You guys wanna know how we ended up with a boba recipe made from sweet potatoes? That’s a rhetorical question—we’re telling you anyway. A quick story must ensue. Don’t worry, we promise it won’t take long. The tale goes a little like this:
We messaged our connect from Melt Organic for some more butter coupons, because we put that stuff in like every other recipe. But here’s the plot twist – yeah, we’re one sentence in and there’s already a plot twist. We’re recipe bloggers not screen writers. She lets us know “the Melt team is out of town at the moment. But I also work for a company by the name of Bako Sweet who has some really incredible sweet potatoes. Would you guys be interested in trying some out?”
Our response was of course “Free food? Hell yeah!” About a week later we received a big, white box full of orange sweet potatoes. Some were wrapped individually, some were packaged in pairs, and some were included in large bags. No matter how you see it, we had a lot of sweet potatoes on our hands with little idea of what to do with them.
See, the thing is, we’ve already got tens of recipes with sweet potatoes, including sweet potato pie, sweet potato chili fries, scalloped sweet potatoes, and oh so much more, which left us wondering, “what to do with all these tubers?”
After some serious inspiration from our daily boba tea addiction and Asian-occupied city of San Gabriel, inspiration struck—”why don’t we make a milk tea out of sweet potatoes?” If people can convert taro, another hearty root vegetable, into something sippable, creamy, and sweet, why can’t we do the same with sweet potato?
Aaaanndddd, that’s it for story time! Regardless of the backstory, the drink we crafted from this silky veggie is just as decadent as any milk tea from your local boba shop. Plus, as an added zinger, we teach you how to cook your own tapioca pearls! Hhhhoollaaaa!
Before we’re out, a thousand thanks to Bako Sweet for sending over some amazing sweet potatoes! We can’t wait to do more with these precious gems.
If you like what your eyes are tasting, then share this recipe with your friends on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest at @noeggsorham! For more flame-emoji photos, geeky food talk, and mouth-watering dishes, subscribe to our email list. Tag us in a photo when you create one of our recipes at home so we can share it!
“I got so much balls, you could call it tapioca”
Sweet Potato Milk Tea with Brown Sugar Boba
Subtle and earthy sweet potatoes are blended with soy milk and brown sugar syrup to create a creamy, decadent, and refreshing milk tea (minus the actual tea). Pair with fresh boba to snack as your sip.
Ingredients
Milk Tea (one serving)
- 8 oz unsweetened soy milk
- 1.5 oz boiled sweet potato, peeled*
- 2 oz brown sugar syrup
- ice
Smoothie (one serving)
- 4 oz unsweetened soy milk
- 5 oz ice
- 1 oz sweetened condensed coconut milk
- 1 oz boiled sweet potato, peeled
- 1 oz brown sugar syrup*
Boba
- 3/4 c tapioca pearls
- brown sugar syrup
Directions
- Boba: Bring 10 cups of water to a boil in a large pot over high heat. Once at a rolling boil, add in tapioca pearls and gently stir until they float to the top.
- Place on a lid and continue to cook at a rolling boil for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so. Turn off the heat, keep on the lid, and let sit for another 15 minutes.
- Drain into a colander, rinse thoroughly with cold water, shake out excess, and transfer to a bowl or airtight container. Add enough brown sugar syrup to come up to the top of the boba and cover until ready to use; best within 3 hours.
- Milk Tea: Combine all the ingredients in a personal sized blender or mason jar and blitz or shake until creamy. Serve with a 1/4 cup of boba and plenty of ice.
- Smoothie: Combine all ingredients in a personal sized blender and blitz until drink is icy but not crunchy. Serve with a 1/4 cup boba.
*To make brown sugar syrup, combine 3/4 cup of brown sugar with 3/4 cup of water in a small pot. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and stir until brown sugar is dissolved; about 4 minutes. Store in a mason jar or squeeze bottle for easy access.
*To cook sweet potatoes, peel them, dice them into small chunks, and boil them in a pot of water until fork tender; 10-15 minutes.
NO EGGS OR HAM 
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