Refreshing and sweet strawberry milk tea with boba tapioca pearls is a lot easier to make at home than you think! Loaded with fresh strawberries, fresh boba, milk, and tea of your choice, this strawberry bubble tea might just be better than the bubble tea you get your local tea shop.
It is made with real fruit (no artificial flavors or colors here), and is cheaper than buying at the store. So you can save money and a trip to the shop when you make fresh homemade strawberry boba tea.
Why You’ll Love Strawberry Milk Tea
- Sweet homemade strawberry milk. There’s nothing better than a cup of strawberry milk — except this strawberry milk tea with boba. Although this recipe is deceptively simple, it’s amazingly delicious!
- Fresh, ripe strawberries. You won’t find strawberry syrup in this strawberry bubble tea. Instead, we’re using fresh strawberries for an authentic flavor that can’t be beaten!
- Soft, chewy boba. Boba is essential when making this strawberry milk tea. Making these tapioca balls is easy, and once it’s ready, you’ll have fresh, soft, chewy, sweet boba! But you could totally serve this milk tea without it if you prefer.
- All that goodness in just five minutes. Once you have cooked the boba and chilled the tea, it takes five short minutes to make fresh homemade strawberry milk tea. So, skip that trip to the bubble tea shop and stay at home instead!
Ingredients and Substitutions
To make delicious, homemade Strawberry Milk Tea, you will need the following ingredients (full quantities in the recipe card below):
- strawberries - The fresh strawberries make this bubble tea shine, but you can use frozen berries in a pinch.
- tea - I recommend use black or jasmine tea for the best flavor.
- milk - feel free to use your favorite milk for this recipe, whether that is dairy milk, almond milk, soy milk, or oat milk.
- tapioca pearls - you can find tapioca pearls (also called boba) at any local Asian grocery store or you can purchase them online.
- brown sugar - brown sugar is stirred into the cooked pearls with water and heated to create that sweet syrupy flavour. You can also substitute it with honey and just stirring it into the cooked pearls.
- ice
You will also need measuring cups and spoons, a large cooking pot, and a blender.
For serving, you will need glasses and wide straws to be able to accommodate the pearls. These also can also be purchased online or at your local Asian grocery store.
Substitutions
You can also try substituting the strawberries for your favorite fruit to switch up the bubble tea flavor, including mango, peach, lychee, passion fruit, or taro.
How to Make the Strawberry Milk Tea
Make tea.
Transfer the boiling water to a cup or shallow bowl and add the tea bag. Allow the tea to steep for 5 minutes. Remove the tea bag and allow the tea to cool to room temperature. Transfer the tea to the fridge to chill completely.
Make the tapioca pearls (boba).
- Cook the boba. In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil over high heat. Add tapioca pearls and turn the heat down to medium-low. Cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Let it sit. Turn off the heat and let the tapioca pearls sit in the hot water for another 20-25 minutes.
- Add brown sugar syrup. Drain the pearls through a fine mesh sieve and return to the saucepan. Add in brown sugar and 2 tablespoons water. Stir well and heat over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the syrup starts to thicken a bit, about 4-5 minutes. When the pearls are fully cooked through, they should be soft and chewy.
Make the strawberry milk tea.
- Make the strawberry milk tea. In a large blender, combine strawberries, milk, chilled tea, and ice in a blender until smooth. Add in some honey if you want added sweetness (note that the brown sugar tapioca pearls will add sweetness).
- Assemble the bubble tea. Divide the cooked tapioca pearls into two tall glasses. Pour the strawberry milk tea over top. Give the drinks a quick stir and serve with wide straws.
How to Store
- How to store strawberry milk tea: Strawberry bubble tea is best enjoyed fresh, but it will last in the fridge for about 4 hours. You can enjoy it after a day but the boba pearls will lose its texture and get hard. In this case, you can remove the boba with a slotted spoon and enjoy the rest of the drink.
- How to store cooked tapioca pearls. If you have extra boba, you can store them in an airtight container at room temperature. Cover and fully coat them in the brown sugar syrup so that they don't stick to each other. But again, you need to consume them within 4 hours, as they will start to get mushy. Do not store in the refrigerator otherwise they will harden.
More Strawberry Recipes
- 25 Best Strawberry Recipes
- Strawberry Banana Smoothie
- Strawberry Lemonade
- Fresh Strawberry Pie
- Strawberry Frozen Yogurt
- Fresh Strawberry Pie
- Strawberry Popsicles
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Recipe
Strawberry Milk Tea
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Refreshing strawberry milk tea with boba tapioca pearls is easy to make at home. Loaded with fresh fruit, homemade bubble tea is better than storebought.
Ingredients
- 1 tea bag, black tea or green tea
- ¾ cup boiling water
- ½ cup dried (boba) tapioca pearls
- 4 cups water
- 1 and ½ tablespoons brown sugar (or honey)
- 2 cups fresh strawberries
- 1 and ¼ cups milk, dairy or non-dairy
- 1 cup ice
- 2 tablespoons honey (optional)
Instructions
Make the tea:
- Transfer the boiling water to a cup or shallow bowl and add the tea bag. Allow the tea to steep for 5 minutes. Remove the tea bag and allow the tea to cool to room temperature.
- Transfer the tea to the fridge to chill completely.
Make the boba tapioca pearls:
- In a medium saucepan, bring 4 cups water to a boil over high heat. Add tapioca pearls and turn the heat down to medium-low. Cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Turn off the heat and let the tapioca pearls sit in the hot water for another 20-25 minutes.
- Drain the pearls through a fine mesh sieve and return to the saucepan. Add in brown sugar and 2 tablespoons water. Stir well and heat over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the syrup starts to thicken a bit, about 4-5 minutes. When the pearls are fully cooked through, they should be soft and chewy.
Make the strawberry milk tea:
- In a large blender, combine strawberries, milk, chilled tea, and ice in a blender until smooth. Add in some honey if you want added sweetness (note that the brown sugar tapioca pearls will add sweetness).
Assemble the bubble tea:
- Divide the cooked tapioca pearls into two tall glasses.
- Pour the strawberry milk tea over top. Give the drinks a quick stir and serve with wide straws.
Notes
How to store strawberry milk tea: Strawberry bubble tea is best enjoyed fresh, but it will last in the fridge for about 4 hours. You can enjoy it after a day but the boba pearls will lose its texture and get hard. In this case, you can remove the boba with a slotted spoon and enjoy the rest of the drink.
How to store cooked tapioca pearls. If you have extra boba, you can store them in an airtight container at room temperature. Cover and fully coat them in the brown sugar syrup so that they don't stick to each other. But again, you need to consume them within 4 hours, as they will start to get mushy. Do not store in the refrigerator otherwise they will harden.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Drink
- Method: Blender
- Cuisine: Asian
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