Strawberry Milk Tea - Boba - My Vegan Minimalist (2024)

This strawberry milk tea boba recipe uses FRESH strawberries for a fruity, refreshing & creamy flavor! Make it with green, jasmine, Assam, or oolong tea. Only 5 ingredients are needed for this cheap, easy & pretty pink bubble tea.

This fruity alternative to my chocolate or jasmine milk tea is the perfect summer refresher. Plus, it's WAY cheaper than getting it from your local cafe (like Gong Cha, Ding Tea, Chatime, Tastea, Starbucks, etc).

Bubble tea originates from Taiwan and has many different names - boba, milk tea, pearl tea, tapioca ball drink, etc. It was invented in the 1980s (Source)

💌 Why I Love This Recipe

• Uses REAL, fresh strawberries
• Super forgiving & simple
• You need only 5 ingredients
• No special tools required
• Every step explained with photos
• Add extra flavors like matcha, chocolate, or Oreo

Don't have fresh strawberries? I've included instructions on how to make the drink with strawberry powder or strawberry milk too!

🥛 Ingredients

You'll need these simple ingredients to make this richer-than-regular strawberry boba!

Ingredient Details

Milk - I used oat milk to keep this dairy-free. Coconut milk works very well too. Feel free to use any milk you want.

Strawberries - I like to use fresh or frozen strawberries as opposed to powder. This gives a real fruity taste instead of an artificial flavor that you get from instant strawberry milk tea.

Tea - I used green tea. You can use green, jasmine, oolong, black, Assam, or even fruit tea. Use loose-leaf or tea bags. Alternatively, you can also leave tea out altogether. This will give a more milky flavor.

Tapioca (boba) balls - I like getting them from my local Asian supermarket. You can also get them on Amazon, but they'll be a lot more pricey. To make things easier, choose quick-cooking boba if you can.

Sugar - Any sugar will work - granulated, white, coconut, brown, etc. I like to use light sugar to make sure the color stays nice and pastel!

• 2 glasses
• Pan
• Sieve/strainer
• Knife and chopping board
• Fork
• Large straw - optional

⏲️ Steps

Wondering how to make strawberry milk tea? You won't believe how easy it is.

TIP - This is just a quick visual overview. For detailed instructions & exact ingredients, check out the recipe card at the bottom of this page!

1. In a mug, make tea. Let steep & set aside to cool.

2. Add sliced strawberries, water & sugar to a saucepan.

3. Bring to boil & let simmer for 10 mins.

4. Pour through a sieve.

5. Set aside to let cool.

6. Make tapioca balls and soak them in half the strawberry syrup.

7. Divide balls between two glasses. Add tea, milk & the remaining syrup.

8. Enjoy!

💡 Expert Tips

• Always taste & adjust before serving! Everyone has a different preference - you could add more tea, milk, sugar, etc.
• If desired, blend milk with a handful of ice cubes for an extra refreshing version.
• The drink can separate a bit - don't panic, this is completely normal. Simply give it a stir!
• Decaf - Replace green/black tea with a fruit tea. Peach, mango, or strawberry tea work particularly well.
• Don't let boba pearls stand around for too long - soak them in strawberry syrup straight away.
• When cooking boba, follow the instructions on your own pacakge. Instruction and cooking time can vary!
• You can enjoy it with or without boba pearls.
• Lukewarm boba tea is a no-go! Make sure you serve it ice cold (or very hot!).

Did you know? The word 'bubble' in bubble tea doesn't refer to tapioca pearls! Instead, it refers to the small air bubbles that often appear on the surface of your boba when you mix it.

🥛 Using Powder or Milk

You might not want to make your own strawberry syrup. In that case, you can use simple strawberry milk from the grocery shop.

Alternatively, you can also buy instant strawberry milk tea powder in some parts of the world.

Strawberry milk - Make tea. Skip the syrup section. Then make tapioca balls as described in the recipe. Soak them in 2 tablespoon of sugar. To serve, divide the balls between 2 glasses. Then add tea to each glass and pour strawberry milk on top until the glass is full. Mix & enjoy!

Powder - If you're lucky to live in parts of the world that sell strawberry milk tea powder, you can use that. Simply follow the instructions on the package. Remember, these powders are usually a lot sweeter than homemade boba tea.

❓FAQ

🍫 Variations

This pink bubble tea offers so many options to experiment with flavors. Some of the most popular variations are listed below!

• Strawberry rose milk tea - Add 1 tablespoon of rosewater and top it off with rose petals.
• Strawberry cheesecake milk tea - Add whipped cream on top.
• Choco strawberry milk tea - Use chocolate milk instead of regular milk.
• Strawberry jasmine milk tea - Use jasmine tea.
• Strawberry matcha milk tea - Instead of green/black tea, use matcha.
• Strawberry Oreo milk tea - Blend milk with Oreo cookies. Top off with crushed Oreos.

There are also numerous ways you can play around with toppings. Add:

• Strawberry chunks
• Lavender
• A drizzle of chocolate sauce

🍵 Serving

To serve this strawberry green boba, you'll need a tall glass and a thick straw.

If you don't have a thick boba straw, you can use a regular straw and then scoop out the pearls with a long spoon.

I like to serve it with plenty of crushed ice because that's how they serve it in my local Gong Cha bubble tea shop.

If you don't have crushed ice, you can crush it yourself in a blender, or even blend the ice together with some milk for an extra cold, refreshing boba.

To serve HOT - Leave out the ice cubes. Serve with warm milk (gently warmed up in a pan or microwave - careful not to burn).

📦 Storage

Boba is best served straight away!

I recommend enjoying it as fresh as possible, but here's how you can store it.

To store - Place strawberry milk tea (with no pearls and no ice) in an airtight jar in the fridge for up to 48 hours. Add fresh pearls and ice when you're ready to serve it.

Made a larger bath of tapioca pearls and want to store them for later? Here's an EXPERT TRICK you'll want to remember!

To keep them soft and moist, mix the pearls with syrup. Make sure they're completely covered.

You can either use the strawberry syrup you made earlier or another simple syrup (make it by boiling equal amounts of water and sugar).

Then store the mixture in the fridge for up to 2 days.

🍹 More Boba Recipes

If you're anything like me, you probably can't get enough of milk tea!

• Chocolate Milk Tea
• Mango Milk Tea
• Honeydew Milk Tea
• Jasmine Milk Tea

Confused about making this? If you have any questions or something wasn't clear enough, simply leave a comment below. I aim to respond to all comments within 24 hours.

Tried out this fruity bubble tea? It would mean a lot if you left a rating or comment below!

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🍴Recipe