If there is a beverage I relish in Mexican taqueria, it is this horchata. It’s hard to resist this sweet cinnamon rice milk drink.
What is horchata?
It’s a popular Mexican sweetened rice milk drink with the flavors of cinnamon. The traditional horchata is prepared by soaking the rice and cinnamon and blending them to get the rice milk. While you can find many horchata recipes made from scratch, the instant horchata drink with rice milk from the Two Sleevers websites caught my eye. Inspired by that recipe, I made this creamy horchata drink with boba in Instant Pot!
Boba in horchata
Hey, why not? I know boba tea is quite popular, but in my opinion, boba is not meant only for tea. I love to add boba to all my beverages, and that’s how I ended up adding boba to my horchata drink! But if you want to skip it or cannot source boba, you can very well make this horchata without boba.
Ingredients required
We only need five ingredients for making this creamy horchata drink, and here they are! Boba | Tapioca Pearls – I used black sugar-flavored tapioca pearls or the boba. I used ½ cup of boba. Adjust the amount as per your preference. Sugar & Sweet Condensed Milk – I have used both sugar and condensed milk. We need to cook the boba along with sugar, so I went with sugar. We love creamy boba, so I added condensed milk as well. You can skip condensed milk and add more sugar or use a sweetener of your choice. Rice Milk – The key ingredient! I used store-bought rice milk, and that makes it super easy to prepare this horchata drink! Ground Cinnamon – I prefer ground cinnamon. I tried this recipe with cinnamon sticks while testing and felt ground cinnamon worked better.
Horchata ice cubes
Horchata is best when served cold. I refrigerate the drink and serve it with boba, and I don’t add ice cubes. If you like to add ice cubes, I highly recommend freezing atleast ½ cup of horchata drink in ice trays and using that instead of plain ice cubes. As the plain ice cubes melt, it dilutes the drink, so horchata ice cubes work better, just like coffee ice cubes in cold coffee.
Shelf life of cooked boba
I suggest using the cooked boba within 6 to 8 hours. I let the cooked boba sit at room temperature while the horchata drink was cooling. Do not refrigerate as it changes the texture of the boba. Alternatively, you can store boba in sugar syrup but don’t store it for more than 8 hours. So cook the required quantity and use it in a day.
Dietary specification
This horchata drink is a vegetarian, gluten-free, and nut-free drink. I have used condensed milk here. For a vegan version, skip it and make sure you use vegan sugar/sweetener and vegan boba. The recipe is very straightforward. You cook all the ingredients together, strain the boba, and reserve it until the horchata drink is cold. Now without any further ado, let’s see how to make this horchata boba in Instant Pot.
Watch me make horchata boba
How to make instant pot horchata boba/pressure cooker horchata
Add the boba/tapioca pearls, sugar, ground cinnamon, and rice milk to the Instant Pot. Gently mix.Close the Instant Pot. Make sure the sealing ring is in place and set the vent to the sealing position. Press the pressure cook/ manual button and set the cooking time as 3 minutes at high pressure. When the cooking is complete, let the pressure release naturally. Carefully open the Instant Pot.Remove the inner pot and gently mix the ingredients and then strain the mixture to collect the boba. Reserve the collected boba.Now add the condensed milk to the warm horchata and mix well. Allow it to cool.Serving: Add two tablespoons or the required amount of boba in a glass and then add the chilled horchata. If desired, sprinkle some cinnamon and serve it.
Recipe notes
Adjust the amount of boba and sugar as per your preference. Skip condensed milk and add more sugar or use any sweeteners of your choice.Skip the condensed milk for a vegan version. Make sure to use vegan sugar and vegan boba.If using ice cubes, I highly recommend freezing cooled horchata and use that.
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Loved this recipe?
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