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Learn to make your own Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream. A fresh mint taste and all-natural ingredients mean this will be the best mint ice cream you’ll ever make.

two bowls of homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream with mint springs, chocolate chips, and a spoon
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Truth time: there is no logical reason why mint chocolate chip ice cream should be green. That’s all food coloring.

The homemade version of mint ice cream is a buttery yellow and has a subtle minty flavor. It’s magical, it’s delicious, and it’s natural. The way mint-infused cream should taste.

Fresh mint is great in so much more than homemade ice cream! Try it in this Mojito Mocktail, Cucumber Mint Water, learn How to Freeze Mint, dehydrate mint, and Homemade Peppermint Extract.

Mint Ice Cream Ingredients

This recipe has:

  • Fresh mint (but see notes on using extract)
  • Egg yolks
  • Whole milk
  • Heavy cream
  • Sugar
  • Semi-sweet chocolate – chopped

Equipment Needed for Mint Chip Ice Cream

You’ll need a cutting board and a knife for chopping the chocolate, a heavy-bottomed saucepan, a clean freezer-proof mixing bowl, a spatula, some sort of fine strainer, an ice cream maker (I have this one that attaches to my stand mixer, but this one is extremely popular), and a container for the finished ice cream.

How to Make Mint Chocolate Ice Cream 

*I’ll walk you through it here with some photos and tips, and you’ll also find a printable recipe card at the bottom of the post with exact measurements, etc. You can click “jump to recipe” to skip down.

Whisk your egg yolks in a small dish. Set aside. Chop your chocolate finely and set aside.

In a medium-sized saucepan, combine whole milk, sugar, and mint leaves over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. You really want to “bruise” the mint to release the oils. Make it sorry it ever messed with you. I use a sauce whisk for this.

Take some of the sugar/milk mixture and slowly, very slowly, dribble the hot mixture into the egg, whisking very quickly the whole time. This process is called tempering.

Process shots of homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Slowly return the egg/milk mixture to the pot, and whisk constantly to incorporate. Cook for an additional 1-2 minutes, making sure to not let the mixture boil.

Pour the contents of the pot through a mesh strainer set up over a freezer-proof bowl. Add the heavy cream to the mixture in the bowl, and stir well.  Put the bowl in the fridge for six hours, or until completely cold. The longer you chill it, the better it will be.

process shots for homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream.

With your ice cream maker running, add the ice cream base to the machine, and churn until it starts to resemble ice cream. You’ve seen ice cream before…you’ll know what to look for. I trust your judgment. Add the chopped chocolate to the mixture when the ice cream is creamy and starting to thicken up.

Remove the ice cream from the machine and put it in a freezer-proof container with a lid. Press a piece of plastic wrap over the surface of the ice cream before placing the lid on.

You can serve it immediately, but it will be crazy melty…ice cream soup if you will. I like to freeze it for at least three hours. It’s torturous to wait that long but results in ice cream with a consistency like store-bought. Believe.

Process shots for making homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Best Chocolate To Use For Mint Chip Ice Cream

You’ll want to choose a chocolate that is semi-sweet or bittersweet. I often use chocolate chips if that is all that I have on hand.

You’ll want to chop the chocolate into a fairly fine mince. The chocolate is there to flavor the ice cream, and large chunks will get very hard during the freezing process. If you’re like me and have sensitive teeth, cold chocolate chunks are painful.

Pro Tips/Recipe Notes

  • Before storing the finished ice cream, lay a piece of plastic wrap over it making sure it makes contact with the surface. Then place the lid on it and put it in the freezer. This helps prevent the texture from getting icy.
  • You’ll have better results if you allow the ice cream to sit covered in the freezer for 3-5 hours before serving. Ice cream fresh from the mixer will have a very soft consistency.
  • This ice cream uses 6 egg yolks. Freeze the egg whites in an air-tight container to use in future recipes.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Make Mint Ice Cream Without Fresh Mint

No fresh mint? Don’t lose any sleep over it; I’ve got you covered.

Add 1-2 tsp of mint extract to the mixture after it has chilled, but before you put it in the ice cream machine. Taste the base and add more mint if needed.

How to Make Ice Cream Without an Ice Cream Maker

Freeze and stir the base every hour until frozen and creamy.

For more details, check out this post from David Lebovitz on how to make ice cream without a machine.

scoops of homemade mint chip ice cream.
5 from 15 ratings

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Cooling/Freezing: 6 hours
Total: 20 minutes
mint chocolate chip ice cream in a bowl on a white surface
Learn to make your own mint chocolate chip ice cream. A fresh mint taste and all-natural ingredients mean this mint chip will be the best mint ice cream you'll ever make.

Ingredients 

Instructions 

  • Wash and lightly dry your mint leaves.
    2/3 cup fresh mint leaves, packed
  • Set up a fine mesh sieve over a heat-proof bowl.
  • Put the egg yolks in a heat-proof bowl, and whisk until well-combined.
    6 egg yolks, room temperature
  • In a medium-sized pot, combine whole milk, sugar, and mint leaves over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. You really want to "bruise" the mint up to release the oils.
    1 1/4 cups whole milk, 3/4 cup sugar
  • Take 1/3 cup of the sugar/milk mixture, and slowly dribble the hot mixture into the bowl with the mixed egg yolks, whisking very quickly the whole time.
  • Slowly add the egg/milk mixture to the pot, whisking rapidly to incorporate. Cook for an additional 1-2 minutes, making sure to not let the mixture boil.
  • Pour the contents of the pot through the sieve. Add the heavy cream to the mixture in the bowl, and stir well. Put the bowl in the fridge for 6 hours, or until completely cold.
    2 cups heavy cream
  • With your ice cream maker running, add the base to the machine, and churn until it starts to thicken.
  • Sprinkle in the chopped chocolate and churn until the mixture starts to resemble ice cream.
    1/2 cup chopped chocolate or mini chocolate chips
  • Remove the ice cream from the machine and put it in a freezer-proof container.
  • Press a piece of plastic wrap on top of the ice cream, and then put a lid on and store in the freezer for 3-5 hours before serving.

Notes

  1. No fresh mint? Add 1-2 tsp of mint extract to the mixture after it has chilled, but before you put it in the ice cream machine. Taste the base and add more mint if needed.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.5cupCalories: 216kcalCarbohydrates: 15gProtein: 2gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 116mgSodium: 24mgPotassium: 107mgFiber: 0gSugar: 13gVitamin A: 650IUVitamin C: 0.7mgCalcium: 59mgIron: 0.7mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Tried this recipe?Mention @sustainablecooks or tag #sustainablecooks!

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About Sarah

Helping you serve up budget-friendly sustainable recipes with a side of balanced living.
Come for the food. Stay for the snark.

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36 Comments

  1. My daughter has chronic lime and cannot have suger. She misses ice cream! Can liquid stevia be substituted for sugar in this recipe? If so, can you tell me how much liquid stevia to use?5 stars

    1. Mary, I have not tried liquid stevia in this recipe, so I hate to lead your astray by saying yes or no.

      Sugar is important in this recipe for the texture. I’m honestly not sure how things would turn out without the addition of the cane sugar. I wish I had a better answer for you!

  2. This was amazing! First time making homemade ice cream. Thank you for sharing what kind of mixer you use! Can’t wait to try the other recipes.5 stars

  3. So delicious!! Finally found a use for all my mint that is worth it (besides the Sustainable Cook’s Classico Mocktail mojito recipe) !5 stars

  4. Thank you TONS for posting recipe notes & nutrition facts. Both are super helpful & very much appreciated!5 stars

  5. hahaha I am like Mary in that I also think Mint Chocolate Icecream should not be ‘industrial green’… yuk… Love your blog, you are funny, knowledgable and your recipes look DELICIOUS
    Nice work!5 stars

    1. I’m pretty indifferent, but if given the choice I would definitely choose the white/cream colored mint! 🙂

  6. Can I just tell you how much I enjoy your posts? Scrambled egg ice cream made me snort my iced coffee through my nose and all over my iPad. You get me, you really do. I like to pretend that you and the bloggess are in my secret girl gang and we’re plotting to take over the universe. So, cheers. Thanks for making my days a little brighter and my iPad a little dirtier.5 stars

    1. Ha, I’m so glad Stephanie. I feel like keeping it real with people is important, and the threat of scrambled eggs in their ice cream may just get them actually read instructions clearly.

      If you like the Bloggess, you may be interested in this podcast she was on. I adore this series and her episode was so fascinating.

      And ps, we would totally take over the universe!