Easy Minute or large pearl Instant Pot tapioca pudding recipe that takes less than 15 minutes and requires less work than on the stovetop. If you love a little bit of dessert after dinner but need a fast way to get it cooked, this and our Instant Pot rice pudding are the treats for you.
Yes we are back with this easy Instant Pot tapioca pudding recipe, yet another favorite Instant Pot dessert recipe! It came out fabulous and only took about 15 minutes! I grew up with tapioca pudding. It’s now one of our favorites and added to the list Instant Pot recipes with many others you’ve got to try on our site. Let us know what you think! (affiliate links present)
Ninja Foodi Tapioca Pudding
Making it in the Instant Pot is no different as far as the ingredients go, just of course the timing, the pan, and what settings to use is what you need to know. If you’ve heard about IPs or Ninja Foodi but don’t have one yet I share my love for them because it has really made dinnertime much easier in our house, and allowed us to eat together more often (the goal right).
Large Pearl Tapioca Instant Pot
Tapioca pudding great either warm or cold in my opinion with just a dash of nutmeg on top. It’s such a simple dessert really and mostly milk so I love that my kids like it (they aren’t big milk drinkers anymore but this is a great way to get some into them). If you’ve made this pudding on the stove top you know that it’s really milk, sugar, tapioca and an egg.
Jump to
If you are new to pressure cooking we have a lot of easy one pot meal recipes for you here. To begin with let’s start with a few basic tips:
- Make sure to Bookmark our InstaPot recipes page. We add new ones each week!
- Then PRINT this —–> Instant Pot cooking times cheat sheet that will help you understand how long meat, vegetables and beans take to cook in your pressure cooker.
- I HIGHLY recommend you buy this non stick pot.
- You should know how to deglaze a pressure cooker after sautéing but it won’t have as many issues with this better liner.
For reference, this is the model I have (a 6 quart) and use for all recipe creations.
Tapioca in Pressure Cooker
With both of us working full time it’s fabulous to be able to cook what would normally take a an hour or so for less than 20 minutes, seriously! There are a few versions but I have a 6 quart pot at home. There are two ways, PIP (pot in pot) method is below and second way you put directly into your pressure cooker pot:
Ingredients
- Pot for inside your IP to use the PIP (pot in pot) method for this – You MUST use this pot for it to work (sen below)
- 2 3/4 c. Milk
- haven’t tried with coconut milk but should work
- 1 Egg
- 4 Tbsp. Tapioca – use Minute tapioca pearls
- 1 Tsp. Vanilla
- 1/3 c. refined sugar
Now you could cut down the sugar if you wanted or make sugar free with a Splenda product if need be. I haven’t done that but it should not make a bit of difference as far as the directions go. I will share how to make the version showed below in the pans but will say that the other one in the recipe card is more user friendly.
Instant Pot Tapioca Pudding Pot In Pot
- Pour 2 c water into your Instant Pot and put a trivet inside.
- Add the sugar, vanilla, milk, and Minute tapioca into the BOTTOM of the 2 stackable pots.
- Add an egg and whisk together for 1-2 minutes so all of it is combined well & sugar begins to dissolve
- Put the top pot on top of your lower filled pot
- Put the lid on the top pot
- Secure the locking device so both pots are tightly together
- Lower your pot on to your trivet, must be low trivet so lid will shut
- Put your lid on and close your steam valve
- Put your IP on manual, pressure high for 5 minutes.
- Do a natural release for 4 minutes before releasing steam
Pour Instant Pot tapioca pudding in your bottom bowl/container into a separate cool bowl. Put bowl in fridge, it will continue to thicken as it cools.
Large Pearl Tapioca Instant Pot
Here is the second (and best) way to make Instant Pot tapioca pudding. We do it right in our Instant Pot and there’s no need to soak the tapioca pearls beforehand. Video is below and full recipe is in recipe card below:
- I HIGHLY suggest you get a non stick pot to make this and other recipes!
- Add this brand of small pearl tapioca or this large tapioca and water into your pot
- Close lid and steam valve and set to pressure cooking on high for 5 minutes.
- Whisk together your egg yolks and milk in a small bowl so they are ready. Then do a quick release when done.
- Turn pot OFF using the cancel button (important step so you don’t get the burn notification). Use a wooden spoon to scrape bits of stuck on tapioca off bottom of pot.
- Now turn your pressure cooker to saute.
- Add some of the hot pudding into your bowl with milk and whisk so it can temper the mixture.
- Once the pudding starts boiling slowly pour 1/2 the egg/milk mixture in stirring consistently so the egg cooks and pudding doesn’t burn. (I like using a wooden spoon during this process), then add 2nd half.
- Slowly sprinkle in sugar and stir consistently until dissolved. Stir in vanilla.
Turn pressure cooker off, remove pot so it doesn’t continue to cook, pour pudding into bowls immediately so it doesn’t stick. You can certainly enjoy this as is nice and warm if you prefer that temperature. OR Allow to cool in fridge to thicken up more (or eat immediately if you prefer).
Pressure Cooker Tapioca Pudding
Optional items are a dash of cinnamon inside or on top of your Instant Pot pudding, nutmeg is good too, and a few raisins has been a favorite topping too. Looking for more Instant Pot dessert recipes?
- Pressure cooker brownies are fudgy and packed with chocolate
- Instant Pot pineapple upside down cake is easy to bake in a mini pan
Here is the recipe for making tapioca in an Instant Pot. It’s a short cook time and if you follow it precisely it turns out so good. Immediately after it’s done I transfer to small bowls and refrigerate to cool before eating.
Instant Pot Tapioca Pudding Recipe
Equipment
- 1 pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 1/2 c milk, whole is best if you can find it
- 1/2 c sugar, white sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla, or a bit more depending on your taste
- 1/2 c tapioca, not Minute tapioca
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 c water
Instructions
- Add tapioca pearls and water into your Instant Pot (directly inside, this is not the PIP method that is above). Stir
- Close lid and steam valve and set to pressure high for 5 minutes. Whisk together your egg yolks and milk in a small bowl so they are ready. Then do a quick release when done.
- Turn pot OFF using the cancel button (important step so you don’t get the burn notification). Use a wooden spoon to scrape bits of stuck on tapioca off bottom of pot.
- Now turn your pressure cooker to saute. Add some of the hot pudding into your bowl with milk and whisk so it can temper the mixture.
- Once the pudding starts boiling slowly pour 1/2 the egg/milk mixture in stirring consistently so the egg cooks and pudding doesn't burn. (I like using a wooden spoon during this process), then add 2nd half.
- Slowly sprinkle in sugar and stir consistently until dissolved. Add vanilla.
- Turn pressure cooker off, remove pot so it doesn't continue to cook, pour pudding into bowls immediately. Refrigerate
- Allow to cool in fridge to thicken up more (or eat immediately if you prefer).
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
For the 1st recipe (with the double pans stacked) can I double the recipe and fill the top and bottom pans? Will it turn out? Thank you!
Did you get an answer? I have the same question. Thanks.
This is the BEST tapioca pudding ever! I love that I can make it in my Instant Pot!! My family loved it!
Tapioca sounds so healthy and definitely need to try this recipe. Love the Instant Pot option too.
This brings back memories of desserts I used to eat when I was a kid. I am going to have to make it soon for the nostalgia.
It never ceases to amaze me what I can do with the Instant Pot! Another delicious recipe that we love making with our favorite kitchen tool 🙂
LOVED this tapioca recipe. Added a pinch of cinnamon on top and it was perfection 🙂
Such a great traditional recipe! I love that you’ve made it in the Instant Pot, look forward to trying this!
I haven’t had this type of pudding since I was a kid and I have no idea why. I need to give this a try. I have had my instant pot for a year and I’ve never made dessert in it!
I tried the second recipe using regular tapioca and not instant tapioca. As the pudding reached pressure, the burn warning displayed, so I cancelled the process and turned off the Instant Pot. I released all the pressure, had some difficulty removing the lid, and the pudding was a frothy mess. Tapioca adhered to the bottom of the pot and I had to soak the pot for quite a while to remove the tapioca. What went wrong? I will try again tomorrow but am not feeling hopeful. Should I have soaked the tapioca before putting in the instant pot?
I have made it that way multiple times, and show this method in the video as well and have never had an issue. No I don’t soak the tapioca. Make sure seal on inside of lid is on securely, nothing stuck to bottom of pot and don’t set it for longer than posted for the first step which is just tapioca and water.
I just made this again, followed the directions exactly and I ended up with a gooey mess, much like glue. My husband wouldn’t eat it. It had a terrible texture. I’m going to stay with a microwave version that is very easy and doesn’t require eggs. I’ve made the microwave version before and it’s great. The only drawback is the need to soak the tapioca overnight in milk, but what the heck, if you plan ahead that is no big deal.
Well I have made this a whole lot and it does come out as stated, great. If you wait even 1 minute after the time is up to release the pressure you will have a gooey mess when you remove the lid, it is very time sensitive.
Do you think on the pot in pot method you could put pudding in both pans for a double batch? Just made the single batch and it was perfect.