25+ Traditional and Creative Recipes with Ube (2024)

Oh ube - the quintessential purple yam from the Philippines that imparts a striking purple color and unforgettable flavor on all dishes it touches. If you've tried it, you're probably here to find out what types of recipes are available for you. These modern and traditional Filipino ube recipes will tempt you into making your own ube-flavored food at home!

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Jump to:
  • Why You'll Love This List
  • How to Read this Ube Recipes List
  • Traditional Filipino Ube Dessert Recipes
  • Creative Takes on Ube Sweets
  • Ube Lava Cake
  • Did I Miss Something?
  • Save a Pin for Later

Why You'll Love This List

This post is unlike otheruberecipe lists because it showcases more traditional Filipino food containing this popular purple yam. This means you can get to know ube better through discovering more food from its home, the Philippines. Don't worry - I also included some current takes of ube-flavored recipes!

You'll see popular ube cake recipes, ube cookie recipes, and even ube butter mochi. But moreso, this list goes over some traditional recipes with ube such as Filipino pandesal, puto, and kalamay.

How to Read this Ube Recipes List

  1. Links:Check out the caption under each image to go directly to the recipe page and food blog. Alternatively, each recipe name goes to the same link.
  2. Special Ingredients:In addition to fresh ube, the purple tuber also comes in many forms such as powder, jam, and extract. To save you time, I show you what type of ube ingredients you'll need for each specific recipe.

Traditional Filipino Ube Dessert Recipes

Ube Halaya

Let's start with this ube jam recipe because it's a common ingredient for other ube desserts and you might need it for the following recipes! This jam is a classical Filipino spread with coconut and condensed milk. To eat it on its own, you can spread it on toast.

Special Ingredients:fresh or frozen grated ube, ube extract

Ube Kalamay

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Ube kalamay is the original ube mochibeforethere was ube mochi! If you like chewy goodness and something that's not too sweet, this is a great recipe to try. It comes withlatik, a crispy and nutty coconut topping made of coconut milk curds.

Special Ingredients: fresh ube, ube extract

Ube Pastillas

These are sweet, soft candies made by combining condensed milk and ube. They taste milky with lots of ube flavor and they melt in your mouth!

Special Ingredients:fresh ube

Ube Polvoron

Polvoron is a soft and crumbly snack with a sweet and nutty taste. Many stores in the Philippines carry polvoron in a variety of flavors including ube, which is a crowd favorite.

Special Ingredients:ube powder

Ube Puto

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This steamed rice cake with purple yam is a gluten-free snack that is also perfect for portion control! It is soft, fluffy, and sweet and you'll find it often topped with grated coconut or cheese.

Special Ingredients:ube extract

Ube Biko

Biko is a sticky dessert made with glutinous rice, coconut milk, and brown sugar. Adding ube to this Filipino dessert adds a more aromatic and unique flavor!

Special Ingredients:ube extract, ube halaya (jam)

Ube Pandesal

Pandesal is an essential breakfast food you will find in every Filipino pantry and it's even better with ube! This ube pandesal recipe gives you an array of classical filled options, from savory with cheese to sweet with ube jam.

Special Ingredients:ube extract, ube halaya (jam)

Ginataan Halo-Halo (Binignit)

Halo-halo(mix-mix) is a well-known Filipino dessert with crushed ice and several ingredients including milk, jellies, and fruit. The final topping is usually ube ice cream. But did you know there is a warm version?

Ginataang halo-halo is a warm dessert soup made with coconut milk, jackfruit, tapioca pearls, and a variety of tubers including ube.

Special Ingredients:fresh ube

Ube Buchi

Buchi is the Tagalog (Filipino) word for deep-fried glutinous rice balls coated with white sesame seeds. It's a popular snack across Asia that goes by many names. In China, they call it jian dui and fill it with lotus or red bean paste. In the Philippines, they fill it with ube halaya.

Special Ingredients:ube halaya (jam)

Ube Flan Cake

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This layered dessert is a Filipino dish that combines two traditional Filipino desserts - cake and flan. In this recipe, the flan sits on top of a fluffy ube-flavored cake. It's a decadent treat that everyone enjoys on special occasions.

Special Ingredients:ube extract

Ube Hopia

Hopia is a dense, sweet snack made of buttery pastry layers and each one comes with its special filling. The ube halaya in hopia is a thicker version of itself.

Special Ingredients:ube halaya (jam)

Ube Cake

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Filipinos take ube to another level with this version of ube cake. If you know someone obsessed with ube, this cake will surely impress. Every element of the cake has ube-flavors in vibrant varying colors of purple.

Special Ingredients:ube extract

Ube Cake Roll

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Thanks to the European colonization in the Philippines, the locals were able to take foreign recipes and make them their own. Pianonos or cake rolls have long been synonymous with Filipino dessert culture. Over the generations, the ube-flavored cake roll became a favorite for special occasions.

Special Ingredients:ube extract

Ube Champorado

Filipino champorodo comes from Spanish colonization that was also adapted by the Filipino over centuries. It's a sweet rice porridge with a chewy texture served as a warm dessert or snack. The local version uses a bitter dark chocolate that you sweeten with lots of milk, but the ube one is milder and lighter.

Special Ingredients:fresh or frozen grated ube, ube extract

Ube Ice Cream

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The name says it all! Filipinos usually purchase ube ice cream, but you can also make this at home. This ube ice cream recipe is great because it takes away the hassle of hand-churning your ice cream, but it's also unique with ube-flavoring.

Special Ingredients:ube powder, ube extract

Ube Ice Candy

25+ Traditional and Creative Recipes with Ube (10)

One of my favorite childhood memories was to go to a sari-sari store and but a piece of ice candy on a hot day. These ice candies are always homemade by the store owner and come in different flavors. This recipe makes a base that you can flavor yourself including ube.

Special Ingredients:ube extract

Creative Takes on Ube Sweets

Ube Crinkle Cookies

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These soft, chewy cookies with powdered sugar are a sight to behold! These crinkle cookies are popular because of their gorgeous color. But this recipe really takes it up a notch by adding halaya so that you get double the dose of ube flavor.

Special Ingredients:ube halaya (jam), ube extract

Ube Cupcakes

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This cupcake recipe makes a moist and soft ube-flavored dessert. Every part has ube in it, from the cake to the buttercream frosting to the crumbled topping!

Special Ingredients:ube extract

Ube Cheesecake

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This gorgeous ube cheesecake is tangy, nutty, and filled with coconut flavor. It's also made with an Oreo cookie crust and topped with coconut cream that perfectly contrasts each other. The texture is luscious and rich.

Special Ingredients:ube extract, ube halaya (jam)

Ube Pancakes

Trader Joe's has popularized ube with its pancake mix but you can also make ube pancakes from scratch! This gluten-free ube pancake recipe uses sweet rice flour to make a delicious and astoundingly purple breakfast.

Special Ingredients:ube extract, ube halaya (jam)

Ube Butter Mochi

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Butter mochi, like all Hawaii local food, is an amalgamation of Asian ingredients coming together to make its own unique dish. In addition to ube, butter mochi also has coconut and a special sweet rice flour to make a sticky, chewy, and sweet snack.

Special Ingredients:ube extract

Ube Waffles

This ube waffle recipe make a crispy waffle on the outside that is chewy and soft on the inside.

Special Ingredients:ube extract or ube halaya (jam)

Ube Cinnamon Rolls

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These cinnamon rolls are flavored with ube, but it doesn't stop there! The easy-to-make purple glaze also uses ube extract to create a unique flavor that is nutty, earthy, and sweet.

Special Ingredients:ube extract

Ube Lava Cake

25+ Traditional and Creative Recipes with Ube (16)

You don't need a lot of ingredients to make this ube lava cake. If you do it make, get ready to impress people with its soft and gooey purple inside!

Special Ingredients:ube extract, ube halaya (jam)

Ube Brownies

This ube brownie recipe is awesome because it doesn't steer too far away from more traditional fudgy brownies recipes. It uses white chocolate and ube extract to achieve a nutty flavor that's balanced with its classic brownie texture.

Special Ingredients:ube extract, ube halaya (jam)

Ube Pot de Creme

25+ Traditional and Creative Recipes with Ube (17)

I know it sounds like I'm boasting, but I truly believe this ube pot de creme is one of the most underrated ube desserts out there. It's got a rich consistency, and the combined flavors of white chocolate and ube is a taste you'll remember forever!

Special Ingredients:ube extract

Did I Miss Something?

Let me know if the comments if you feel I missed something or you'd like to add your favorite recipe to the list!

Save a Pin for Later

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25+ Traditional and Creative Recipes with Ube (2024)

FAQs

What does ube pair well with? ›

Ube tastes mildly sweet (but sweeter than taro and a sweet potato), with a nutty flavor, and is a bit like a vanilla baked good. That's why it's commonly paired with coconut and white chocolate in desserts.

How is ube traditionally eaten? ›

Ube Halaya - One of the most popular ube recipes in the Philippines, ube halaya (also known as ube jam) is a pudding made with boiled purple yam. Coconut milk, sugar, and butter are added to the mashed ube and simmered. The final result is either eaten as is, spread on bread, or used in other ube desserts.

What culture uses ube? ›

Ube (Purple Yam): A Historical Staple

In Filipino culture, ube is not just a food but also a symbol of Filipino resilience and adaptability. Even during challenging times, the ube plant thrives, much like the Filipino spirit.

What do you use ube flavor for? ›

Ube halaya, or ube jam, is often used in desserts like halo-halo (Filipino shaved ice) or added to pies and ice cream, which you can often find at Purple Yam. Besa's husband, Romy Dorotan, who's also the restaurant's chef, adds ube powder to lumpia (spring rolls) and pandesal (traditional Filipino rolls).

What flavour pairs with ube? ›

A few fruit flavors that pair particularly well with ube are:
  • Mango.
  • Apricot.
  • Guava.
  • Orange.
  • Pear.
Dec 2, 2022

Do Hawaiians eat ube? ›

Ube is a purple root vegetable that's earthy and sweet–kind of like yam or sweet potato. It's native to the Phillippines but has long had a presence in the Hawaiian food scene.

What is a fun fact about ube? ›

Ube is in the Dioscorea family, while taro is in Araceaa. Taro is called gabi in Tagalog. Both ube and taro are grown in the Philippines, but ube is commonly used in sweet treats, while taro is used in more savory Filipino dishes, like Laing and Sinigang.

Why do Filipinos love ube? ›

It's pretty safe to say that the ube's popularity is due in large part to its photographic nature, especially in a culture addicted to social media, but don't discount this ingredient as one solely for the eyes to feast on.

What is the English name for ube? ›

Dioscorea alata is a species of yam commonly referred to as purple yam, ube, violet yam, or water yam. This tuberous root vegetable originates from Southeast Asia and is often confused with taro root. An indigenous staple of the Philippines, it's now cultivated and enjoyed worldwide.

Is ube Hawaiian or Filipino? ›

Ube is Tagalog – the national language of the Philippines – for the purple yam native to Southeast Asia that has since been naturalized in South America, Africa, Australia, and the southeastern United States. It is also known as the “winged” or “water” yam in English.

What flavor ice cream is purple? ›

Purple ice cream is typically made with a combination of blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry flavors. These three flavors together create a unique flavor profile that is both sweet and tart.

Is Hawaiian purple yam the same as ube? ›

The purple sweet potato traces its origins to Central America and is a part of the morning glory family of plants, while ube is a true yam native to Southeast Asia and has been a part of Polynesian cuisine for thousands of years.

What kind of ice cream is ube? ›

Ube (pronounced ooh-beh) is a purple yam from the Philippines with a mild, sweet flavor. The taste has been described as slightly nutty, or as a cross between vanilla and pistachio. It is frequently incorporated into desserts in Filipino cuisine with ube ice cream being one of the most popular preparations.

Why did my ube cake turn green? ›

greenish color as a result from its baking process. browning effect gives the base a “green-ish” color. Therefore, this is entirely natural.

Can you eat ube by itself? ›

If you are lucky enough to find fresh ube, it can be eaten as a snack when boiled and skinned, or mashed then frozen to save for later.

Does ube and peanut butter go together? ›

This decadent cheesecake combines the sweetness of ube with the creaminess of SKIPPY® Peanut Butter. Topped with PLANTERS® Pistachios and Macadamia nuts and coconut whipped cream, this colorful dessert will be an instant favorite.

What to eat ube halaya with? ›

You can use Ube Halaya as a dip for fruits, spread it on toast, or mix it into oatmeal or smoothie bowls for a unique and delicious twist. Are there any traditional Filipino dishes that pair well with Ube Halaya? Ube Halaya is often served alongside other Filipino desserts such as leche flan or halo-halo.

Which is better taro or ube? ›

Taro is high in fiber, vitamins C and E, and potassium. It's also low in fat and calories, making it a great choice for those watching their weight or looking to improve their heart health. Ube, on the other hand, is rich in antioxidants and has anti-inflammatory properties.

What does ube taste like compared to sweet potatoes? ›

Taste and Texture

Both ube and Okinawan sweet potato have a similar sweet, earthy flavor, with ube carrying hints of pistachio and vanilla. Sweet potatoes have a drier texture while ube is more moist; some have even likened ube to an Irish potato!

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