Introducing the easiest, creamiest, homemade ube halaya recipe, made with just 8 ingredients. Eat it on its own, use it as a spread, or add it to different desserts. Once you try homemade ube halaya, you’ll never want to go back to store-bought jam!
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💜 What Is Ube?
- Ube is a purple yam native to the Philippines. It’s often confused as purple sweet potato or taro, but all three are different!
- Its flavor is commonly compared to a subtle vanilla mixed with pistachio. Ube is very popular in Filipino desserts like cakes, cookies, and ice cream.
- There are different forms of ube in stores: fresh ube, frozen ube, ube powder, ube extract, and premade ube halaya (also known as ube jam, which is this recipe).
You can learn more about ube in my ultimate ube guide. There, I talk about different types of ube ingredients, where to buy them, and some of my favorite ube recipes!
What Is Ube Halaya?
Ube halaya, also known as ube jam, is a Filipino dessert. It’s made of mashed ube, different milks, and sugar, all cooked down into thick paste. It’s not-too-sweet and is yummy on its own or in different desserts, like cakes or ice cream.
I always prefer homemade ube halaya over store-bought. Although it can be a labor of love, it is much more delicious and customizable. You can control the sweetness level, how thick it is by how long you cook it, or add in fun ingredients like different cheeses.
This recipe uses a blend of evaporated, condensed, and coconut milk, and is sweetened with brown sugar. It also uses a bit of butter for that extra creaminess and richness. And although homemade ube halaya takes a bit of time to make, I promise it is absolutely worth it!
Different Ways To Use Ube Halaya
Ube halaya can be the main ingredient in desserts to add a strong ube flavor, like in my creamy ube latte, chunky ube cookies or ube marshmallow cookies.
Some simpler ways I like to use ube halaya is by:
- Eating it by the spoonful.
- Spreading it on toast, pandesal, croissants, or English muffins. You can even melt some cheese on top or keep it sweet by adding shredded coconut, honey, nuts, etc.
- Using it as a topping for ice cream, halo halo, French toast, waffles, pancakes.
- Mixing it with cream cheese or other spreads.
You can also find all of my ube recipes here!
Ingredients
To make these halayang ube, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- You can use freshly mashed ube, frozen (& now thawed) ube, or ube powder. If using ube powder, you have to rehydrate it so it resembles mashed ube. You can follow my tutorial on how to rehydrate ube powder—a 1x batch of that will yield what you need for a 1x batch of ube jam!
- Although frozen ube already yields such a pretty color, I add a bit of ube extract for a deeper purple and oomph of ube flavor.
- The ube is slowly cooked in a mixture of coconut milk, condensed milk, evaporated milk, salt, and butter until thick and spreadable.
- To sweeten the ube jam, I used dark brown sugar. You can also use light brown sugar, granulated sugar, or any sugar alternative you prefer.
For the full list of ingredients and measurements, see the recipe card below.
💡 Recipe Tips
- For extra creamy and smooth ube halaya, use a blender. I used an immersion blender on the ube, evaporated milk, and condensed milk, then added the rest of the ingredients.
- Use a light-colored pan, like stainless steel or a light enameled pan! When cooking, the mixture will stick to the bottom of the pan and burn, which is difficult to see when using a dark pan. A light-colored pan allows you to see if anything is sticking, which makes scraping the sides and bottom of the pan with a wooden spatula much easier.
How to make ube jam
Step 1: Blend ube, coconut milk, and evaporated milk until smooth.
Step 2: Add condensed milk, butter, ube extract, and salt.
Step 3: Turn the heat to medium low and cook for 30-40 minutes, constantly scraping the sides and bottom of pan to avoid it from burning. To check if it is done, drag your spatula across the bottom of the pan. If there is a clear trail and the ube halaya stays in place (as pictured above), it’s ready! You can also keep cooking it if you want it much thicker.
Step 4: Add brown sugar, adjusting to taste. Mix until combined and enjoy!
For full instructions, see the recipe card below.
Ube Halaya FAQs
Ube halaya is made of mashed ube, different milks, and sugars, all cooked down into thick paste. Some people also like to add butter and cheese to their halaya.
It is pretty difficult to buy fresh ube in the USA. However, you can find frozen ube in the frozen aisle of some Asian/Filipino grocery stores. You can also buy ube powder and pre-made ube halaya in the baking section, or on Amazon.
Storage
This recipe makes quite a bit of ube jam, and I rarely use all of it at once! You can either store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Personally, I like to freeze my ube in freezer bags as pictured above. Whenever I need some ube, I break off a chunk. I thaw the ube jam in the fridge overnight, or if I’m in a rush, I microwave it in a bowl for 30-second intervals until completely softened.
Did you try this recipe?
Please leave a review & share it with me on Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, or Pinterest!
Thank you so much! -Bianca ❤️
📖 Recipe
Creamy Ube Halaya
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Equipment
- blender or immersion blender
- large light-colored saucepan,
- wooden or silicone spatula
- heat-proof bowl
Ingredients
- 2 pounds (907.18 g) ube freshly mashed ube, previously frozen & thawed grated/mashed ube, or rehydrated ube powder* (see notes)
- 13.5 ounces (400 ml) can coconut milk
- 12 ounces (354 ml) evaporated milk
- 14 ounces (396.89 ml) sweetened condensed milk
- ¼ cup (56.75 g) unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon (4 ml) ube extract
- ½ teaspoon (3 g) table salt
- ½-1 cup (110 g) brown sugar light or dark, adjust to taste
Instructions
- *No blender? Feel free to skip blending the ingredients and add everything to your pan. This method just makes extra creamy & smooth halaya.In a blender, add 2 pounds ube, 13.5 ounces can coconut milk, and 12 ounces evaporated milk. Blend until smooth, then add to large saucepan. Alternatively, you can add the ingredients to the pan and use an immersion blender.
- To the pan, add 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk, ¼ cup unsalted butter, 1 teaspoon ube extract, and ½ teaspoon table salt.
- Turn the heat to medium low. Stir with your wooden spatula often, making sure to scrape the bottom and sides of your pan because the halaya can easily burn. After a few minutes, the mixture should start thicken. Continue cooking for 30-40 minutes until thickened to your liking. At a minimum, you should be able to drag your spatula across the bottom of the pan and leave a clear trail. However, you can keep cooking the halaya until even thicker.
- Add ½-1 cup brown sugar, adjusting to taste.
- Remove from heat and transfer to a large heat-safe bowl. Let cool completely before storing. See storage notes at bottom of recipe card.
Notes
- I recommend using a light-colored pan (stainless steel or light enameled pan). When cooking, the ube may stick to the bottom of the pan and burn, which is difficult to see when using a dark pan. A light-colored pan allows you to see if anything is sticking, which makes scraping with a wooden spatula much easier.
- Rehydrating your own ube powder? You can follow my tutorial—a 1x batch of that will yield what you need for a 1x batch of ube jam!
- Storage: This recipe makes a lot of ube jam and I rarely use all of it at once. You can either store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months. (Note: I like to freeze my ube in freezer bags. Whenever I need some ube jam, I break off a few chunks. I thaw the ube in the fridge overnight, or if I’m in a rush, I microwave it in a bowl for 30-second intervals until completely softened.)
Hello.
Would it be possible to omit the butter and extract as I can’t tolerate oil or butter and don’t have the extract?
Thank you,
Hiroshi
Hi Hiroshi! Yes, you can omit the butter and extract. It will just be a little less creamy and not as ube flavored, but still good! 🙂
Awesome. Thank you for the advice. I’m definitely going to try it sometime (hopefully sooner than later) and let you know how it turns out since this sounds super cool. I am used to cooking Japanese and Korean food, so I am excited to branch out to make this as my first Filipino food. I got a few different dried packets to use (Mikis and Giron) and an Indonesian variety (Jans) online. 🙂
Yay, of course! That is so exciting! I actually just ate some this week and used the rest to make some cookies. Thank you for giving my recipe a try, I hope you enjoy 🙂
I just made this batch of halaya today for an ube chiffon cake recipe and it was absolutely perfect. I’m going to try using it for ube smoothies next, or maybe an ube cream cheese blend for a bagel. Thank you!
Hi Chuck! YAY, That sounds so good—I love ube chiffon! Both of those ideas also sound amaaazing, I hope you enjoy. Thank you for your comment 🙂
(I am the author of this recipe)
So so so in love with ube halaya. It makes quite a bit, so I always have some in stock in the freezer to snack on/incorporate in other recipes.
I was looking for the really perfect recipe for Ube halaya and I came across this. Mind blowing!!! I made it and it turned out amazing! Thank you so much for sharing it. Love it 😍
Omg yay, Kavita! Thank you so much for your kind comment. I’m so happy you love the recipe!!!!
I made this a few days ago and it turned out great! Even though I only had 16oz of grated ube and mistakenly added ube-flavored condensed creamer instead of condensed milk. I did half the evaporated milk, condensed creamer and butter. My jam turned out darker than it should be but it was yummy. I shared with my friend and she loved it. Thanks Bianca for this easy recipe. I’ll make it how it’s written next time.
Hi Rachel! Thank you so much for your comment~ I’m very glad that you enjoyed the recipe! I’m sure the ube-flavored creamer upped the ube flavor, must’ve been yummy! 🙂
I only have a 16oz frozen ube. Do I cut the other ingredients in half? Thank you
Hi Rachel!! Thank you for your comment! Yes, if you only have 16 oz frozen ube, I’d halve the other ingredients. Enjoy!! 🙂