If you’re a big foodie or someone that likes posting colorful images of their food on Instagram, you’ve probably heard of ube before. If not, you’re seriously missing out.
Otherwise known as the purple yam, the ube is an extremely vibrant species of yam that is unsurprisingly purple in color. It’s predominantly sweet in taste but also has a vanilla and slightly nutty flavor too.
Despite going well in a wide range of dishes, the ube is most commonly used as an ingredient in desserts. This is, of course, thanks to its vibrant color.
With so many delicious desserts to make, as well as other, more savory dishes, it seems only right that you have an ube recipe or two at your disposal.
To help you bring incredible color to the dinner table, we’ve listed 20 colorful ube recipes. In this post, we’ll show you each one.
Let’s get started!
1. Ube Gelatin
Made in just 10 minutes and requiring no baking, the first ube recipe on our list is a Filipino classic.
Unsurprisingly, this gelatin dessert is all about the ube. Beautifully sweet and delightfully smooth, this is a tasty dessert the whole family will love.
Thanks to the extreme color of the desert, it makes a great party pleaser too. You’ll be pleased to hear that it’s quite healthy too.
2. Ube Ice Cream
The best ice creams are always the ones with vibrant colors and intense flavors (see also ‘33 Ice Cream Flavors Most Loved In America‘). This ube ice cream offers both of those things.
Super vibrant and full of flavor, this ube ice cream recipe couldn’t be any easier to make. No churning is required and you don’t even need an ice cream maker (see also our favorite Ninja Creami recipes). All you need is four ingredients and a spare 10 minutes.
This ice cream is made using sweetened condensed milk, heavy whipping cream, ube powder, and ube flavoring extract.
3. Ube Leche Flan Cake
The next recipe combines two of your favorite desserts to create one masterpiece. This awesome custard cake looks just like any other custard cake until you see the shining purple cake that sits underneath the leche flan.
Combining delicious flavors to create something that looks and tastes pretty incredible, this cake is great for celebrations and can even be made in cupcake form (see also ‘40 Easy Cupcake Recipes That You Will Love!‘).
4. Ube Mochi Waffles
If you love waffles but have to follow a strict diet, you’ll absolutely love this ube mochi waffles recipe.
This alternative is healthy, gluten-free (see also ‘The 33 Greatest Gluten-Free Desserts‘), and bright purple in color. A recipe your children will love, the edges of the waffles are beautifully crispy, while the center is lovely and fluffy.
Make an ube glaze to add even more color to your waffles, not that it needs it!
5. Ube Brownies
Why not mix things up a bit by making these delicious ube brownies the next time you bake with the kids. These vivid violet-purple treats are moist, crumbly, and super sweet.
The best thing about them? They’re incredibly easy to make. Simply add ube extract or flavoring to your batter to create this tasty ube treat.
This is probably the easiest recipe on our list so if you want to use ube without things getting too complex, give it a try!
6. Ube Pandesal With Cheese
This ube pandesal recipe is one of our favorite Filipino breakfast ideas.
Surprisingly easy to make, they stay pillowy, moist, and soft for days. The crunchiness of the bread combines with the gooey-cheese perfectly to create a truly satisfying breakfast.
The golden crust, and soft purple center also makes this recipe a great appetizer for parties.
If you’re feeling peckish, you could even have these light bites as a snack.
7. Ube Mamon
Next up, we have this simple, yet elegant ube mamon recipe.
Ube mamon are small, soft bites of joy. Essentially, they are mini sponge cakes. Having said that, these mini cakes are much better than other mini sponge cakes you’ll have tried.
Bright purple in color, these fluffy and moist cakes only require 8 ingredients.
Better still, they only take 40 minutes to make from start to finish. This is definitely a recipe you’ll make time and time again.
8. Ube Dalgona Coffee
If you consider yourself a coffee lover, you’ll love this ube dalgona coffee. A recipe growing in popularity, this dalgona whipped cream coffee is the perfect way to start your day.
Finished with ube extract and smooth whipped cream, this deep purple coffee rose to fame when it went viral in South Korea.
Simply blend the ube extract with your choice of milk to make this summery drink.
9. Ube Chips
You can even make some pretty awesome sweet-salty chips out of purple yam (see also ‘26 Yam Recipes You Need To Try‘). They may not be the sweet desserts you came here looking for but we can guarantee you’ll be just as addictive as us in no time.
Crisp, light, and well-flavored, these ube chips will be the topic of conversation at your next party. Make sure you add some garlic powder, barbecue powder, and salt to unlock the best flavors.
You definitely won’t have had chips this color before.
10. Ube Puto
If you don’t know, puto is a steamed Filipino cake made from rice flour. This Ube puto recipe gives the puto a dark purple color and tops it with melted cheese. Excellent party appetizers, these small cakes are savory, sweet, and moist.
The addition of the cheese works well with the ube, producing a lovely combination of sweet and salty.
11. Ube Pancakes
Everyone loves pancakes for breakfast, especially children, so why not spice things up a bit by making these bright purple ube pancakes.
One of the best things about making pancakes is experimenting with different flavors and shapes. This unique color gives children something fun and exciting to try.
Make these pancakes in just 30 minutes using coconut milk, vanilla, eggs, butter, baking powder, flour, and salt. Top with syrup or your own ube ice cream.
12. Ube Loaf
Bread and ube together create the perfect dessert loaf or quick snack. You’ll want to add this recipe to your repertoire because it comes in super handy when you want to create a loaf that not only tastes great but looks amazing too.
We can already see this sweet and savory loaf sitting in the center of your table this Christmas. If you’re feeling extra festive, make a coconut cream jam to go with your loaf.
13. Ube Banana Turon
Turon or banana roll is already immensely popular in the Philippines. In fact, it’s the most common street food you can find. It involves banana wrapped in a lumpia wrapper. Similar to a spring roll, the turon is then fried in oil with brown sugar.
It takes something special to improve this already tasty snack, but ube manages to do so easily. Crunchy, sweet, slightly savory, and now fantastically purple, this is a recipe you have to try if you like Filipino food.
14. Ube Crinkle Cookies
You could actually make these Ube crinkle cookies using just 8 ingredients. However, if you want the very best results you should follow the recipe as best you can.
Made in a pinch, these cookies are soft, crumbly, sweet, and very pretty. What else could we ask for from a cookie?
To make these cookies, all you need is vegetable oil, egg, sugar, ube extract, baking powder, salt, unsalted butter, and powdered sugar. Add some purple food coloring to enhance the vibrance of your cookies.
15. Ube Macapuno Cake
The chances are you’ve never heard of this cake, which is a shame because it’s amazing. The reason you won’t have heard of this cake is because it’s primarily eaten in the Philippines.
Don’t know about you, but we think it’s about time we brought it over here.
Wonderfully nostalgic, comforting, and yummy, this cake is rich and sweet thanks to the whipped creamed, syrup, vanilla, coconut, and of course, the ube.
16. Ube Cheesecake
We couldn’t not put at least one cheesecake recipe on this list. Afterall, who doesn’t like cheesecake?
Aside from its lush lavender color, incredible flavors, and divine velvety texture, the best thing about this cheesecake is that it doesn’t need baking.
Not needing to preheat the oven gives this cheesecake an edge over other recipes. Whilst the recipe is already super creamy, serving the cheesecake with a dollop of ube ice cream only makes things better.
17. Ube Muffins
As far as elegance and decadence goes, we don’t think any recipe can beat this ube muffin. This ube muffins recipe (see also ‘33 Irresistible Muffin Recipes‘) involves infusing the muffins with an ube extract before topping them with ube halaya and a sweet buttery coconut streusel.
If that doesn’t scream luxury, then what does. This recipe is also ideal if you don’t have enough time to make a larger ube cake.
18. Ube Halaya
If you want something you can make once and then use time and time again, we highly recommend making this delicious lavender colored jam. It’s unique consistency may put you off at first but once you get that first bite you’ll be in love.
The flavor is quite mild and unassuming, which is quite ironic considering its bright purple in color. Once you’ve made the jam, it can be spread on bagels (see also ‘26 Mouth-Watering Bagel Sandwich Recipes‘), toast, or sandwiches.
It can also be used in desserts. You might even choose to eat straight from the jar.
19. Ube Donuts
The purple color of ube lends itself perfectly to this ube donut recipe (see also ‘The Most Popular Types Of Donuts From All Over The Globe‘). Helping make traditional looking pink-purple donuts, this is a fun way to enjoy ube. It’s also a healthier option than other recipes on our list.
You can whip a batch of these donuts up in 20 minutes, and then decorate them however you like. When ready, these donuts are perfect for parties, bale sales, or the office.
20. Ube Bars
Finally, we have this brilliant ube bars recipe. Sharing a similar appearance with the Australian desserts Lamingtons or Raspberry Zingers, these bars have a lush purple exterior and soft, moist golden center.
The smooth, soft texture of the ube cake goes really well with the crunchy texture of the sweet coconut shavings. These ube bars are a great snack or healthy dessert for the family.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where Can You Buy Ube?
Unfortunately, ube is quite hard to get hold of. It is very rarely imported into the United States fresh. However, it can sometimes be found fresh in Asian grocery stores. Make sure you head to the produce section.
Can You Eat Ube Raw?
Ube can be eaten raw but you might not want to. When eaten raw, ube might contain some toxicity. With that in mind, you should always be mindful when eating the purple yam raw.
How Do You Cook Ube?
Ube can be prepared in a similar way to sweet potato. Start by washing them and then boil, fry, bake, or steam them for 30 to 40 minutes. Leave the skins on if you want extra fiber.
Final Thoughts
Ube is a versatile vegetable that has a lot of things to offer. Aside from its impressive vibrant purple color and great flavors, it offers great texture and a range of health benefits.
Primarily used in desserts or Filipino breakfasts, we’ve shown you plenty of things you can do with ube. Whether you want to make a sweet treat, colorful snack, or healthy breakfast, we’ve covered it all.
While it can be hard to get hold of ube, using it in the kitchen is surprisingly easy. Now you have our list of ube recipes at your fingertips, why don’t you decide which recipes you want to try first.
If you’ve got enough time on your hands, maybe you could try two or three recipes at once.
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