 6 Calories: 200kcal

Ingredients
1 cup water
1/2 cup small pearl tapioca (not instant)
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions
1. Place the water and tapioca pearls in a 1 1/2 quart pot. Let stand for 30 minutes
until the pearls are plump and have absorbed the water.
2. Turn on the heat to medium-high. Pour in the milk and salt; stir while bringing to a
bare simmer.
3. Reduce the heat to very low, add in the sugar and cook, uncovered, stirring
frequently (so the tapioca doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan), until the tapioca
pearls have plumped and thickened, about 5 minutes.
4. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Slowly whisk in about 1/2 cup of the hot tapioca
(this equalizes the temperature between the two mixtures to avoid curdling.)
5. Pour the egg mixture into the pot with the rest of the tapioca; increase heat to
medium and stir for several minutes until you get a thick pudding consistency that
coats the back of a wooden spoon. (Do not let mixture boil.)
6. Take off the heat and cool for 15 minutes.
7. Stir in the vanilla.
8. Serve either warm or cold and enjoy!

Notes
1. Different brands of tapioca call for different instructions, so pay attention to the
packaging - some small tapioca requires the pearls to soak overnight. If NO soaking is
required, increase the amount of milk in this recipe to 3 cups. You might also need to
cook the tapioca for longer than 5 minutes depending on the size of the pearls.

2. For a lighter, fluffier tapioca pudding, you can separate the eggs; use the egg yolks
to stir in with the hot tapioca. Once it becomes thick, beat the egg whites in a separate
bowl until soft peaks form. Remove the pudding from the stove and fold in the whipped
egg whites.

Nutrition
Calories: 200kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 2g |
Cholesterol: 80mg | Sodium: 169mg | Potassium: 160mg | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 265IU
| Calcium: 128mg | Iron: 0.6mg

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COMMENTS

Sidney Garry says

April 17, 2020 at 8:22 pm

Easiest “fancy” dessert in the world…

REPLY

Care says
April 17, 2020 at 4:39 pm

I love tapioca, will definitely try your recipe. It looks easy enough.

REPLY

Kimberli says
March 28, 2020 at 11:01 pm

Oh my goodness, I loved reading your comments about how your mom would
give you the tapioca pudding when you weren’t feeling well. I don’t know
how old you are but I am 53, from Boston and for some reason when I was
sick, my mom made me these pecan rolls. You’re right, it’s so funny the tings
you remember. My grandmother would’ve made a big deal about which
crystal cut shape goes with which food type and I always remember hearing
about tapioca pudding. Recently I am loving the boa boa ice tea so I picked
up TP ( the pudding not the paper as the worlds currently out of TP ] Which,
though I digress actually nicely concludes something another generation will
have experienced together. Special moment in time really. Long answer
having nothing to do with the result of recipe. My bad.

REPLY

Kathy Solywoda says

March 27, 2020 at 5:57 pm

We used 1/2 and 1/2 and macadamia nut milk and a tiny dash of almond
extract as well as scraped vanilla bean.. YUMMY! Perfect base recipe- so
much potential fresh or dried fruits nuts, you could layer it with a curd and
cream!! Endless possibilities! Thank you for sharing this and it will be a
keeper for sure!

REPLY

alilduckling says
February 7, 2020 at 12:08 pm

I am getting ready to try this as my husband has many fond childhood

memories of it. When I first made it I used the Minute tapioca and DH told
me it wasn’t what he remembered – bigger pearls. We got lucky and found
the pearls – small – at an Oriental grocery store/market in our town. I
assume the big interest in Bubble tea that uses large pearls helped us find a
store stocking both sizes.

REPLY

Athena says
February 14, 2020 at 7:40 pm

DEE-LICIOUS. I loved this recipe. I used rosewater instead of

vanilla. Ahmaaaaahzing. Any ideas on how to make it chocolate
flavored? Do you think I could put Nutella in it????

REPLY

Sara says
February 29, 2020 at 6:25 pm

Add a little bakers coco powder

REPLY

Kimberli says
March 28, 2020 at 11:03 pm

Ohhh love the ro sweater idea! Maybe lavender would be

nice too?

REPLY

Ellie says
January 7, 2020 at 6:49 pm

It turned out GREAT! I doubled and a half it because that’s how much tapioca
I had. I needed to let cook about eight minutes, and I served it hot. Me and
my family LOVED it! :)

REPLY

Barb D'Angelo says

January 4, 2020 at 5:27 pm

I have always loved tapioca pudding. My Dad was the tapioca pudding maker,
he always separated the eggs and folded the beaten in egg whites to make
the fluffy pudding you describe as a note. Sliced bananas were also a favorite
along with plain tapioca. It is difficult to find the small pearls anymore around
here, but a did get several bags last time. The local small diner here actually
serves tapioca pudding sometimes, but you are right it is rare now. I do stock
the minute tapioca pudding to use as a thickening agent along with
cornstarch in fruit pies. I do find I like the unfluffy tapioca more then my
childhood style now!

REPLY

Joan says
January 27, 2020 at 12:52 pm

I remember my Mom adding whipped cream, and mixing it in the

tapioca pudding, but don’t recall when she added it! Has anyone
made it that way? I would like to know the recipe, please and thank
you!

REPLY

Shana says
August 9, 2019 at 3:31 pm

Why can’t you just put the eggs in with the rest of the ingredients to cook all
together? I did the separate eggs and whites and the whites curdled even
though I added some of the tapioca to the whites first before mixing them in
to the pan.

REPLY

Amy @Belly Full says

August 9, 2019 at 8:27 pm

I explain this in step #4. And you don’t separate the yolk from the
whites.

REPLY

Catherine A Ayotte says

September 2, 2019 at 7:51 am

I did and it was fine. I just beat them really well. Started all from
cool, was very thick and yummy#

REPLY

Bernadine says
November 25, 2019 at 12:06 pm

As you said, tapioca pudding was a family favorite. I like it warm and
my family prefers it to be chilled. Just made your recipe and it
turned out perfectly. I’ll be making it again and again…it’s that good!
Thanks so much!

REPLY

Iris says
July 7, 2019 at 2:48 pm

Can I use Truvia sugar instead of cane sugar?? Thank You in advance .

REPLY

Amy @Belly Full says

July 10, 2019 at 8:34 am

I don’t cook or bake with sugar substitutes, so I can’t speak to the

results, but you can try it! For optimal results, use real sugar.

REPLY

Patricia Ryan says

November 24, 2019 at 11:56 pm

I always use sugar substitute. Tastes the same AND when

slightly cool, I add a can of drained crushed pineapple !
YUM !!

REPLY

Doris says
June 20, 2019 at 12:15 pm

Can you substitute condensed milk to this recipe

REPLY

Amy @Belly Full says

June 20, 2019 at 4:12 pm

I’ve only made this recipe as written, so I can’t vouch for the results
with substitutions. But you can try it!

REPLY

Maryellen Horton says

March 4, 2019 at 12:08 pm

Made this for the first time this afternoon.. Had a hard time finding tapioca
pearls but finally found them in the Shop Rite by me. This was amazing and
brought me back to the times that my mom used to make from scratch as
well. Usually when we were home sick from school. I loved eating it when it
was still warm with whip cream. Brought me back to an amazing place in my
childhood.

REPLY

Sheila Hubbard says

March 1, 2019 at 5:41 pm

Have you ever made tapioca with fruit juice instead of milk? When i was
younger i remember seeing a recipe but i have not been able to find one
since.

REPLY

Wendy says
September 22, 2019 at 4:27 pm

The Joy of Cooking cookbook refers to using fruit juice in addition

to milk as an alternative to the milk only recipes.

REPLY

Ruth Maxson says

February 25, 2019 at 1:24 am

Can you use large tapioca pearls using the same measurements? I can only
find large pearl tapioca and instant tapioca which I use in my cherry pie
recipe.

REPLY

Amy @Belly Full says

February 25, 2019 at 6:42 am

Hi Ruth – large pearls will require a much longer soaking time and
 also create greater volume, so the measurements will change. I
would recommend you check the back of your packaging and see
what it says and make adjustments from there.

REPLY

Donna says
September 26, 2019 at 4:03 am

I use my coffee grinder to bring the sago Pearl’s finer to

make Tapioca cream.

REPLY

Janet Kimenhour says

May 9, 2020 at 6:09 pm

Forgot how much I loved this! Use 1% milk,

replaced 1/2 the sugar with Lakanto, and used the
egg white method.

REPLY

Evelyn says
November 6, 2019 at 11:59 am

Ok Where can I get LARGE pearls??

REPLY

Lonnie Moore says

November 12, 2019 at 3:21 am

I’ve often encountered the Large pearl tapioca at my local

Asian markets, though I’ve always bought the small pearl
variety as it’s quicker to prepare, and I’m already stretching
my patience to its limit by making it from scratch, but, oh…
it’s Soooooooo worth it! ?

REPLY

Bill says
December 15, 2019 at 8:01 pm

I just bought 5 lbs of Large and 2 lbs of Small and 2 bags of

the tapioca pudding mix, cuz I was being lazy..lol. But will be
trying the tapioca recipes from here for sure…

REPLY

JoAnn says
February 24, 2019 at 3:27 pm

Where you have the nutritional info, how big is the serving size?

REPLY

Amy @Belly Full says

February 24, 2019 at 3:31 pm

This recipe serves 6, as it says in the recipe card. Thanks!

REPLY

Mom says
February 18, 2019 at 4:03 pm

We love tapioca budding, but I always use the instant tapioca. I’ll have to try
the small pearl and see the difference. I also use the instant tapioca as a
thickener instead of flour or cornstarch in certain recipes.

REPLY

Cat Mikatich says

April 25, 2020 at 9:32 am

I used the instant with this same recipe and it turned out fine, just
like I remember as a kid. Just have to watch it so it doesn’t over
cook.

REPLY

Lisa says
February 17, 2019 at 8:29 am

I love tapioca! Thanks for sharing. Question: for lactose intolerance, would
this recipe be ok with almond milk or coconut milk?

REPLY

Amy @Belly Full says

February 17, 2019 at 8:51 am

Hi Lisa – I’ve never tested this recipe with anything other than
whole milk, so I can’t vouch for substitutions, but you could try it!

REPLY

Jsears says
March 2, 2019 at 7:09 pm

We make it all the time with coconut milk.

REPLY

Kate says
August 24, 2019 at 1:54 am

I made it for the first time following this recipe and used
coconut milk instead as it’s my normal milk choice. It came
out great! I also used coconut sugar so it came out darker
but it tasted really good!

REPLY

Kate says
August 24, 2019 at 1:52 am

I made it with Coconut (Palm) Sugar instead of regular sugar.

Coconut sugar has a low G.I and has nutritional benefits including
being a source of potassium.
It came out more of a creme caramel colour but tasted great. You
can use co donut sugar as a direct substitute for refined sugar so
give it try!
I also cook/ bake with xylitol (natural sweetner made from birch and
beech trees) , maple syrup and other non refined sweeteners. As
xylitol is white, it would retain the original recipe’s colour but it is
more expensive than coconut sugar (here in the UK at least) so went
with the coconut sugar.
I also substituted whole milk for tinned organic coconut milk!
My pudding came out great apart from a little curdling with the
eggs. I did follow the instructions to equalise the temperature
between the eggs and tapioca in the pan but it still curled a little.
Overall though it was a really good result and the recipe work great
even adapted as I made it.

REPLY

Kate says
August 24, 2019 at 1:59 am

In short yes! I used a tin of Tropical Sun Organic Coconut Milk which
came to less volume than the recipe called for but I just topped it up
with my regular KOKO free coconut milk which is thinner. It worked
fine. I used the tinned version because this variety is thicker and
therefore closer to ‘whole milk’.
Good luck experimenting!

REPLY

Ro says
August 31, 2019 at 11:13 am

I’ve made it with lactose free fat free milk – I used two cups and
then added 1/4 c almond milk to get a little fat.
Today I made it with all vanilla flavored almond milk and both
versions came out yummy.

REPLY

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