A leafy green mint chocolate chip ice cream with hidden veggies and fruits – get some of your five a day with this frosty treat! Dairy-free and gluten-free!
Leafy Green Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream (dairy-free, 5-ingredients, vegan)
This recipe relies on SCIENCE..
I detail this below, but in a nutshell, I will say, these are frozen ingredients blended and frozen into ice cube trays and blended again.
No churning necessary. Instead, this is a tricky recipe that depends on ice cube trays. And this one works perfectly.
It is also a bit of an unusual recipe because it is a frozen dessert which includes leafy greens and yet it does not taste like a salad.
Hey, leafy greens are a mainstay addition to healthy smoothies, so why not to healthy ice cream recipes, right? Or to sherberts, sorbets, granitas too! Do you know the difference?
Well pull up a chair, or your screen, haha.
And The Difference between Sherbert, Sorbet, Granita, Ice Cream and Nicecream
Sherbert: Sherbert is also spelled “Sherbet”, both variations are correct according to Merriam Webster. And it is like sorbet with a creamy ingredient added. In the vegan world, the creamy ingredient we add is coconut or cashew yogurt. Or cashew cream or coconut cream or even avocado.
Sorbet: The definition of sorbet is a frozen treat made of only fruit and sugar. And in my world, the “fruit” can sometimes be a veggie😍. Here I made a cilantro sorbet. And let’s kick the sugar to the curb, shall we? It’s best to depend on the added fruit for sweetness.
Granita: And then there is granita, which is basically sorbet only in icy flake form.
Ice Cream: And of course plain old ice cream, which is supposed to have at least 10 percent fat to earn the name.
Vegan recipes typically use either cashews, coconut cream or avocados for that fat. Although recently I have been experimenting with adding sweet potato. And buttermilk squash.
And of course, cauliflower, which we now know we can put in anything – except maybe morning coffee. Not yet anyway.😍
Nicecream: Well, this term generally means a frozen treat that is made with wholesome vegan plant-based ingredients. Often bananas but also coconut cream or other plant-based ingredients.
The “N” stands for both bananas, but also “nice” in that no animal was harmed and the recipe is “nice” and healthy. So I suppose this recipe could also be a nicecream, and so could this my Blueberry Citrus Sherbet and my Cauliflower Ice Cream.
Okay, class, now put away your dictionaries, and let’s move on to science.😂
To blend in those greens and give this recipe the creamy texture needed to call it an ice cream, there are a few tricks.
Tricks to Use Leafy Greens in Ice Cream
Be sure your leafy greens and mint leaves are frozen. I mean crispy frozen. I always keep baby kale and baby spinach and chopped chard leaves frozen in the freezer for many recipes, including smoothies. Then crush them into confetti with clean hands as I add them to a blender.
If you want to turn this into a sherbert, double the amount of crispy frozen leaves to provide the quintessential crystal texture you want in a sherbert or even a sorbet.
Also, your bananas must be very ripe (to be sweet) and must be chopped and frozen overnight.
Finally, you must freeze the yogurt into cubes in ice cube trays – don’t just dollop creamy yogurt into the blender. I often keep plain yogurt or even plain cashew cream or even thick hemp or oat milk frozen in ice cube trays to use for smoothies and these frozen treats.
And for color, the leaves will green it up somewhat, but I also added a tsp or less of ceremonial grade matcha powder. This controls the shade and increases the nutrition.
It’s expensive though – quality matcha powder runs in the $25-$35 dollar range, but it lasts a long time if you don’t mind the investment. Otherwise, leave it off! The green will depend on your leaves and that’s just fine.
My favorite ice cube tray for this recipe is listed in the ingredients. I used a different, large-cube one in this other make-ahead recipe, for smoothies: Make-Ahead Smoothie Ice Cube Concentrates Recipe..
I use a smaller-cubed one in this recipe because this mixture needs to stay frosty even after re-blending and somehow smaller round cubes from this tray help me achieve that – probably because smaller cubes mean you blend in less time.
To Churn or Not to Churn
And one last note. I have recently acquired and ice cream maker – you can see it in my nifty Amazon store! — and find that it actually makes the process easier and works well with all my no-churn recipes. So if you happen to have a churn, by all means use it! If you don’t, this method is just fine.
I hope you enjoy this recipe – it is one that depends more on chemistry than ingredients, wouldn’t you say?
And the result is both fun and nutritious.
or this one…
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Leafy Green Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream (dairy-free, 5-ingredients, vegan)
A leafy green mint chocolate chip ice cream with hidden veggies and fruits - get your five a day with this frosty treat! Dairy-free and gluten-free!
Ingredients
- 1 cup baby leafy greens (frozen, and crushed - I used baby kale and baby spinach)
- 4 large mint leaves (frozen, and crushed)
- 2-3 bananas (very ripe, chopped and frozen)
- 1/2 cup plant yogurt (frozen into ice cubes or use another banana)
- 1 tsp ceremonial matcha powder optional - makes the green color more even and adds nutrition)(Another awesome matcha brand is Matcha Maiden)
Optional Fold-in
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips or chunks (optional)
Useful Equipment
Instructions
Prep
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Freeze everything the night before preferably. Clean your leafy greens and mint, pat dry with paper towels, and freeze in an air tight container.
Peel your bananas, chop into one-inch chunks, and store in an air tight container. Try to keep all elements a bit separated so they don't freeze into a block.
Make Ice Cream
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Blend up ice cream ingredients until creamy, but don't blend until warm - some high speed blenders actually warm the low layer near the blades. So blend, get everything combined, and stop blending.
If your blender insists, add a bit of plant milk to get things creamy. (My vitamix needed this; my blendtec did not - blenders have their own personality, don't they?)
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Remove any larger specks that don't breakdown so your dessert doesn't look like a salad, haha.
Fold in chocolate chips or chunks or anything you want to fold in, really.
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Pour the mixture into ice cube trays.
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Freeze about 2 hours; 1 if you want a very soft serve.
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Then re-blend only the amount of cubes you want to serve. Let them thaw a few minutes to make blending go faster. If you need to add a few drops of plant milk, try not to add more than a tsp or two.
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Scoop the re-blended mixture into ice cream dishes. Sprinkle and enjoy!
- I hope you have fun with this recipe!
Dee Dine is the recipe developer and writer behind Green Smoothie Gourmet. She shares her super healthy wholesome recipes on her blog and her Instagram that she feeds her family and friends. She gravitates toward recipes that are fast to create, plant-based, nutritious, easy, and use familiar ingredients. And chocolate is always a good idea! More about Dee.
Ela
This Mint Chocolate Chip Sherbert looks amazing, Dee! I love that the recipe contains only 5 ingredients! Awesome. 🙂
Dee Dine | Green Smoothie Gourmet
Thank you so much Ela! Dee xx