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 and so when I finally came around to making this refined sugar-free and dairy-free pistachio ice cream it was such a treat! I got really inspired by the possibilities of avo & spinach ice cream after making this raw grasshopper pie. It just opened up so many possibilities.. :P
Coming back to this ice cream though, it turned out to be so good I made it twice this week already. 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 full of good-for-you things! If you told me a few years ago that you can make ice cream out of those ingredients I would have probably laughed at the thought. 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!
Dairy-Free Pistachio Ice Cream
Prep Time: 10 minutes- Cook Time: 4 hours
- Total Time: 4 hours 10 minutes
Yield: 4 cups ice cream
Category: ice cream
Method: no-bake
Cuisine: dessert
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
Creamy, dreamy dairy-free pistachio ice cream with a cashew and avocado base. Made without refined sugar, dairy, or food coloring. Vegan, Paleo, and Gluten-Free.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups coconut water {or a non-dairy milk of your choice}
- ¼ cup raw cashews, pre-soaked and strained*
- 2 ripe avocados {pitted and skinned}
- 1 small banana {fresh or frozen}
- 2 big handfuls spinach
- ¾ cup maple syrup
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp rose water (optional)**
- ½ tsp pure almond extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¾ cup raw unsalted pistachios
Instructions
- Place all ingredients, except pistachios, into a high power blender. Blend until everything is very smooth -- you may need to pause and scrape down the sides (I used the Vitamix 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).
Notes
If you want to make this into an instant soft serve ice cream, swap out ½ a cup of the coconut water/nut milk for ice cubes and use a frozen banana. Simply blend and enjoy!
*To pre-soak cashews: place in a glass bowl, cover with water, and leave to soak for 4 hours (or overnight in the fridge). Then strain and discard the water. For a quick pre-soak, cover with boiled water and soak for 15 mins, then strain and discard water. (Note: this technique doesn’t preserve the nutrition of the recipe as well as the traditional soaking technique above). Note: the purpose of soaking the nuts is to re-hydrate them and plump them up for blending into a smooth, cheesecake-like consistency. Proper soaking techniques also maximize nutrition and digestibility. If you’re interested in learning more about nut soaking and other dessert prep tips and tricks, I delve into these subjects in detail in my book Unconventional Treats.
**Make sure you use a brand that’s just rose water, and not one with rose oil in it. The one I used (linked to in the recipe) is a pretty good brand, and fairly inexpensive. Some other brands add a myriad of other ingredients, some of which are rose oil and I find the flavor of those to be incredibly strong and soapy — not a flavor I want to taste in dessert :P … True rose water is delicate and mildly-flavored, and adds a beautiful accent to baked goods when used in the correct amount.
I made this for the first time last summer and it's definitely one of my favourite healthy ice cream recipes! I soak and blend some pistachios with the cashews but honestly not sure if it makes any difference. I leave out the banana because I don't like bananas and would hate to ruin the deliciousness for myself, and I never have any rose water but it still turns out great.
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Hi Louise. Thanks so much for your lovely feedback and for sharing the swaps that worked for you. I'm so glad you're enjoying this recipe! And I agree, the pistachio flavor just doesn't come as much when blended in. I feel like you can actually taste them a lot more when they're whole. But it works well either way.
Loving this ice cream and definitely will make again but it does have a bit of an avo flavor... wondering if I soak and blend in some pistachios to carry the flavor throughout? Also wondering about omitting the spinach which I assume is just there for coloring? What’re your thoughts on this - I don’t want to change the texture of the finished product because it is OH so creamy and delicious for a dairy free dessert! Would love your input! Thanks :)
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Hi Emily. Thanks for the feedback, so glad you enjoyed this recipe :) I think you can def skip the spinach if you prefer, it's more for the color and just to sneak a bit of greens into the recipe, but it's not essential.
Wow!!! Ugh mazing. I used only about 1/4 of the maple syrup and a cup of almond milk with a half cup of coconut milk. Delicious!!!!! And of course blended in some pistachios. Geez! You rock!
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Thank you, Jesika. So glad you enjoyed this! :)
This ice cream was to-die for. So creamy and the pistachio flavor is wonderful. I'm so happy to find more ways to include avocados in my day.
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Thanks for the lovely feedback, Laura! So happy you enjoyed it. It's one of my favorites :)
The texture is great. But - it tastes of vegetables. All four of my dinner guests agreed! I followed the recipe exactly.
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Hi Liz. Thanks for sharing -- that's a shame it didn't work out. I make this recipe often (and serve it to guests), and even know of some ice cream shops that sell it and this is the first time I've heard of it tasting of vegetables, so just trying to think what went wrong here.. The only thing I can think of is that maybe the avocado or spinach used to make it were over-ripe, or if some substitutions were made that made some flavors more prominent than others (did you by chance change anything?). Or if it got spoiled somehow (like left too long at room temperature during the making of process or afterwards)?
Could I swap sugar free maple syrup and make this sugar free? Also other than the pistachios on top, does the ice cream have a pistachio flavor? What ingredient gives it that flavor?
Hi Debra, I don't see a problem with swapping out one sweetener for another here (so long as you like the flavor of the sweetener you're using -- I've not used a sugar-free maple syrup before myself, so not sure how it tastes in a recipe).
As for the pistachios, please see my response to John on this topic in earlier comments (since this question comes up from time to time :) ). Enjoy!
I love this recipe! I recently got an ice cream machine, would it be good to churn this ice cream instead of putting direclty in the freezer. And also... would raw pistaccios work instead of the cashew nuts? Just curios... this way you would have pistaccio flavour from the very begining, not just as topping!
I love your recipes so much! I'm allergic to eggs and you have given me so many options which I never knew existed to make the most delicious eggless sweets!
Hi Susanna. Thanks so much -- I'm glad you're enjoying the recipes :)
I haven't tried making this in an ice cream maker, but you can definitely put the contents in for a spin before freezing.
I think the flavor of the full swap from cashews to pistachios would change (since the flavor here was adjusted based on the cashew-base, which is more neutral). There is this pistachio slice recipe you might enjoy though in addition to this ice cream (it's made of all pistachios): https://www.unconventionalbaker.com/raw-pistachio-slice/
Can we use honey instead maple syrup and milk instead of coconut water
Hi Dia. You definitely can. The flavor will be quite different though since honey is very prominent. If the honey is thicker, it'll also change the consistency a little. Likewise, coconut water has a particular flavor, so changing to a milk will result in a slightly different taste. But I think you should still arrive at something you'll enjoy :)
I LOVE Pistachio ice cream! Have you tried this in sn ice cream maker?
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Hi Liz, no, I haven't, but no harm in putting it into an ice cream maker before freezing if you prefer (though the recipe doesn't require it).
Audrey — this is awesome. Made it this weekend for the Bank Hol — perfect dessert for the hot weather! It’s totally delicious and so easy. I only used 1/2 cup maple and it was still sweet enough. Yum yum!
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Thanks so much for sharing, Kathrine. So glad it worked out well :) and glad to hear it worked out with less maple too.
This turned out wonderfully!! I made it as written, but reduced the maple syrup slightly because that's all I had left (2/3 cup instead of 3/4 cup). Made it for our St. Patrick's day dessert, but we all tasted it the night before just to make sure we liked it ;) I found it tasted just like the green pistachio pudding we ate as kids! Everyone loved it, including hubby who is usually very suspicious of things like this haha. The green colour was also SO beautiful. Thanks for the great recipe!
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Thanks so much for the lovely feedback, Vittoria -- appreciate it :) So happy you enjoyed it. And yes, it reminds me of pistachio pudding as well (I shared a version of that here: https://www.unconventionalbaker.com/healthy-pistachio-pudding-raw-vegan-paleo-gluten-free-refined-sugar-free-scd/).
Any substitution recommendations for the banana (I'm intolerant)? Or does the recipe require it?
Hi Danielle, this recipe is luckily fairly flexible. If you want to omit the banana, I recommend increasing the cashews to 1/2 a cup and you should be good to go
This is so smoith. I substituted coconut mik for the water, coconut sugar as the sweetner, blended the pistachios (oops) and used carmel extract instead of almond extract. It tastes amazing and is silky smooth. Thank you!
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Haha. I've done the pistachio blending myself in the past ?. It's all good :) Thank you so much for the feedback and for sharing what worked for you in terms of substitutes.
I can't have almonds, so what could I replace the extract with??
Hi Amber. You can just omit it, or add a hint more vanilla. Raw ground vanilla bean or a scraped vanilla bean pod is a nice add in too if you care to splurge -- it gives a great flavor to ice creams. The almond extract is in it because it's a common feature of commercial pistachio ice cream, but it's definitely not essential in any way and it'll taste great without it too.
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 ♡
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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.
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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 :)
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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!
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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.
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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!}.