Go Back
+ servings
How to Make Tapioca Pearls
5 from 8 votes
PRINT PIN
Servings: 1 cup raw pearls
Author: Lisa Lin

How to Make Tapioca Pearls (Boba)

These tapioca pearls aren’t difficult to make, but they require time and patience. Grab someone to help you make the boba or put on a good TV show in the background.
In the ingredients section, I grouped the ingredients based on the different colors of pearls. I used a scale to measure the ingredients during recipe testing, so use a scale if you have one. This recipe yields about 1 cup of raw pearls. You can double the recipe to make a larger batch, but it’ll take a long time to shape all the pearls.
Cooked pearls can harden relatively quickly, so only cook as much as you think you’ll need in a few hours. Don’t bother refrigerating the boba because it won’t cut down the cooking time significantly. Freeze any uncooked raw pearls for up to 6 months.
The directions below are for making and cooking tapioca pearls. To assemble a bubble tea, you’ll need to make sugar syrup and brew some tea, both of which you can make a day ahead. See notes 1 and 2 for more directions.
Prep Time1 hour
Cook Time45 minutes
Resting Time30 minutes

Ingredients

Dark Brown Boba

Light Brown Boba

White Boba

Green Boba

  • 2/3 cup (72g) tapioca starch, plus more for dusting pearls
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons (18g) potato starch
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons (20g) white granulated sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon matcha powder, (see note 5)
  • 3 tablespoons (45g) boiling hot water

Black Boba (See Note 6)

  • 2/3 cup (72g) tapioca starch, plus more for dusting pearls
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons (18g) potato starch
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons (20g) white granulated sugar
  • 3 tablespoons (45g) boiling hot water
  • 1 drop black gel coloring
  • 1 drop chocolate brown gel coloring

Instructions

Whisk Ingredients

  • Dark Brown Boba: In a medium bowl, whisk together the tapioca starch, potato starch, and molasses.
  • Light Brown Boba: Whisk together the tapioca and potato starches, along with the brown sugar.
  • White Boba: In a medium bowl, whisk together the tapioca starch, potato starch, and granulated sugar.
  • Green Boba: In a medium bowl, whisk together the tapioca starch, potato starch, and granulated sugar. Then, sift the matcha over the whisked flours, making sure to distribute the matcha evenly. Do not whisk the ingredients again because the matcha can clump up.
  • Black Boba: In a medium bowl, whisk together the tapioca starch, potato starch, and granulated sugar. You’ll add the food coloring after you add the hot water.

Finish Making Dough

  • Boil at least 1 cup of water in an electric kettle or saucepan. You won’t use all of it, but have extra hot water on hand in case the dough is dry.
  • If you are making dark brown pearls with molasses, pour 40 grams (2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons) of hot water directly into the bowl with the starches. For all other types of boba, pour 45 grams (3 tablespoons) of hot water directly into the bowl with the flours. Once the hot water touches the starches, it will gelatinize some of the starch immediately, turning it into a translucent, gooey mass. This is very important for the dough to form properly. DO NOT pour and measure the hot water into a separate bowl before adding to the flours, as this significantly reduces the heat of the water. I generally place the bowl of flours on a scale and pour hot water from my kettle into the bowl, using the scale to measure the water. (See note 7) If you’re making the black boba, add the food coloring now.
  • Use a flexible spatula to fold and press the dry flour into the gelatinized starch, until a dough starts to form. Most of the moisture is in the center of the dough, so keep gathering and pressing dry flour into the center of the dough mass. Continue folding dry flour into the dough for another 1 to 2 minutes, until it looks like 80-90% of the flours have been incorporated into the dough.
  • Transfer the dough and any loose flour to a work surface and use your hands to finish kneading the dough. Work the dry flour into the dough by pressing and squeezing it into the dough. After a few minutes of kneading, you should get one cohesive piece of dough that’s moist but not sticky. The dough should be relatively smooth, but don’t worry if there are tiny clumps of flour in the dough.
  • If the dough is very dry and crumbly, gather all the dry flour. Drizzle a teaspoon of hot water over the loose flour and work the flour into the dough. Conversely, if the dough is feeling sticky (this can be the case when you’re making the boba with molasses), sprinkle a pinch of tapioca starch over the dough and work it into the dough. Add more starch if the dough is still feeling very sticky.

Shape Dough Into Pearls

  • This is the part of the recipe that can take a while. Tear out a small ball of dough, about 1 inch in diameter. Place the remaining dough into a bowl and cover it with a damp towel or a lid so the dough doesn’t dry out.
  • Shape the 1-inch ball of dough into a log of about 1/4-inch wide. Divide the log into smaller pieces. You can use a knife to slice the log into small pieces about 1/8-inch wide. My preferred method is to use a 1/8 teaspoon measuring spoon to divide the dough. Each piece of dough should be a level or scant 1/8 teaspoon to ensure that the pearls will fit through a boba straw once cooked. If you are making the pearls on your own, slice or rip out no more than 16 small pieces of dough at a time. The dough dries out easily, making them difficult to shape.
  • Take 1 piece of small dough in each hand and rub them a few times with the tips of your fingers. This will moisten the dough in case a crust starts forming on the outside. You can also smooth out any tiny clumps of flour here. Then, use the tips of your fingers to roll the dough into pearls. You can also roll out the pearls with the palms of your hands. Transfer the pearls to a surface that’s well dusted with tapioca starch.
  • Continue shaping the remaining small pieces of dough into pearls. Roll the pearls in the tapioca starch so that they’re completely covered. Transfer the tapioca pearls to a mesh strainer and give the strainer a few shakes to remove any excess starch from the pearls. Transfer the pearls to a plate lined with parchment paper. Continue shaping the remaining dough into pearls.

Cook Tapioca Pearls

  • You only want to cook as many pearls as you need in a few hours’ time because cooked pearls don’t keep well for extended periods. A good rule of thumb to follow is to cook 3 to 4 tablespoons of raw boba per beverage.
  • Fill a medium-sized pot or large saucepan halfway with water and bring to boil. Add the pearls to the water and stir until the pearls float to the top. This should take about 1 minute. Reduce the heat to medium-high and continue cooking the pearls for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover the pot, and let the pearls sit in the hot water for another 15 minutes. If you are not ready to use the pearls immediately, you can leave them in the warm water for 60 to 90 minutes.
  • Drain the pearls and submerge them in a bowl of cold water for 1 to 2 minutes. This cools the pearls and gets them to be the perfect chewy texture. Drain the pearls again and transfer them to a bowl.
  • Toss the pearls with sugar syrup (recipe below), enough so that the pearls are well coated in syrup. Let the pearls sit for 20 to 30 minutes so the pearls can absorb the syrup. You’ll want to use these pearls to make bubble tea within an hour.

Assemble Bubble Tea

  • To make the bubble tea, pour some tapioca pearls with the syrup into a glass. You’ll likely want a few more spoonfuls of syrup, too. Pour brewed tea into the glass and add as much milk or cream to suit your taste. Taste the bubble tea and add more sugar syrup or milk, if desired. Top the beverage with ice cubes and enjoy.

Notes

  1. Brewing tea: My general rule of thumb is the tea should be at least twice as strong as what you’d normally drink. If you make tea with tea bags, double up the tea bags when you brew the tea. For loose leaf tea, use at least 2 to 2 1/2 teaspoons of tea leaves for each cup of water. I generally like to steep the tea for about 15 minutes, to make sure it’s a very strong cup of tea (you’ll dilute the tea with milk and ice cubes). You can find more info about making bubble tea in my blog post.
  2. Make sugar syrup: You can make the syrup with 1/2 cup white granulated sugar and 1/2 cup water or 1/2 cup dark brown sugar and 1/2 cup water. Add the ingredients for the syrup in a saucepan and bring to boil. Reduce the heat to medium high and let it simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Then, turn off the heat and let the syrup cool. Store the syrup in a jar and refrigerate. Use the syrup within 2 weeks.
  3. Tapioca flour/starch: I measured the flour using the spoon-and-sweep method.
  4. Potato starch: I find adding potato starch to the dough makes the pearls less sticky when you chew them. If you don’t want to buy another bag of starch just for this recipe, you can simply substitute the potato starch with more tapioca starch.
  5. Matcha: I recommend using higher quality matcha if you want the pearls to be more vibrant green.
  6. Black Boba: I developed this version before I discovered making boba with molasses. I found that using black food coloring alone will make the pearls look slightly purple once cooked. That’s why I also added a drop of chocolate brown color. I haven’t tried this, but the recipe might also work if you use brown sugar instead of white and add a drop of black food coloring. Add the food coloring only after you add the hot water. I discovered during recipe testing that black food coloring can turn blue when it comes in direct contact with boiling hot water.
  7. Making the dough with cold water: If you mix the flours with cold or room temperature water, you’ll end up with a mass of dough that is stiff and crumbly. You will not be able to shape it into pearls. That’s why you must make this dough with hot water.
  8. Freezing Directions: Place the uncooked tapioca pearls on parchment lined plate and freeze for an hour before transferring to a freezer bag. Use in 6 months.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.25cup | Calories: 58kcal | Carbohydrates: 14.5g | Sodium: 2.2mg | Sugar: 5.9g
Did you make this recipe?Tag @hellolisalin or leave a star rating and comment on the blog!