Easy Crockpot Tapioca Pudding

Our family loves tapioca—especially our kids! 

Boba, or bubble tea, is their favorite treat to sip on summer weekends as we meander along the Pearl Street Mall, and I have been making homemade tapioca pudding for them since they were young.

What is Tapioca?

If you are not yet familiar with tapioca pearls, they are round balls made from tapioca, a starch extracted from the cassava root.  The pearls can range in size and will have a soft and chewy consistency after cooking.

The small pearls are typically used to make tapioca pudding while the larger pearls are often used as an ingredient in bubble tea and are commonly referred to as boba pearls.

Uncooked tapioca pearls are white, but they may appear clear or black in different recipes.

As you can see above, the small white tapioca pearls in the first photo will turn clear/translucent after cooking, as in the pudding recipe in the second photo.

In bubble teas, large white tapioca pearls are first cooked in brown sugar, which makes them appear brown/black. These pearls are often added to iced teas and sipped through a wide straw, as in the third photo.  

From Stovetop to Crockpot

Generally, tapioca pudding is cooked on the stovetop and requires fairly constant stirring to prevent it from clumping and sticking to the pot. I love finding shortcuts, so I recently decided to try making it in our crockpot and we were so pleased with the results!

Not only did this recipe take me only a few minutes to put together, the consistency was perfectly gooey and the flavor was delicious!

I am excited to share this with you, so please comment below and let me know if you try it yourself.

Easy Crockpot Tapioca Pudding
by Debbie Steinbock

Ingredients:
½ cup small tapioca pearls
1¼ cup plant based milk
13.5 ounces full fat coconut milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ – ⅓ cup maple syrup, depending on desired sweetness

Method:

1. Add all the ingredients to your crockpot and stir well to combine.
2. Cook on low for approximately 2 hours, stirring once mid-way to prevent the tapioca from sticking and clumping.
3. The tapioca pudding will thicken as it cools; store in the refrigerator.
4. Serve with your favorite toping: fresh fruit, nuts, seeds, etc!