Roasted oranges make this dessert delicious and your slow cooker makes it super easy to whip up!
Take the fuss out of a classic dessert by using your slow cooker for this Orange Tapioca Pudding.
(This recipe originally was posted on Healthy Aperture.)
I haven’t had tapioca pudding in decades but the recent bubble tea trend has me yearning for it once again.
As a child of the ’70s, tapioca was a dessert staple in my house – I’m sure we had it at least once a month. The recipe was no fuss – cooked on the stove with milk, sugar and vanilla – but it did take time.
So, when I recently stumbled across a slow cooker tapioca pudding recipe, I was determined to make it again after all these years. (Side note: my slow cooker is usually gathering dust in the basement but I’ve resolved to try to use it more this year.)
Take the fuss out of this classic dessert: Slow Cooker Orange Tapioca Pudding @tspbasil Click To TweetWinter is citrus season – but thankfully, the oranges this time usually look pretty good. But if they don’t roasting them – as I do here – is a perfect way to bring out the natural sweetness. It also adds yummy orange caramel flavors.
Just like with vegetables, roasting fruit brings out deeper, sweet flavor and is a delicious way to make any dessert a bit healthier. I feel in love with roasted oranges back when I made this Roasted Orange and Asparagus Grilled Romaine Salad.
For this recipe, I used Cara Cara oranges, which are a type of navel orange with bright red-orange flesh, a sweet, slightly tangy flavor and no seeds. I cut them into small wedges, roasted them and then chopped them up to add to the pudding at the end of the cooking time.
You don’t have to stop with roasted oranges. Pears, apples and grapes are all divine when roasted and can be swapped in for the oranges in this recipe. And now that it’s summertime, try roasting up some peaches, plums or apricots for this new nostalgic dessert of tapioca.
PrintSlow Cooker Orange Tapioca Pudding
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Roasted oranges make this dessert delicious and your slow cooker makes it super easy to whip up!
Ingredients
- 3 cups reduced-fat milk
- ½ cup small pearl tapioca
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 medium oranges
Instructions
- Coat slow cooker with cooking spray. Add milk, tapioca, sugar and vanilla. Zest one orange (save flesh for the pudding) and add to the slow cooker. Stir all ingredients together. Cover and cook on LOW for 2 hours.
- While tapioca is cooking, preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Slice the oranges into wedges (8 wedges per orange.) Place, skin side donw, on a baking tray coated with cooking spray. Roast for 20 – 25 minutes until skins start to look burnt. Remove from oven and let cool. Cut off skins and discard. Chop up orange flesh.
- After 2 hours, whisk in orange flesh (tapioca mix will still be thin.) Cover and cook on LOW for another 30 minutes. Turn off slow cooker and let sit (covered) for 20-30 minutes before serving to allow pudding to thicken.
Did you grow up eating tapioca like I did? Have you ever made it at home?
Sonali- The Foodie Physician
Monday 13th of February 2017
I love oranges! What a fun twist on tapioca pudding!
Rinku
Sunday 12th of February 2017
Love oranges in winter.
Deanna Segrave-Daly
Sunday 12th of February 2017
Me too - I gravitate towards all citrus in the winter!
Heather McClees
Sunday 12th of February 2017
What a smart idea to boil oranges, I've never thought to do that for a recipe before! This looks yummy and so refreshing. I've been enjoying a fresh orange every single day at breakfast and love how they are so fresh during this time of the year!
Deanna Segrave-Daly
Sunday 12th of February 2017
Yes! Been enjoying them most mornings during the winter too!