Dragon Fruit Ice Cream

This dragon fruit ice cream is made with pitaya, also known as dragon fruit, and is creamy and delicious, plus high in iron, magnesium and fiber.

Dragon fruit ice cream has the best flavor and best color to lift your mood.

Pitaya, also known as dragon fruit, is a tropical fruit that comes in a dinosaur-egg-like pink shell with odd little horns, and can be white or pink inside. The white meat version is fairly easy to find fresh on the East Coast in the USA. However, the pink meat version is not easy to find here.

Why Use Dragon Fruit for Ice Cream?

Dragon fruit tastes like kiwi but is a stunning pink although there is also a white version. When blended with milk and mango, it makes a fantastic ice cream texture. And dragon fruit is considered a super food with tons of nutrition.

How Healthy is Dragon fruit?

Pitaya is high in magnesium which helps with sleep. Pitaya is also rich in vitamin C, B1, B2 and B3, and minerals calcium, iron, magnesium and phosphorus. They are also a good source of fiber, protein and omega essential fatty acids. Read more about the health benefits of pitaya here.

Ingredients

Frozen milk cubes - Just freeze milk in ice cube trays, a creamy one is best such as canned coconut milk or cashew or almond milk. You can also use frozen bananas instead.

Mango chunks - Freeze this fruit beforehand, or again use bananas instead.

Pink dragon fruit - You'll find it in the freezer section of most high-end grocery stories. You can buy a fresh dragon fruit, but it mostly like is white inside.

Extra add ins - I added baobab powder which is high in vitamin C, but that's totaly optional. I also added lemon juice to give the ice cream a bright flavor.

How to Make

Step 1: Pour milk into ice cube trays and freeze overnight. Or chop and freeze bananas overnight. Also, freeze mango chunks overnight.

Step 2: I used a frozen pitaya packet but if you use fresh pitaya, chop the correct amount and freeze overnight.

Step 3: Line a loaf pan with parchment paper.

Step 4: To make the ice cream, first let the milk ice cubes thaw for 20 minutes before blending. You want them to be easy to blend.

Step 5: Then, blend all ingredients, pour the mixture into the loaf pan and freeze for 1 hour.

Step 6: Chop it up, blend again. Line the loaf pan with new parchment paper, pour in mixture and freeze again, at least 4 hours or until it reaches a texture you want.

Step 7: If you let it freeze overnight, let the mixture thaw 20 minutes or more until it is scoopable.

Variations & Substitutions

Use banana instead of mango for a sweet creamy support.

You can freeze any milk, but the higher the fat, the creamier  your ice cream will be.

You can add lime juice instead of lemon juice for that tart bright additional flavor.

FAQS

How Does Dragon fruit or Pitaya Taste?

Pitaya, either the pink or the white, basically looks and tastes like kiwi, only a bit more watery.

How to Find Dragon Fruit or Pitaya?

I find pink pitaya in frozen packets found in the frozen fruit area of Whole Foods. If you can't find frozen fresh pitaya, then use freeze-dried powder found online.

Add mangos, frozen milk cubes, and energizing baobab, and you have a super healthy frosty treat. Blend, freeze, blend again and serve. If you prefer, you can use 1 cup of chopped frozen bananas instead of the milk cubes - it will be more of a soft serve.

More Dragon Fruit Recipes

Dragon fruit smoothie
Pitaya (dragon fruit) smoothie bowl
Dragon fruit Limeade
Dragon fruit protein bites
Dragon fruit pina colada popsicles

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