Taro Milk Tea (Bubble Tea)

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Treat yourself to a glass of beautiful purple Taro Milk Tea! Like a sophisticated milkshake, it’s sweet and creamy with a hint of green tea and taro root. Served over ice with black tapioca pearls, it’s so refreshing!

Taro Milk Tea in a clear glass with a boba straw.
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💜 Why You Will Love This Recipe

  • Taro Bubble tea is such a fun, refreshing summer drink!
  • The color is a beautiful purple. It’s so pretty!
  • Super easy to make – cook the tapioca pearls, steep the tea, then blend the tea, sweetened condensed milk, and taro powder, and pour it over ice with the tapioca pearls.
  • This recipe is naturally vegan, gluten-free, egg-free, and soy-free.
Overhead shot of Taro Milk Tea in a clear glass with a boba straw.

🧋 What is Taro Milk Tea?

Taro Milk Tea is a boba tea made from taro root, sweetened condensed milk, green tea, and black tapioca pearls. Fresh taro root is a starchy root vegetable, similar to a purple yam. To make taro milk bubble tea, you can either use taro powder or fresh taro paste. You can even mash your own at home!

🫧 What is Bubble Tea?

Also known as boba tea, bubble tea is a wide range of sweet-flavored fruit teas and milk teas served ice cold or steaming hot with chewy tapioca balls.

Taro Milk Tea in a clear glass with black tapioca pearls at the bottom, next to a scoop of purple taro powder.

🗒️ Ingredient Notes

Tapioca pearls: Also known as boba, tapioca pearls are a fun, sweet, spherical treat with a gummy texture added to teas across southeast Asia. They are made in many different colors, however, I opted for black boba pearls as they’re most commonly used in Taro Milk Tea. The best place to buy tapioca pearls is either online or in Asian grocery stores.

Boiling water: Boiling water is used for steeping the tea. You can use an electric kettle, a kettle on the stove, or boil a small pot of water.

Green tea: I used one green tea bag for this Taro Bubble tea. You could also use one teaspoon of loose leaf tea in an infuser. For another flavor, try jasmine tea.

Sweetened condensed coconut milk: Similar to sweetened condensed milk, sweetened condensed coconut milk is just as sweet with no dairy. It adds creaminess and has a slight coconut taste which is delicious in this Milk Tea. A couple of brands I like are Nature’s Charm and Nature’s Greatest Foods.

Taro powder: Powdered taro root is a sweet and slightly purple powder. The root comes from the taro plant (sometimes called “Elephant’s Ears”) and is reminiscent of purple sweet potato. It is so good for you with plenty of great nutrition. It contains magnesium, manganese, Vitamins B6, C, and E and it is a good source of potassium and fiber! Watch out for added sugars and extra ingredients when buying taro powder. If you have a hard time finding organic natural taro powder, try purple sweet potato powder or ube powder instead. I like this taro yam powder myself!

Ice: This is a chilled drink best served over ice!

Taro Milk Tea in a clear glass with a boba straw.

🥣 How to Make Taro Boba Tea

Overhead shot of black tapioca pearls in a glass.
Overhead shot of ice in a glass.
Overhead shot of Taro Milk Tea in a clear glass with a boba straw and ice.
  • Prepare black tapioca pearls according to package directions. Cook times can vary between brand, size, and ingredients. Set aside.
  • Meanwhile, prepare the tea by bringing one cup of water to a boil in a saucepan. Pour the water over the green tea bag and allow it to steep for at least 10 minutes. Remove the tea bag and set it aside. Allow the tea to cool completely before moving on to the next step.
  • In a blender or food processor combine the prepared green tea, sweetened condensed coconut milk, and taro powder. Blend until smooth.
  • To make taro milk tea, divide the prepared tapioca pearls between two glasses. Fill the glasses with ice, then pour the blended taro milk tea over the ice.
  • Enjoy!
Taro Milk Tea in a clear glass with black tapioca pearls at the bottom, next to a scoop of purple taro powder.

💭 Top Tips

Bubble tea is more easily enjoyed with a special boba straw. It is a much larger straw than regular straws. Find them online or in your local Asian grocery store.

Any leftover Taro Bubble Tea can be stored in the fridge in its glass. Consume within 3 days.

If you’d like to make your boba tea taste a little sweeter, try adding a touch of simple syrup. To make simple syrup, all you have to do is add 1 part sugar (I like coconut sugar) and 1 part water, dissolved in a pan over medium heat on the stove.

Instead of adding sweetened condensed coconut milk, try making your own sweetened condensed almond milk!

Overhead shot of Taro Milk Tea in a clear glass with a boba straw and ice.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

What does taro milk tea taste like?

Taro milk tea tastes sweet, a little starchy, and creamy. The tapioca pearls are sweet and gummy, kind of like candy, and serving it over ice makes it so refreshing!

What flavor is taro milk tea?

Similar to sweet potatoes, taro has a flavor profile that is sweet and vanilla-flavored.

What is in taro milk tea?

This beverage is created with purple ground taro root, tapioca pearls, sweetened condensed milk, and jasmine or green tea.

Taro Milk Tea in a clear glass with black tapioca pearls at the bottom, next to a scoop of purple taro powder.

🫖 More Delicious Tea Recipes

Iced Rose Rooibos Tea Latte

Almond Rose Chai Tea Latte

22 Tea-Infused Recipes

Peppermint Chai

A big straw sticking out of a clear glass filled with purple liquid.

Taro Milk Tea (Bubble Tea)

Treat yourself to a glass of beautiful purple Taro Milk Tea! Like a sophisticated milkshake, it's creamy with a hint of green tea and taro.
5 from 72 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Beverages, Drinks
Cuisine: Taiwanese
Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Tapioca Pearls Prep: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 2 servings
Author: Kristen Wood

Ingredients

  • ½ cup black tapioca pearls also known as boba
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 1 green tea bag
  • 1/2 cup sweetened condensed coconut milk
  • 2 tablespoons taro powder
  • ice for serving

Instructions

  • Prepare black tapioca pearls according to package directions (cook times can vary between brand, size, ingredients). Drain and set aside.
  • Meanwhile, prepare the tea by bringing the one cup of water to a boil. Pour the water over the green tea bag and allow it to steep for at least 10 minutes. Remove the tea bag and set aside. Allow the tea to cool completely before moving on to the next step.
  • In a blender or food processor combine the prepared green tea, sweetened condensed coconut milk and taro powder. Blend until smooth.
  • To make taro milk tea, divide the prepared tapioca pearls between two glasses. Fill the glasses with ice, then pour the blended taro milk tea over the ice.
  • Enjoy! To note: bubble tea is more easily enjoyed with a special boba straw.

Notes

  1. Bubble tea is more easily enjoyed with a special boba straw. It is a much larger straw than regular straws. Find them online or in your local Asian grocery store.
  2. Any leftover Taro Bubble Tea can be stored in the fridge in its glass. Consume within 3 days.
  3. If you’d like to make your boba tea taste a little sweeter, try adding a touch of simple syrup. To make simple syrup, all you have to do is add 1 part sugar (I like coconut sugar) and 1 part water, dissolved in a pan over medium heat on the stove.
You might also like: Strawberry Bubble Tea.
Also see: What Does Taro Taste Like?

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 278kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 9mg | Potassium: 158mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 1mg
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Recipe Rating




 

21 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Mmmmm … Love, love, love bubble tea! This recipe is so good. Taro was a new ingredient for me and it’s delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

  2. 5 stars
    I no longer need to go out for my favorite tea! This homemade taro milk tea is so refreshing and flavorful (I love the hint of green tea). I’ll surely have this on repeat, thanks Kristen for this wonderful recipe!

  3. 5 stars
    This is so delicious. Boba is a favorite of mine and my daughters. And, the color of this is just gorgeous!

  4. 5 stars
    I was so thrilled at the beautiful, vibrant color of this! My niece is obsessed with boba right now so this was a big hit. Thank you!

  5. 5 stars
    Lets just talk about how FUN this recipe is! I have a buddy who loves bubble tea, and we made this for him. The color is just joyful and he adored the flavor, saying he’d never had taro powder before.

  6. 5 stars
    I love boba and we have several places here to buy it but none serve this beautiful taro boba. Your recipe is simple to make and better the tea shops. Great recipe.

  7. 5 stars
    It makes so much more sense to make bubble tea at home! I love the color of this one and it’s so uplifting.

  8. 5 stars
    This tasted so amazing! Thanks a lot for sharing this super easy to make recipe! Fam really loves it! Will surely have this again! Highly recommended!

  9. 5 stars
    This unique tea recipe is full of flavor and textures that you will want to make it again and again!! I love the black tapioca pearls. Thank you for a great Taro Milk Tea recipe!!

  10. 5 stars
    The color of this boba tea is so pretty. I use to make this at work but never at home and your recipe is so easy to make. Love this on a hot day like today.

  11. 5 stars
    This color is amazing and the recipe is so good! I’ll be making it again and again!

  12. 5 stars
    We love boba! It’s so fun and the colors are so pretty but they can be pricey at one of the many drink places around us. So fun to make them at home ourselves!

  13. 5 stars
    My daughter is obsessed with bubble tea! So I couldn’t wait to make this for her.
    She loved it. The color was just gorgeous.
    We found the tapiocas pearls at the Asian grocers.
    This is going to save me so much money!!!

  14. 5 stars
    I’ve yet to try both bubble tea and taro root but this recipe looks and sounds so nice I definite want to make it!

  15. 5 stars
    Bookmarking this for later! As a huge lover of bubble tea, I never would have guessed it was so simple to make at home. Only 4 ingredients! Amazing.