Treat yourself, and get a quarter of your daily calcium!
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Who knew something so yummy could also be so good for you? This dessert is oil-free, refined sugar-free, and dairy-free. It’s ready in under an hour and can be served warm or cold, and with toppings such as fresh fruit, plant-based whipped cream, or ground nuts.
This pudding recipe is a vegan twist on the pudding your grandma hopefully fed you. You’re going to love the simple goodness of this treat. It feels like an indulgence but it’s loaded with calcium, while still being low in fat. It also offers plenty of opportunities to top with interesting options, such as colorful and fun bits of kiwi, mango, or even lychee. Alternatively, add 2 tablespoons of cacao powder or cacao nibs to make chocolate pudding. Plus, with all its healthy points, this recipe is a good option when you need a special treat but don’t want to wreck your healthy eating plan.
Is Vegan Tapioca Pudding Healthy?
The tapioca itself doesn’t have a lot of vitamins or minerals, but the milk does. This recipe calls for almond milk, but your favorite plant-based milk will work just as well. The nutritional content will, of course, be altered, so be sure to read the labels. But most plant-based milks are fortified with calcium.
What is Tapioca Made From?
What is tapioca, exactly, you ask—well, it’s the starch extracted from the cassava root. It’s ground and dried, boiled, and kneaded into dough, forming small or large pearls. The small size is the best for pudding, to give it a smooth, creamy texture. Just be sure to check the instructions on the box as cook times can vary.
Meanwhile, bubble tea typically uses bigger black pearls, which are called boba. They are made by boiling and steeping the white pearls in a caramelized syrup made from brown sugar. So, that adds sugar and calories. It’s often mixed with flavored tea and milk. It’s a very rich treat.
INGREDIENTS
- 3 cups unsweetened almond milk
- 1/2 cup small pearl tapioca
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
INSTRUCTIONS
Soak
Soak tapioca pearls in almond milk.
Simmer
Combine with maple syrup and salt, then simmer.
Thicken
Cook until pearls are translucent and pudding thickens.
Flavor
Stir in vanilla, cool, and serve.
Devour!
FAQs & Tips
This pudding can easily be made a few hours before serving and kept in the refrigerator until it’s time to eat. For longer storage, keep individual servings in covered containers in the fridge for up to 3 days. If kept in an airtight freezer-safe container, this tapioca pudding can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Just thaw thoroughly in the fridge before eating.
Nice, but not necessary, especially with the smaller pearls used in pudding. This is exactly why the larger pearls are used in boba tea, and the straw is so large, so you can get the pearls and chew them along with drinking the tea.
Serving Suggestions
Growing up, I enjoyed homemade treats for dessert most nights. Seems like my mom thought tapioca couldn’t be served alone as a dessert, so she always served cookies with it. I never met a cookie I didn’t like, so here are some vegan cookie recipes to go with your vegan pudding. These Vegan Pumpkin Cookies and Carrot Cake Cookies include vegetables in your dessert! The maple syrup and vanilla in the pudding will be lovely with these cookies.
If you are looking for other vegan pudding recipes to try next, take a look at this Peach Breakfast Quinoa Chia Pudding or this Mint Chia Pudding.
Ingredients
- 3 cups unsweetened almond milk
- 1/2 cup small pearl tapioca
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, soak the tapioca pearls in the almond milk for 30 minutes before heating.
- After soaking, add maple syrup and salt to the saucepan and stir to combine. Heat the mixture over medium heat until it comes to a gentle simmer.
- Reduce the heat to low and let the mixture simmer for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally, until the tapioca pearls are fully translucent and the pudding has thickened to your desired consistency.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Let the pudding cool for a few minutes before serving warm, or chill in the refrigerator if you prefer it cold.
Nutrition Info:
Recipes written and produced on Food Faith Fitness are for informational purposes only.
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