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If you’ve got ripe bananas and a freezer, you’re halfway to one of the easiest desserts ever: banana nice cream. With just one base recipe, you can create flavors like chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, cookies & cream!
save this recipe!The concept is simple: freeze sweet and nutritious bananas, then blend them up until they form a creamy, dreamy mock ice cream. This naturally sweet, dairy-free treat blends up into a creamy, ice cream-like dessert with zero added sugar (unless you want it).
And for a food lover who studied nutrition and sensory science and wrote , this recipe is basically a unicorn for me – the best of all worlds!
Today, you’ll learn how easy it is to make nice cream, along with ways to customize it with your favorite flavors (like chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry)!
Reader rating
“My husband was very skeptical but we both loved it! Guilt free goodness.” —Connie
Key Ingredients
This is just an overview–jump to the recipe card for measurements and flavor options!
- Bananas: Use ripe, spotty bananas for the best sweetness and smooth texture. Green or underripe bananas make the nice cream bland and pasty in our testing.
- Salt: Even in sweet recipes, a pinch of salt balances and enhances flavor. We tested without it, and it always tasted a little flat.
- Vanilla extract: Adds classic ice cream flavor to the base and works with almost any mix-in.
- Splash of milk: Just enough to loosen the blender. We tested with oat, almond, and dairy milk—all work. Use what you have!
Blending Tip
You can do a few things to get this vegan nice cream blending. Either let the bananas thaw a bit so they’re not rock solid, or add a splash of milk (cow’s or plant-based) until things start moving. Scrape the sides and push the nice cream down into the blades of the blender or food processor until you get a smooth, soft-serve consistency.
using a food processor
Food processors are better for breaking up ingredients, while blenders are better for, well, blending. We highly recommend using a blender to make banana nice cream; otherwise, the banana turns into flakes instead of ice cream.
How To Make Banana Nice Cream (+ Flavor Guide!)
Ingredients
Plain Banana Flavor
- 4 ripe bananas
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- Splash of milk as needed, any variety
Strawberry Flavor
- 3 ripe bananas
- 1 cup frozen strawberries
- ¼ tsp salt
- Splash of milk as needed, any variety
Chocolate Flavor
- 4 ripe bananas
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- Splash of milk as needed, any variety
Cookies & Cream Flavor
- 4 ripe bananas
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup roughly crushed Oreo cookies, stir in after blending
Instructions
- Freeze: Peel and chop bananas into chunks. Lay in a single layer on a parchment-lined plate. Freeze until solid (at least 2 hours).
- Blend: Allow bananas to thaw for 5 minutes, then transfer to a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth, scraping down sides and adding a splash of milk as needed.
- Flavor: Add ingredients to make your chosen flavor and continue blending until smooth.For Cookies & Cream Flavor, don't blend in the Oreo cookies. Just stir them in after blending.
- Serve: Serve as is from the blender for a soft serve consistency. For a firmer texture, transfer to a deep dish and freeze for 30 minutes, until firm.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information calculated by Sarah Bond, degreed nutritionist.
did you make this?Leave a comment below and tag @liveeatlearn on social media! I love seeing what you’ve made!
My husband was very skeptical but we both loved it! Guilt free goodness. Used food processor. Will try mocha variation tomorrow. Plan to have frozen banana chunks on hand at all times!
I’m so happy to hear it was a hit, Connie! 😀
Made it today and it came out perfect! Added strawberries and didn’t need to add any milk. I’ll definitely be making it again!
I made chocolate and it was fantastic! Absolutely amazing! Thank you!!! ❤️
Love hearing that, thanks for trying it!
Absolutely love love this recipe my biggest weakness is ice cream now I can really indulge without feeling guilty. Thanks