Pandan Milk Tea - Easy Homemade Bubble Tea Recipe

This pandan milk tea recipe makes super yummy pandan infused milk tea with homemade pandan jelly boba. It's all homemade and easy!

If you love milk tea ( or bubble tea), this pandan milk tea is a must try. It is made with the a black tea base which is added milk and sweetened with homemade pandan sugar syrup and homemade pandan boba. Served with ice, this drink makes a perfect glass of super yummy chilled pandan milk tea.

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How to Make Pandan Milk Tea

Ingredients

For the milk tea:

• Black Tea
• Milk
• Water
• Pandan syrup

For the pandan jelly:

• Konnyaku powder
• Pandan leaves
• Sugar
• Water

Making the pandan jelly

1. Wash and pat the pandan leaves dry. Cut them into 1-inch length. Add the cut leaves into a blender and add approximately half cup of water.
2. Process until fine.
3. Strain the pandan juice with a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth for the juice.
4. Squeeze the pulp to release all the juice and discard the pulp. Add the pandan juice into a measuring jug. Top it with water until it reaches the required amount of liquid in the jelly recipe (ie 500ml).

1. Transfer the juice into a pot and turn on the heat to medium low. While the pandan juice is heating up, measure sugar in a small bowl.
2. Add the jelly powder and mix both to combine the powder thoroughly with the sugar. This is an important step and it helps spread the jelly powder which in turn is a great way of avoiding it from clumping when added to the water to cook.
3. Add the dry ingredients mix into the heating water and cook the solution for about 7 to 8 minutes on medium low heat, stirring and scraping the sides of the pot constantly.
4. Remove the solution from heat and pour it into an 8 inches square tin (or any other mold). The size of the mold does not matter as you will be cutting the jelly into small cubes after setting. Nevertheless, it is advisable to pour it into squarish or rectangle molds for easy cutting. I poured mine into an 8 inches square cake tin.

Cutting the Jelly

• Let the jelly set completely before cutting. To expedite the setting process, refrigerate it. It should take about 30 to 40 minutes to set in the fridge (for an 8 inches square mold).
• If you use smaller molds, the jelly will be thicker and would require more time to cool down and set. To test if it is ready for cutting, press it lightly with your finger. It should be firm when pressed. If it appears wobbly, give it more time to set.

1. Once the jelly is set, turn it out onto a plate or cutting board to cut it into cubes.
2. To remove it from its mold, run a thin flat spatula along the sides of the jelly and the mold. Gently push it away from the mold as you do this.
3. Place the cutting board over the mold.
4. Turn the mold over, holding the cutting board firmly attached to it. Tap the mold to remove the jelly into the cutting board. If it does not drop, lift the mold up slightly (while still facing down) and try to push the corner of the jelly away from the mold with your finger. It should drop out once a small section of it is pulled away from the mold.
5. Cut the jelly into small cubes, about the size of boba pearls (approximately 0.75cm).
6. Place them in a bowl and refrigerate until ready to assemble the pandan milk tea.

Mixing the milk tea

1. Add water into a small pot. Bring it to a boil.
2. Add the tea bags and let the tea steep in the hot water for 3 minutes. Cover the pot with a lid.
3. Squeeze the tea bags to remove all the tea and discard them.
4. Add milk into the tea and mix well.

Assembling the pandan milk tea

1. To assemble the pandan milk tea, start by dividing the jelly into the prepared drinking glasses.
2. Pour in the pandan syrup.
3. Pour in the milk tea.
4. Top with ice cubes and serve the pandan milk tea.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is pandan and matcha the same?

• No, they are not. Pandan is a green plant with long, thin, blade-like leaves. It is often added to food and drinks for its fragrance and natural green color and discarded after cooking. At most, the leaves are ground (with some water) and strained for their extract which is added directly to food and drinks for flavor and color. The pulp is discarded.
• Matcha on the other hand, is green tea. It is similar to black tea in that the leaves are dried and steeped into hot water to make green tea (matcha tea). Matcha is also available in powder form and is often mixed directly into hot water and mixed into matcha tea. Matcha powder is also used widely in baked goods and desserts like in my matcha pound cake, matcha shortbread cookies and green tea ice cream.

What is the substitute for fresh pandan leaves?

• If you cannot find fresh pandan leaves, you can also use the frozen ones. And if those are also not available, you can use store bought pandan essence or pandan paste. These are often very concentrated and you will need very small quantities (⅛th of a teaspoon to make the jelly).

Can you make the pandan jelly with agar agar powder instead of konnyaku powder?

• Yes, you can.
• I prefer konnyaku as it has a chewier texture compared to normal jelly (agar agar) but the latter will still work fine for this pandan milk tea recipe too.

How to remove the jelly from its mold?

• Removing the jelly from the mold can be challenging, especially if you are using hard molds (Silicone molds are easier to work with as you can stretch and bend them to remove the jelly).
• The best way to remove is by running a spatula along the edges of the jelly to separate it from the sides of the mold. Try to push it gently away from the mold as you do this to loosen it further.

Can you make the pandan milk tea without the jelly?

• Yes, you can. You can totally omit it, if you like. The jelly boba is a lovely chewy addition to the milk tea. Without the jelly, the only pandan presence in the drink would be the pandan syrup. For a more stronger pandan flavour, you can knot and drop a pandan leaf (or cut it into small 2-inch pieces) and drop it into the water when boiling it. That way, you get a lovely pandan infused milk tea which you can then add the pandan syrup to or just plain sugar.
• I totally love the jelly in my pandan milk tea drink. The chewy texture of the konnyaku jelly is a quick and easy substitute to boba pearls (which can be quite time consuming to make). And I choose to cut mine into small cubes (about the size of boba pearls) so that they can pass through bubble straws when drinking). You can also cut it into thin strips like I did for my pandan milk recipe here.

Can you replace the pandan syrup with sugar?

• Yes, you can. For the milk tea recipe below, you can use 2 tablespoons of sugar. You can further increase or decrease it as you like.
• The pandan syrup can also be replaced with simple sugar syrup or other sweeteners like honey, stevia, etc.

How long does this pandan milk tea last?

• On its own (without being assembled into the milk tea), the pandan jelly can last for a good 4 to 5 days (refrigerated). Once assembled, the milk tea is best consumed immediately, cold. At most, you can keep it for 1 day, refrigerated.

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Like this pandan milk tea drink recipe? Here are my other posts you might want to check out:

• Pandan Cake - Easiest Pandan Flavored Pound Cake
• Pandan Jelly with Coconut (Agar Agar Pandan)
• White Chocolate Matcha Cookies - Easy Green Tea Shortbread Cookies
• Pandan Syrup - How to Make
• Matcha Pound Cake
• Pandan Cookies with Coconut and Gula Melaka - An Easy Recipe
• Pandan Milk - Flavorful and Easy
• Grass Jelly Drink - Easy Homemade Tea Recipe

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Recipe (Printable)

Here is the full printable version of my pandan milk tea recipe.

And that's my easy homemade pandan milk tea recipe for you.

Enjoy!