Strawberry Sago. If you love strawberries and cream, this easy 4-ingredient recipe for you! This colorful refreshing summer dessert is a sweet creamy strawberry sago pudding with fresh strawberries! Ready in 30 minutes or less!
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What is Strawberry Sago?
It's a creamy pudding made of chewy bouncy tapioca pearls mixed with whole fat coconut milk, strawberry puree and condensed milk to sweeten this dessert. This recipe was adapted from my Mango Sago, which is just as delicious if you love mangos!
I personally love this version so much more because I absolutely love strawberries! The chewy sago with the thick sweetened cream bursting with strawberry flavor is heavenly! It's a great dessert idea to make for gatherings as you can make it in advance and keep it chilled to enjoy.
Ingredients
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
- Fully Ripened Fresh Strawberries
- Small tapioca pearls or aka sago
- Condensed milk: To make this vegan, substitute with condensed coconut milk.
- Whole Fat Coconut milk
- Fresh Mint: optional
How to Make Strawberry Sago
In medium pot filled halfway with water (about 5 cups of water), bring to a boil on high heat. Once the hot water reaches boiling point, add ½ cup sago or tapioca pearls. Reduce to medium high heat or to a rolling boil, cook sago for 10 minutes. Do not cover and stir occasionally.
Turn off the heat, cover and let it sit for another 10-15 minutes until the pearls have softened and are completely translucent. Note: If you see a small white dot in the center of the sago pearls, they will need another 2-3 minutes to sit covered in the hot water to become translucent.
Strain the cooked pearls in a fine mesh sieve and rinse off the excess starch with cold running water or in a bowl of cold water, until cool to touch. Drain excess water.
Transfer cold tapioca to a large bowl.
Open canned coconut milk (and remove the lid for safety measures). Give it a thorough mix inside the can so the fats combine with the coconut water. Add coconut milk into the bowl with cooked sago. Set aside.
Meanwhile, remove the tops off of 500 grams of strawberries.
Place strawberries into blender or food processor. Add condensed milk into blender.
Blend until smooth into a strawberry puree.
Mix strawberry mixture into the bowl with the tapioca and coconut milk until well combined.
Taste your pudding and feel free to add a little bit more of condensed milk to adjust the sweetness level.
For the remaining strawberries, remove the tops and dice it into small cubes. Set aside for topping.
Divide strawberry sago into 4 equal portions. Top it off with the cubed strawberries. Optional: garnish with a fresh mint leaf for aesthetics. Enjoy!
(Alternatively, you can mix the diced strawberries into the pudding and serve).
Storage
This strawberry sago pudding lasts up to 3-4 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge. If you want to enjoy it the next day, I suggest leaving it out at room temperature for 15 minutes and giving it a mix so the coconut milk has time to melt.
Expert Tips
- Make sure tapioca are cooked through. If you see a white dot in the center of the boiled tapioca, it's not ready yet.
- Strain cooked tapioca under cold running water. Keep the tapioca in the strainer submerged in cold water. This prevents the tapioca from sticking to each other.
- Use a high power blender to puree the strawberries. I find this works better than a food processor.
- Ensure the coconut milk is chilled before mixing with tapioca.
FAQ
Can I make this in advance?
Yes, you can make this a few hours or the night before and store it covered in the fridge.
Can I substitute with another fruit?
Yes, mango will work and I would suggest referring to my Mango Sago recipe below.
Can I substitute the coconut milk?
Yes, you may use evaporated milk.
Other Asian dessert recipes you may enjoy!
- Mango Sago
- Coconut Mango Dessert Soup with Sago
- Mango Sago Coconut Drink
- Coconut Mango Pitaya Dessert
- Taho
- Korean Strawberry Milk
📖 Recipe
Easy 4-ingredient Strawberry Sago
Ingredients
- 28.2 oz Strawberries fully ripe & washed
- ½ cup tapioca pearls small kind, uncooked
- ½ cup condensed milk (for a vegan option: substitute with condensed coconut milk)
- 13.5 floz coconut milk whole fat at room temperature
Optional:
- fresh mint leaves for garnish
Instructions
- In medium pot filled halfway with water (about 5 cups of water), bring to a boil on high heat. Once the hot water reaches boiling point, add ½ cup sago or tapioca pearls. Reduce to medium high heat or to a rolling boil, cook sago for 10 minutes. Do not cover and stir occasionally. Turn off the heat, cover and let it sit for another 10-12 minutes until the pearls have softened and are completely translucent. Note: If you see a small white dot in the center of the sago pearls, they will need another 2-3 minutes to sit covered in the hot water to become translucent.
- Strain the cooked pearls in a fine mesh sieve and rinse off the excess starch with cold running water or in a bowl of cold water, until cool to touch. Strain out excess water. Transfer cold tapioca to a large bowl.
- Open canned coconut milk (and remove the lid for safety measures). Give it a thorough mix inside the can so the fats combine with the coconut water. Add coconut milk into the bowl with cooked sago. Set aside.
- Take 17 oz/500 grams of the strawberries and remove the green tops off with a sharp knife. Place strawberries into blender or food processor. Add condensed milk into blender. Blend until smooth into a strawberry puree. Mix strawberry mixture into the bowl with the tapioca and coconut milk until well combined. Taste your pudding and feel free to add a little bit more of condensed milk to adjust the sweetness level.
- For the remaining strawberries, remove the tops and dice it into small cubes. Set aside for topping.
- Divide strawberry sago into 4 equal portions in dessert bowls or glasses. Top it off with the cubed strawberries. Optional: garnish with a fresh mint leaf for aesthetics. Enjoy!
- (Alternatively, you can mix the diced strawberries into the pudding to make it easier).
Carmen
Hello! I was looking for a good recipe for strawberries as they are on sale now, and found this very appealing recipe. Thanks! I lived in Brazil for a few years and there they use tapioca balls all the time to make desserts similar to this one. There it is called sagu. Tapioca is one of the most common starches that grows in Brazil so everyone eats it most of the time. There the most common way to prepare it is for kids' birthdays. they cook it with cinnamon and clove sticks and then add wine and sugar when the sago is cooked. the alcohol evaporates and only the flavour is left. Thanks for sharing this recipe=)
Christie Lai
Glad to hear that I could provide this recipe! Thank you so much for sharing that information on tapioca and how you normally enjoy it! It sounds delicious!
Kim Urquhart
We tried the strawberry sago pudding ahead of serving it to our guests and it was just the right balance we were looking for - refreshing, not too sweet, palate cleansing and delicious! It was a shame my husband wanted half of the leftover pudding after portioning it for our guests! 😁
Thanks for the recipe!
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for sharing your positive and kind review! I am so glad you and your guests all enjoyed it 🙂 Haha that's too funny of your husband. I appreciate you making my recipe, Kim!
Kim
We tried the strawberry sago pudding ahead of serving it to our guests and it was just the right balance we were looking for - refreshing, not too sweet, palate cleansing and delicious! It was a shame my husband wanted half of the leftover pudding after portioning it for our guests! 😁
Thanks for the recipe!
Addison
It was amazing, i made it for a bake sale and everybody enjoyed it ! Thank you so so much!!
Christie Lai
Aww this made me smile so much! Thank you so much for making it and really happy to hear that everybody loved it at the bake sale!
heather
really good! made it for a dinner party and everyone loved it 🙂 also refrigerates well
christieathome
So happy to hear that your whole party enjoyed it! Thank you so much for making my recipe, Heather! 🙂
Isenathi
I have lost the words but all I see is PEFERCTION👌👌👌
christieathome
Thanks so much for the kind words!