Pistachio ice cream was my absolute favorite ice cream flavor growing up. I have so many incredibly fond memories of my dad and I going to the quaint little side-walk cafe strip near our house as a kid. I got to pick and order any flavor I wanted {and got to feel all grown up ;) } and he got a beer and some roasted chickpeas and salted pistachios {classy dad!}. I always picked pistachio ice cream on those occasions. It trumped cherry garcia. It trumped rocky road. It trumped everything because for whatever reason I was super attached to enjoying this green goodness with my dad {and because I always thought pistachios to be the prettiest nuts in the world! ♥ }.
It’s a treat I haven’t enjoyed in like 2 decades now, and making this refined sugar-free and dairy-free pistachio ice cream has therefore been such a treat! I got really inspired by the possibilities of avo & spinach ice cream after making this raw grasshopper pie the other week. It just opened up so many possibilities! {Yep, there are quite a few more pistachio goodies coming to your way soon thanks to that amazing pie ;) }.
Coming back to this ice cream though, it turned out to be so good I made it twice this week already. And I see nothing wrong with that at all because it’s all so good for you. This creamy dreamy pistachio goodness has got all the right stuff in it: no refined sugars, dairy, eggs, or questionable commercial fillers and funky colors — just real goodies like pure avocado, spinach, delicious raw pistachios, coconut water, etc., and I even threw in a hint of rose water to make it extra special. It’s like the best of both worlds — a dessert that’s actually good for you! If you told me a few years ago that you can make ice cream {and I mean real tasting ice cream!} out of those ingredients I would have laughed right in your face. And here I am, a reformed foodie swearing by this recipe.
Another awesome thing about this recipe is that it’s made without an ice cream maker — in fact there’s no churning involved whatsoever {easy peasy & hands off — score!}. I trust that you will like it as much as I do, and I’m pretty sure it will very quickly become a staple recipe in your kitchen!
- 1½ cups coconut water {or a non-dairy milk of your choice}
- ¼ cup raw cashews {pre-soaked for at least an hour or longer as needed}
- 2 ripe avocados {pitted and skinned}
- 1 small banana {fresh or frozen}
- 2 big handfuls spinach
- ¾ cup liquid sweetener of your choice {I used maple syrup}
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp rose water {optional, but HIGHLY recommended}{Try this brand or find it at a local Asian/Middle Eastern/health food shop}
- ½ tsp pure almond extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¾ cup raw unsalted pistachios
- Place all ingredients, except pistachios, into a good blender {I used my Vitamix for this}. Blend until everything is very smooth -- you may need to pause and scrape down the sides {I used my tamper to help things along}.
- Transfer into a freezer-friendly container of your choice {I used a loaf pan and lined it with parchment paper so as not to scratch it -- chose it for it's long and narrow shape so that I can get long even strokes to get those perfect ice cream balls in my bowl later}. Sprinkle with pistachios on top.
- Place in the freezer to chill for at least 4-5 hours or overnight. Scoop out and enjoy! {see notes for alternatives}
♥ Audrey
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This Dairy-Free Pistachio Ice Cream recipe has been shares with the Hearth and Soul Hop, Allergy-Free Wednesdays, Let’s Get Real Friday Party, Fat Tuesday, Gluten-Free Fridays, Sweet and Savoury Sunday, Savoring Saturdays, and Natural Family Friday.
Hi! Oh my gosh so I just made this and LET ME TELL YOU HOW GOOD THIS IS! It’s creamy-oh sooo creamy, sweet enough but not overpowering, crunchy with the pistachios, and just a beautiful color! I can’t believe there is spinach and avocado in this haha! And because of this recipe I’m now browsing your other recipes! Thank you for posting this ♡
I’m so feeling your enthusiasm for this, Sara :) Glad to hear you’re enjoying it. I love it too for all the same reasons.
So basically , this “pistachio” ice cream contains no pistachio in it. Only for garnish.
Why do you call it pistachio ice cream? Because it’s green?
When you go to scoop the ice cream, the pistachios get folded in. If you’re unsatisfied with that, you can stir them in to your liking. The recipe was developed to mimic pistachio ice creams that are commercially available, but with healthier ingredients. Pistachio ice creams usually just have pistachios folded in, or have added pistachio or almond flavors. If you look at all the leading brands out there, that’s not that different. Baskin Robbins, the leading brand around here, doesn’t even have pistachios in their pistachio ice cream (just “flavors”). Ben and Jerry’s and Haagen Dazs have pistachios folded into the recipe, just like this one.
If you want an ultra pistachio experience, feel free to skim through the other comments below to see ideas on how to work even more pistachio into this recipe…
Hi! This looks amazing. I LOVE pistachio ice cream so can’t wait to try this healthy version! Question: do the first pistachios listed (the 1/4 cup soaked in water) get blended into the base and the second listed pistachios (3/4 cup) just get mixed in? Or are they all mixed in?
Hi Andrea, the first nuts are cashews (the pre-soaked ones) and yes, they do get blended into the mixture. The actual pistachios just get blended in though. If you wanted to you could blend some additional pistachios into the ice cream base.
Hey! So the pistachios don’t go into the ice cream but just over the top? I missed them in the instructions!
Thank you for such an elaborate and good looking recipe :9
Hi Ines. The way I did it was just sprinkle with pistachios on top. My container is long and shallow, so when you go to scoop the pistachios from the top just roll right into each scoop. You could mix them in instead. And if you want, you could even blend some additional pistachios right into the mixture.
I used a can of coconut milk, banana, 2 avacados & 1/4 c maple syrup (3/4 c is too sweet for me). Unfortunately after freezing it for about 8 hrs. the ice cream was very hard & icy even after sitting out for 1/2 hr. I felt like I was eating an avocado banana icy. What can I do to improve the texture to a creamy, softer consistency & create more of a pistachio flavor. Love Ben & Jerry’s pistachio ice cream, but it is high in sugar & has dairy.
Hi Olga,
Ok, a few things I can think of. When you took out the 1/2 cup of maple syrup from the recipe, that would alter the flavor and texture quite a lot — so not just the sweetness, but the flavor balance itself. Also that’s 1/2 a cup less liquid in the recipe, which means the consistency will be a lot firmer. If the sweetness is too much and you want to reduce it by that amount, next time I would add 1/2 a cup of liquid to the mix (more coconut milk or almond milk, etc.) to offset that. Did you use the almond and rose extracts? Those add a lot to the pistachio ice cream flavor. Also, another thing you can try is use all pistachios instead of cashews. So there are options to play around here with :)
Awesome idea, Audrey! I love how there are so many healthy things in there! Does it freeze very hard? Or is it always ‘ready to go’ when taken out of the freezer?
All the best,
Jana :)
Thanks Jana! :) And yes, it does freeze in the freezer into a pretty solid consistency.
Love the idea of pistachio ice cream. But a tbls. of rose water??? Is this right? I don’t want perfume ice cream. When I use rose water, in Middle eastern Cooking, it’s usually just a few drops. I apologize if I am wrong. Please clarify. Also I am watching carb intake so can I use Stevia or Swerve instead of Maple syrup?
Thanks.
Hi Susan, you can use less rose water if you like. I found that in this recipe I needed to use about that much for the flavor to come through, but I know rose water can be a strong flavor for some, and the amount can easily be reduced — so I’ll leave it up to you :) You can even skip it altogether — it would still be delicious. Just make sure it’s good quality food grade rose water if you’re going to use it — I know it sounds funny, but I’ve had instances where use rose essential oil instead in recipes and you can only imagine what that was like… {yikes!}.
As for the stevia / swerve — those will definitely work, but you might need to add more liquid {a bit more coconut water or non-dairy milk} to help the blending process, because maple syrup adds some liquid volume.
Enjoy it! :)
Wow Audrey, this ice cream looks amazing :D I love pistachios and pistachio ice cream! It’s my favourite flavour after chocolate :P
Thanks so much, Nadia ♥
Shameful confession time: as a kid I really detested chocolate ice cream. I know — I can’t believe it myself! All that chocolatey goodness gone wasted all those years… :)
Hello,
Thank you for this cool recipe. I hate bananas though, what could I replace it with? Is it just for taste or also for texture?
Hi Lena,
You can easily leave the banana out. Just use an extra avocado instead — it’ll still totally work :) Enjoy it!
I like pistachio Ice cream a lot Audrey, your version looks wonderful. Thanks for linking up to Sweet and Savoury Sunday, stop by and link up again. Have a great day!!
Thanks so much, Laura. Glad we share the pistachio ice cream <3 :)
I am in love with this recipe! I have already tried spinach and avocado in ice cream, but never ised pistachio and I love them so much ! Thank you for this recipe, it sound so perfect for this weekend!
Thanks so much, Natalia! :) I hope you got to enjoy some this weekend!
This gorgeous green ice cream inspired my latest recipe. Audrey, the mysterious green spread has been posted to the blog finally, so you can stop wondering ;-)
Oh, awesome! Can’t wait to see {and try it out, of course! ;)}
delicious pistachio ice cream, love to try it, thanks for sharing with Hearth and soul blog hop, pinning.
Thanks you, Swathi! Pistachio ice cream is the best — and that includes kulfi, of course!;)
Funny, my father was the one who liked pistachio ice cream. I never tasted it. But I do love pistachios and I’ll give this a try. Thanks!
Aw, that’s interesting Barbara. Well, he had good reason to like it ;) Enjoy it!
Love, love, love, pistachio ice cream! This sounds really good.
Thanks Briana. Pistachio ice cream is definitely a treat! :)
This pistachio ice cream looks incredible.. and I am so amazed at how healthy it is for you. I have to make the recipe!
Thanks Thalia. I’ve made it twice this week already and I’m still amazed at how much this treat is both so good & so good for you :)
OMG Audrey, I’m loving your blog! This pistachio ice cream looks lovely (love avocado in anything) as does everything else. Yum!!
Thanks for stopping by, Heather! Funny coincidence as literally just minutes ago I was admiring your cookie dough ice cream cake, pecan praline, and strawberry chai ice creams {all of which look incredible btw!}. Amazing how many ways there are to make good ice cream that’s actually good for you :)
Oh wow, I love the combination of healthy fats from the avocado paired with the pistachios.
Thanks so much, Charlene! I love how good the ingredients in this are too and the colors of spinach and avocado go so well with the pistachio flavor. I’m feeling like it’s a win-win recipe all around :)
This looks sooo good Audrey! I love pistachio ice cream, it’s definitely one of my favorites (next to apple cinnamon and poppy seed ;-) )! I wonder though, so you don’t put any of the pistachios actually into the ice cream? Or did I miss this step? :)
Apple cinnamon and poppyseed — now that’s one I’ve never tried before! You’re at it again — first breakfasts, now ice creams ;)
I actually just sprinkled the pistachios on top, and then when you go to scoop the ice cream out they actually fold right in — so no blending is required. Alternatively you could throw them into the blender once everything is blended through and pulse to mix them in. I had another idea later of using more pistachios in place of the cashews, but I’m saving that idea for another upcoming treat ;) — lots of options to explore though.
I got confused about the same thing – assumed that in case of pistachio ice cream, there would be some blended in as well :) Looks good both ways though! Also pinned so others would find this awesome treat as well.
Thanks Terje :) There’s no end to how many ways pistachios can be enjoyed in this ;)
The fact that this doesn’t require an ice cream maker is enough reason for me to whip this up asap! Pinned! :)
Thanks Christina :) And I agree — not even opening the freezer and stirring. The hardest part is waiting for it to chill ;)
I haven’t even though about pistachio ice cream in ages! I didn’t discover this flavor until a few years ago, but it is so good! It’s so unique and I love the natural green and purple color scheme of the the pistachios on top. Gorgeous!
I know, Natalie — the combination of green and purple hues makes me so happy! :) Pistachios are just gorgeous to look at {and eat!}.