Quick & Easy Coconut Mango Pitaya Sago

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A refreshing, coconut milk dessert with chewy tapioca pearls, sweet mango and dragon fruit. This quick and easy coconut mango pitaya sago is a delicious chilled dessert made with simple ingredients! This is naturally dairy-free.

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Ingredients & Substitutes
Expert Tips
Instructions
Storage
Pairing Suggestions
FAQ
📖 Recipe
💬 Reviews

Coconut mango pitaya sago features cooked tapioca pearls, sweetened coconut milk, dragon fruit and mangos. It's a wonderful twist to the regular coconut mango sago.

The combination of the fresh fruit in that cold sweet coconut milk and the bouncy sago is heavenly!

You'll find a version of this served at select South-East Asian dessert shops, like in Malaysia, Singapore, or Indonesia.

The soft tapioca pearls are my favourite part because they absorb the flavours of the mango, coconut milk and pitaya.

If you're not a fan of pitaya, you can easily swap it for any tropical fruit you enjoy like lychee, rambutan, passionfruit, or longan.

This is also a fantastic dessert to make a few hours in advance for guests and chill it in the fridge until it's time to serve!

Ingredients & Substitutes

Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.

Small Tapioca Pearls: these are small pearls made of a starch from cassava root and dried into small flavorless balls. Or substitute with large tapioca pearls (not bobas) and prepare according to package directions.
Ripe Mangoes: make sure to use fully ripened mangos otherwise the mangos will taste too tart.
Pitaya (aka dragon fruit): any ripe dragon fruit will work so pick whichever color you enjoy the most. Or substitute with lychees, longan, rambutan, or passionfruit.
Full Fat Coconut Milk: avoid using light coconut milk or it'll be too diluted.
Cold Water: to dilute the full fat coconut milk.
Yellow Rock Sugar: these are natural lumps of sugar made from cane sugar and has a yellow tint to it. It's less sweet than regular sugar and sold at many Asian grocery stores. You may substitute with granulated cane sugar but it's not a 1:1 ratio so please add this to taste.

Expert Tips

Use fully ripened mangos. Steer clear of the hard unripe ones or it will taste too tart! To pick ripe mangos, they smell sweet and you should be able to easily leave a thumb imprint. Mango season is between May to September.
To easily cut the pitaya: slice the fruit vertically in half. Then slice that half vertically in half again. Peel the skin back until the flesh comes out easily and dice into smaller pieces.
Stir the tapioca after pouring it into the hot boiling water to prevent them from sticking to each other and stir occasionally.
Rinse the pearls under cold running water to make them very bouncy and try to remove as much excess water so it doesn't dilute the sweet coconut milk.

Instructions

Below are step-by-step instructions on how to make coconut mango pitaya sago:

In small pot, add coconut milk with cold water and yellow rock sugar. Bring to a boil on medium-high heat for 5 minutes until sugar has dissolved. Stir occasionally. You’ll know when you no longer see the sugar or hear it rattling in the pot. Turn off heat, transfer the liquid to a heatproof container and store it in the freezer to cool it down.

In small pot, add coconut milk with cold water and yellow rock sugar. Bring to a boil on medium-high heat for 5 minutes until sugar has dissolved. Stir occasionally. You’ll know when you no longer see the sugar or hear it rattling in the pot. Turn off heat, transfer the liquid to a heatproof container and store it in the freezer to cool it down.

In a medium size pot of water (about 5 cups of water), bring to a boil on high heat. Once the hot water reaches boiling point, add tapioca pearls. Reduce to medium heat or to a rolling boil, boil for 10 minutes uncovered. Stir occasionally. Then turn off the heat, cover and let it sit for another 10 minutes until the pearls have softened and are completely translucent. If you see a small white dot in the center of the pearls, let them sit in the hot water covered for another 2-3 minutes to become fully translucent.

In a medium size pot of water (about 5 cups of water), bring to a boil on high heat. Once the hot water reaches boiling point, add tapioca pearls. Reduce to medium heat or to a rolling boil, boil for 10 minutes uncovered. Stir occasionally. Then turn off the heat, cover and let it sit for another 10 minutes until the pearls have softened and are completely translucent. If you see a small white dot in the center of the pearls, let them sit in the hot water covered for another 2-3 minutes to become fully translucent.

Strain cooked tapioca in a fine sieve and rinse under cold running water. Strain out as much excess water as possible.

Strain cooked tapioca in a fine sieve and rinse under cold running water. Strain out as much excess water as possible.

Divide diced mango, pitaya and strained tapioca between four serving bowls. Pour cold coconut milk over top and enjoy!

Divide diced mango, pitaya and strained tapioca between four serving bowls. Pour cold coconut milk over top and enjoy!

Storage

This dessert is best enjoyed fresh or within the same day.
Leftovers will last up to 3 days can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Note: the cooked tapioca pearls will naturally expand over time and will become less chewy as they are soaked in the coconut milk. To avoid this, I recommend storing each component into a separate airtight container.
Freezer-friendly? I don't recommend freezing coconut mango pitaya sago as the tapioca pearls will change in texture.

Pairing Suggestions

Coconut mango pitaya sago serves well with:

fresh tropical fruit like pineapple, lychee, dragon fruit, star fruit, rambutan and more
other sago desserts like Coconut Mango Sago, Strawberry Sago, Mango Sago, or Rose Pandan Coconut Sago
jelly desserts like Pandan Coconut Jelly, Mango Coconut Jelly, Fruit Jelly Cake, or Lychee Jelly
Filipino Taho
puddings like Chinese Mango Pudding
shaven ice, ice cream, popsicles or frozen yogurt

FAQ

Can I make this in advance?

Coconut mango pitaya sago can be made up to a few hours in advance for best taste and stored into an airtight container in the fridge. I recommend storing the fruit separately from the coconut sago.

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