This Coconut Milk Sago with Pineapple and Mandarin recipe yields a creamy coconut milk pineapple sago made with fresh pineapple, mandarin oranges, tapioca pearls, coconut jellies and ice. This easy coconut milk dessert is perfect for beating the summer heat.
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This coconut sago recipe is inspired by another installment of my vintage recipe redo series on social media. The original vintage recipe I took inspiration from is frog eye salad, which is aptly named. It's made with acini di pepe noodles that, when cooked, resemble frog eyes. I wanted to stay true to the frog anatomy component of the recipe, so I looked to sago. Some folks in the UK liken sago pudding to frog spawn, so I felt sago was a great fit. I adapted the recipe from Teak & Thyme's strawberry sago.
If you've never had sago, think creamy coconut tapioca pudding, but the "pudding" is actually just sweetened coconut milk. It is a light dessert, meant to be refreshing on hot summer days. This is my first foray into a sago pudding recipe, but not pineapple desserts. My reimagining of watergate salad, no-bake pistachio cheesecake (minis), includes a smooth and tangy pineapple curd. I also include fresh pineapple in my sugar cookie fruit pizza.
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Why you'll love this recipe
- This is a no-bake recipe.
- The chilled creamy texture is refreshing.
- This recipe uses fresh pineapples and maintains the original uncooked pineapple flavor.
Ingredients
- Coconut milk is the base of this creamy dessert. Be sure to use full-fat canned coconut milk, not bottled refrigerated coconut milk, light coconut milk or coconut cream.
- Fresh pineapple flavors the liquid and adds texture to the overall mixture.
- Small tapioca pearls bring a satisfying texture to the mixture.
- Sweetened condensed milk sweetens the dessert. Feel free to substitute for granulated sugar, agave, maple syrup or honey and adjust the sweetness to your liking.
- Mandarin oranges in this are optional, but I love the texture and flavor they bring.
- Coconut jellies (nata de coco) add to the coconut flavor and bring a fun chewy texture.
- Kosher salt and vanilla extract (not pictured) balance the overall flavor profile.
- I garnished mine with sliced banana punched into the shape of a flower, but this is optional as well.
- Ice (not pictured) chills the mixture further and keeps it cool.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions and variations
Here's how to customize this coconut milk sago to your liking:
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- Mango — add 1-2 ripe fresh diced mangos to the blended liquid and/or the overall mixture to make a pineapple mango sago.
- Another sweetener — instead of sweetened condensed milk, you can use granulated sugar, agave, maple syrup or honey and adjust the sweetness to your liking.
- Other fruits — Tropical fruit or typical fruits, like apple, bananas, cherries, peaches, blueberries or even sweet corn would all be a great addition.
- Pineapple jelly — follow this recipe, using pineapple juice, to make homemade pineapple jellies to add.
- Other flavorings — instead of, or in addition to, vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste, add almond extract, pandan extract or try steeping fresh pandan leaves in the coconut milk over medium heat for 10 minutes before straining and chilling the milk to use.
- Heavy cream — for an even richer sago, add ¼ cup of chilled heavy cream to the mixture before serving.
- More coconut — add shredded coconut, coconut flakes or chunks of fresh coconut.
This recipe has not been tested with any substitutions or variations. If you try any, please let me know how it turned out by commenting below!
How to make Coconut Milk Sago with Pineapple and Mandarin
Step 1: In a blender, combine the coconut milk and half of the fresh pineapple (300g or 2 ½ cups). Add the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla (optional) and blend until smooth. Set the mixture in the refrigerator to chill while you make the tapioca pearls.
Step 2: Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Be sure to use a large pot with plenty of water because the tapioca pearls soak up a lot of water. Add the tapioca pearls and stir. Let boil for 10 minutes uncovered. Remove from the heat, cover with a lid and let steam for 10 additional minutes or until you see no more small white dot in the centers of the tapioca pearls.
Step 3: While the pearls steam, prepare a large bowl of ice cold water. Remove the tapioca pearls to the bowl of ice water to stop cooking and chill.
Step 4: To a large mixing bowl, add the cooked strained tapioca pearls, blended pineapple coconut milk, remaining diced pineapple (300g or 2 ½ cups), drained mandarin oranges, nata de coco coconut jellies, pinch of salt and ice. Stir together. Serve immediately and garnish with banana slices or pineapple slices, if desired.
Top tips
- If you like it very cold, be sure to chill everything thoroughly before combining, otherwise room temperature add-ins are fine.
- Be sure to use a large pot, rather than a small saucepan or pot, to boil the tapioca pearls, as they soak up a lot of water and grow.
- If you like a smoother consistency in the milk, strain out the pineapple pulp before assembly.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can but the cook time will be different. Large tapioca pearls typically need 30 minutes of boiling and 30 minutes of steaming off heat, but always check for doneness and adjust accordingly.
You can omit the pineapple from the coconut milk mixture and/or the additional portion that is mixed in.
If you can find them, yes! They are less common in the US, which is why I used tapioca pearls.
More recipes you'll love
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📖 Recipe
Coconut Milk Sago with Pineapple and Mandarin
Ingredients
Coconut pineapple sago
- 1 can coconut milk full fat (400g)
- 5 cups pineapple fresh, ripe, diced, divided (600g)
- ¼ cup sweetened condensed milk more as desired
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract optional
- 150 g small tapioca pearls
- 1 15- oz can mandarin oranges drained (chilled, if desired)
- 1 jar nata de coco coconut jellies (chilled, if desired) (10.5 oz)
- Pinch salt
- 2 cups ice
- 1 sliced banana for garnish (optional)
Instructions
Blend the fruit and milk
- In a blender, combine the coconut milk and half of the fresh pineapple (300g or 2 ½ cups). Add the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla (optional) and blend until smooth.
- Set the mixture in the refrigerator to chill while you make the tapioca pearls.
Make the tapioca pearls
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Be sure to use a large pot with plenty of water because the tapioca pearls soak up a lot of water.
- Add the tapioca pearls and stir. Let boil for 10 minutes uncovered. Remove from the heat, cover with a lid and let steam for 10 additional minutes or until you see no more white in the centers of the tapioca pearls. While the pearls steam, prepare a large bowl of ice water.
- Remove the tapioca pearls to the bowl of ice water to stop cooking and chill.
Assemble
- To a large mixing bowl, add the cooked strained tapioca pearls, blended pineapple coconut milk, remaining diced pineapple (300g or 2 ½ cups), drained mandarin oranges, nata de coco coconut jellies, pinch of salt and ice. Stir together.
- Serve immediately and garnish with banana slices or pineapple slices, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published 06/04/2025.
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