Dive into this delicious Healthy Mint Chip Ice Cream! Creamy and sweet, minty and chocolatey, and naturally colored. Best of all, no ice cream machine needed! This treat is vegan friendly, and the only added sugar comes from the chocolate chips, so you get to control how much goes in. Perfect for muggy summer days or St. Patrick's Day festivities.
This post may contain affiliate links. See our Disclaimer for more information
We love mint chip ice cream in my house, and this is a wonderful healthier version of the classic! We use a combination of avocado, cashews, and bananas to keep our confection creamy and sweet without high-saturated fat cream or lots of sugar. Instead of artificial colors, we use naturally green spinach (optionally), and you can't even taste it!
The only added sugar in this recipe comes from the chocolate chips, so you can control what kind you get, and how much you add. It's even delicious without them - just a lovely mint nice cream! Look for other frozen confections on our site, like Cherry Nice Cream and Peach Tarragon Sorbet.
Jump to:
Heart Health Benefits of Healthy Mint Chip Ice Cream
You'll want to keep eating mint chip nice cream because it's delicious. Your heart will want you to eat it because its ingredients are heart healthy powerhouses! The ingredients in this treat can help lower blood pressure and cholesterol, reduce arterial stiffness, and may even lower homocysteine levels.
Macronutrients
This ice cream recipe is not low calorie. So moderation and portion control is key here.
It is a great source of monounsaturated fats, thanks to the avocado and cashews, which can help lower LDL cholesterol. Cashews are a bit higher in saturated fat than other nuts, but contribute a creamy texture and overall much lower saturated fat total than typical ice cream; around 15 grams of saturated fat in one popular brand's mint chip ice cream vs less than 5 grams in ours!
The recipe is moderate in both carbohydrates and protein. And it is an excellent source of fiber. Just one serving packs almost a quarter of your daily requirement!
Note: This ice cream recipe contains both naturally occurring and added sugars. Added sugars come from the chocolate chips, and total about 8 grams per serving. If that is more than you prefer, you can lower that by choosing sugar free chocolate chips, naturally date sweetened chocolate chips, or simply omitting them. (affiliate link)
Micronutrients and Bioactive Components
Bioactive compounds are substances that have effects within the body that promote good health. Here are some of the most abundant bioactive compounds in healthy mint chip ice cream:
- Potassium - (in bananas, spinach, and avocado) a mineral that helps to lower blood pressure by helping the body eliminate sodium;
- Magnesium - (in bananas, spinach, and cashews) a mineral with important roles in blood sugar control, muscle and nerve function, blood pressure regulation, and heart rhythm regulation;
- Soluble fiber - (in bananas and avocado) a type of fiber that dissolves in water and can help lower cholesterol and blood sugar (1);
- Insoluble fiber - (in avocados and spinach) type of fiber that does not dissolve in water and helps add bulk to the stool, reducing constipation risk (2);
- Carotenoids - (in bananas, avocado, and spinach) vitamin A derivatives, like beta carotene and lutein, that can help reduce oxidative damage to lipoproteins and help improve HDL particles, as well as inhibiting both LDL deposits and atherosclerotic plaque progression (3, 4);
- Catechins and Dopamine - (in bananas) compounds with antioxidant and anti inflammatory properties that can help reduce LDL oxidation (4);
- Vitamin B6 - (in bananas) a water soluble vitamin that, among many other functions, plays an important role in maintaining normal homocysteine levels (5);
- Monounsaturated fats - (in avocado and cashews) type of fat molecule that can help lower LDL cholesterol, and provides nutrition to maintain and build your body's cells (6);
- Polyunsaturated fats - (in cashews) type of fat molecule that can lower your risk of heart disease and stroke, and provides essential nutrition, like vitamin E, and omega 3 and 6 fatty acids (6);
- Soy protein and isoflavones - (in soy milk) - associated with lower risk of coronary heart disease and overall cardiovascular disease (7); and
- Nitrates - (in spinach) inorganic anion that can reduce blood pressure, inhibit platelet aggregation, and improve endothelial dysfunction (8).
Ingredients
Here is what you'll need for this recipe, along with some applicable substitutions and notes.
- Mini chocolate chips - milk or dark chocolate, sugar free/no added sugar, date sweetened varieties, or choose a vegan option if needed
- Avocado
- Bananas - slightly overripe is best. Freeze them before using them in this recipe.
- Peppermint extract
- Raw cashews - look for unroasted and unsalted
- Unsweetened soy milk - or your preferred nondairy milk
- Spinach - not pictured and optional. This is for color, plus adds some great nutrition!
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Here's how to make this healthy mint chip ice cream recipe.
- Step 1: Soak the cashews in the milk.
- Step 2: Pour the soaked cashews with the milk into a blender, and add the peppermint extract, and spinach if you're using it. Blend on medium high until mostly smooth.
- Step 3: Add the avocado.
- Step 4: Blend until the mixture is as smooth as you can get it, scraping down the sides as needed. Add a splash or two more milk if it is too thick.
- Step 5: Add the frozen bananas.
- Step 6: Blend on high until very smooth, scaping down the sides as needed.
- Step 7: Transfer to a freezer safe dish, and add the chocolate chips.
- Step 8: Fold in the chocolate chips, cover, and freeze for an hour or two, until set.
Hint: Blending in phases allows us to make sure all the ingredients get blended smooth - especially the cashews. You can add all the ingredients to your blender at once if you prefer to skip those steps, but it may be a little harder to blend the mixture smooth.
Variations
Try these variations to healthy mint chip ice cream!
- Nut free - try using sunflower seeds instead of cashews, or 1 cup of silken tofu in place of both the cashews and soymilk
- No added sugar - the added sugar in this recipe comes from the chocolate chips, so you can use a no added sugar version of the chocolate chips (note that these are often sweetened with sugar alcohols), or simply omit the chocolate chips. There are date sweetened chocolate bars that could be broken up and stirred into this treat. Or try a couple tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder for chocolate mint nice cream.
Equipment
There are some potentially chunky ingredients here that we really want to become very smooth. For that reason I recommend a high speed blender, like Vitamix. If all you have is a regular blender or food processor, you could still make this recipe, but know there may be some cashew pieces that just don't blend up well.
Storage
Store the nice cream covered in the freezer for 3 to 6 months.
Let it sit on the counter for about 15 minutes to soften before serving.
Healthy heart pro tip
While cocoa is high in flavanols and antioxidants that may help lower blood pressure, lipids, and inflammation (9), consuming candy chocolate that is high in calories, added sugar, and saturated fat can have the opposite effect on heart health (10), and lead to unwanted weight gain. Choose dark chocolate chips that are the highest in cocoa percentage you can find and use them in small amounts to reap the benefits while minimizing the risk!
FAQ
You can if you really like the flavor. I found that I had to add so much mint to get a nice minty flavor, that the ice cream ended up also tasting grassy.
If you prefer, you can use an extra banana instead of the avocado.
Related
Looking for more frozen treats that are heart healthier? Try these:
Want to say thank you?
📖 Recipe
Healthy Mint Chip Ice Cream
Ingredients
- ½ cup Raw Cashews unroasted and unsalted
- ¾ cup Unsweetened Soy Milk or nondairy milk of your choice
- Handful Spinach optional, for color
- 2 teaspoon Peppermint Extract
- 1 Avocado flesh only
- 3 Bananas frozen (a little overripe is preferable)
- ¼-1/2 cup Mini Dark Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- Before starting, make sure your bananas are frozen.
- Combine the cashews and soy milk, and soak for at least an hour, until the cashews are very soft.
- Add the cashews in milk, peppermint extract, and spinach, if using, to a high speed blender. Blend on high until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Add the avocado and bananas, and blend on high until smooth, adding a splash or two more milk if needed, and scraping down the sides of the blender as necessary.
- Transfer the ice cream to a freezer safe container, and add the chocolate chips. Fold the chips into the ice cream.
- Freeze for an hour or two to set the ice cream.
Nutrition
*Nutrition information is an estimate, and will change based on the brand and individual ingredients and amounts you use. This is provided for your convenience only.
Food safety
Safety is our top priority in the kitchen! Always keep these tips in mind.
- Wash hands before touching food, and after touching raw meat, your hair, face, pets, etc.
- Thoroughly wash all produce, including thick skins and rinds, before cutting and using in this recipe
- Use cutting boards, knives, and other equipment that have been thoroughly washed and sanitized, especially if they have been used for raw meat before
- Keep frozen at all times, and discard if out of refrigeration longer than 2 hours (or 1 hour in hot weather)
Leave a Reply