The Easiest Dairy-Free Mint Chocolate Ice Cream You'll Make This Summer
Prep: 10 min | Freeze: 1–2 hours | Servings: About 4–6 | No bake | No ice cream maker This dairy-free mint chocolate ice cream is everything summer should taste like cool, creamy, and a little indulgent. Made with full-fat coconut milk, raw cashews, and fresh organic mint, it comes together in a blender in under 10 minutes. No ice cream maker, no refined sugar, and no ingredients you can't pronounce. The finishing touch? A melted Mint Chocolate Chip bar poured on top, which sets into a thin chocolate shell that cracks when you dig in. WATCH THE FULL INSTAGRAM VIDEO HERE Ingredients Ice Cream Base 1 can (13.5 oz) full-fat coconut milk 1 cup raw cashews (or ½ cup cashew butter if you don't have a high-speed blender) ⅓ cup pure maple syrup or raw honey (up to ½ cup if you prefer sweeter) ⅓ heaping cup fresh organic mint leaves (or about 1 tsp pure mint extract. Fresh mint is better) ¼ tsp pink Himalayan salt (use ⅛ tsp if using salted cashews or cashew butter) Small handful fresh organic spinach leaves (optional: adds a deeper green color, but the mint leaves color it naturally) Topping 1 dark chocolate bar, melted 70%+ cacao (We used our Mint Chocolate Chip bar) How to Make It For Regular Ice Cream Add all ingredients except the chocolate to a high-speed blender. Blend until completely smooth and creamy, about 60 seconds. Pour the mixture into a standard loaf pan. Place in the freezer for about 1–2 hours, or until fully hardened. Once frozen, melt your Mint Chocolate Chip bar (or dark chocolate) and pour over the top of the ice cream. Let it set for a few minutes until the shell hardens. Scoop and serve. What's Inside Every ingredient in this recipe pulls its weight. Here's what each one brings. Full-Fat Coconut Milk The fat content in full-fat coconut milk is what makes this ice cream creamy without dairy. It's a source of medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), a type of fat that the body processes differently from long-chain fats — absorbed more quickly and used more readily for energy. It also contains lauric acid, which some research suggests may support immune health. Raw Cashews Cashews are one of the creamiest nuts, which is why they work so well as a dairy substitute when blended. They're a good source of copper, magnesium, and zinc, and provide both healthy fats and plant-based protein. The fat content helps create a rich, smooth texture in the ice cream base. Fresh Organic Mint Mint contains menthol, a naturally occurring compound responsible for its cooling sensation and bold flavor. It's also a source of antioxidants and has traditionally been used to support digestion. Fresh mint provides significantly more flavor depth than extract and colors the ice cream naturally without any artificial dyes. Maple Syrup / Raw Honey Both are whole-food sweeteners that retain trace minerals and natural compounds absent in refined sugar. Neither is a low-sugar ingredient but both provide sweetness from a less processed source than cane sugar. Pink Himalayan Salt A small amount of salt in sweet recipes does something counterintuitive: it enhances sweetness and rounds out the overall flavor. Himalayan salt contains trace minerals including calcium, potassium, and magnesium alongside sodium. Mint Chocolate Chip Bar (or Dark Chocolate 70%+) Cacao is one of the most antioxidant-rich foods available a natural source of flavonoids, magnesium, and iron. The higher the cacao percentage, the more of these compounds remain. Why This Recipe Works Most dairy-free ice cream relies on gums, stabilizers, or a long list of additives to get close to the texture of the real thing. This one skips all of that. The combination of full-fat coconut milk and raw cashews creates a base that's genuinely creamy, no compromise, no aftertaste. The Mint Chocolate Chip bar on top isn't just decoration. When melted and poured over frozen ice cream, it sets into a thin shell that cracks on contact, the same way a Magnum does, just without the refined sugar or additives. SHOP MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP — LIMITED EDITION Sources Coconut milk and medium-chain triglycerides — National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements Lauric acid and immune function — Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry Cashews: nutrient profile — USDA FoodData Central Mint and menthol — University of Maryland Medical Center Antioxidants in raw honey — Journal of ApiProduct and ApiMedical Science Maple syrup mineral content — University of Rhode Island Flavonoids in cacao — Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
