Precision Nutrition super chef Jen Nickle developed these 8 incredible, exotic ice cream recipes. They’re healthy enough to eat all the time, even if you want to stay lean. Plus they’re easy to make.
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Here’s one of the things I love about PN:
We’re a nutrition coaching company, yet we also love to eat.
I was in a meeting recently and one of our newer PN team members mentioned how excited she was to make “Precision Nutrition Ice Cream”.
You see, she’s enrolled in our Precision Nutrition Coaching program (as many PN team members are in any given year), and her coach sent her a link to my original recipes.
As an ice cream lover, she was in heaven.
For a little backstory, I published the “healthy ice cream” post back in 2010. I spent years on a quest to create the perfect protein shake.
After destroying several blenders, I discovered the VitaMix, a machine powerful enough to cut through tough ingredients like ice, peanut butter, and cacao nibs all at once.
By accident, “Precision Nutrition Ice Cream” was born.
Precision Nutrition Ice Cream, part II
Revisiting that 5-year-old post got me thinking. PN has changed a lot since then.
We’ve helped thousands of clients get lean and healthy, and to meet the demand, our team has grown to 100 people … including world class super chef, Jen Nickle.
So why not challenge her to come up with something even better.
Never one to back down from a challenge, Chef Jen was game.
She promised exotic, surprising delicious ice cream recipes that have wholesome, healthy ingredients and a fraction of the calories you get from standard ice cream.
And three days later she delivered…
As you can see, they turned out beautiful.
They’re also easy — just three (or fewer) simple steps each — and manageable even for your run-of-the-mill blender, food processor, or other type of obliterator machine.
Plus they’re lots of fun.
How to make Precision Nutrition Ice Cream
Start by choosing from one of the 8 ice cream flavors below.
Then follow the instructions to create the ice cream “batter”.
Want visuals?
Here’s what the process looks like for the Hazelnut Dark Chocolate recipe:
Now it’s freezer time. Here you have two options:
- Muffin Tins
Ladle ½-cup servings of the batter into muffin tins and freeze overnight. Then pop as many servings as you want out of the tin and into your blender. (You can add unsweetened almond milk if you want a softer texture but it’s not required). - Loaf Pan
Pour it into a loaf pan and freeze. When you want to eat it, take it out and let it soften for 20 minutes before serving. This is a great option if you’re serving all of it at once.
Frozen, the ice cream looks like this:
Precision Nutrition Ice Cream, the recipes
Hazelnut Dark Chocolate
(approx. 12 ½-cup servings)
- ½ cup blanched hazelnuts
- ½ cup pitted dates
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons cocoa powder
- 1 cup low-fat plain Greek yogurt*
- 1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder
- 2 cups 1% chocolate milk*
- ¼ cup dark chocolate chunks
- In a blender or food processor, puree hazelnuts, dates, salt, and cocoa powder until a chunky paste forms.
- With blender running, slowly add yogurt, protein powder, and chocolate milk until everything is combined; stop blender.
- Add dark chocolate chunks and pulse.
Nutrition Facts
| Precision Nutrition Hazelnut Dark Chocolate Ice Cream |
Häagen Dazs® Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream |
|---|---|
| Per ½-cup serving | Per ½-cup serving |
| Calories 103 | Calories 300 |
| Fat 4g | Fat 20g |
| Carbs 12g | Carbs 28g |
| Sugar 11g | Sugar 25g |
| Protein 5g | Protein 5g |
Espresso & Cacao Nib
(approx. 8 ½-cup servings)
- ½ cup pitted prunes
- 2 tablespoons instant coffee
- 1 ½ teaspoons cocoa powder
- 1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons brandy
- ¾ cup unsweetened almond milk
- ½ can full-fat coconut milk**
- ½ cup lowfat plain Greek yogurt*
- ¼ cup cacao nibs
- In a blender or food processor, blend the prunes, instant coffee, cocoa powder, protein powder and brandy until a smooth paste forms.
- Add the unsweetened almond milk and coconut milk in a slow stream.
- Add the yogurt and cacao nibs, and pulse until just combined.
Nutrition Facts
| Precision Nutrition Espresso & Cacao Nib |
Häagen Dazs® Coffee Ice Cream |
|---|---|
| Per ½-cup serving | Per ½-cup serving |
| Calories 98 | Calories 270 |
| Fat 5g | Fat 18g |
| Carbs 10g | Carbs 22g |
| Sugar 5g | Sugar 21g |
| Protein 5g | Protein 5g |
Peanut Butter & Honey
(approx. 8 ½-cup servings)
- 1 ½ teaspoons arrowroot starch
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- ½ cup lowfat plain Greek yogurt*
- 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
- ½ frozen banana
- 1 ½ tablespoons peanut butter
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup chopped peanuts
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- In a sauce pot over medium heat, whisk arrowroot starch and unsweetened almond milk for 2 minutes or until thick; set aside.
- In blender or food processor, puree yogurt and protein powder until smooth; blend in banana, peanut butter, honey, and unsweetened almond milk mixture.
- Stir in peanuts and sea salt.
Nutrition Facts
| Precision Nutrition Peanut Butter & Honey Ice Cream |
Häagen Dazs® Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream |
|---|---|
| Per ½-cup serving | Per ½-cup serving |
| Calories 113 | Calories 380 |
| Fat 5g | Fat 26g |
| Carbs 14g | Carbs 30g |
| Sugar 11g | Sugar 26g |
| Protein 6g | Protein 8g |
Ginger, Saffron & Vanilla
(approx. 8 ½-cup servings)
- 1 ½ cans full-fat coconut milk**
- 1 tablespoon saffron threads
- 1 ½ tablespoons grated ginger
- 3 tablespoons honey
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ vanilla bean, scraped
- 1 ½ teaspoons arrowroot starch
- ½ cup low-fat plain Greek yogurt*
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- In a sauce pot over medium heat warm the coconut milk and add the saffron, ginger, honey, vanilla extract and vanilla bean.
- In a small bowl, whisk ½ cup of coconut milk mixture with arrowroot starch until smooth; pour back into the pot, whisking as you go.
- Squeeze out and remove the vanilla bean, and pour the mixture into food processor or blender; add the yogurt and salt and slowly blend until thick and frothy.
Nutrition Facts
| Precision Nutrition Ginger, Saffron & Vanilla Ice Cream |
Häagen Dazs® Vanilla Bean Ice Cream |
|---|---|
| Per ½-cup serving | Per ½-cup serving |
| Calories 140 | Calories 290 |
| Fat 12g | Fat 18g |
| Carbs 9g | Carbs 26g |
| Sugar 7g | Sugar 26g |
| Protein 2g | Protein 5g |
Blueberry Banana
(approx. 8 ½-cup servings)
- 2 frozen bananas
- 1 cup low-fat plain Greek yogurt*
- 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- ¾ cup frozen blueberries
- In blender or food processor, blend bananas, yogurt, protein powder, and salt until fully incorporated and smooth.
- Add the blueberries to blender a bit at a time, pulsing until combined but still chunky.
Nutrition Facts
| Precision Nutrition Blueberry Banana Ice Cream |
Häagen Dazs® Strawberry Ice Cream |
|---|---|
| Per ½-cup serving | Per ½-cup serving |
| Calories 70 | Calories 260 |
| Fat 1g | Fat 17g |
| Carbs 11g | Carbs 24g |
| Sugar 6g | Sugar 23g |
| Protein 2g | Protein 4g |
Pumpkin Spice
(approx. 8 ½-cup servings)
- 1 cup lowfat plain Greek yogurt*
- ¼ cup pitted dates
- 1 teaspoon bourbon
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 8-oz (400-mL) can 100% pumpkin
- 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
- In blender or food processor, blend the yogurt, dates, bourbon, maple syrup, vanilla extract, spices, and salt to form a paste.
- Add the protein powder, and pumpkin and blend until smooth.
Nutrition Facts
| Precision Nutrition Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream |
Häagen Dazs® Vanilla Ice Cream |
|---|---|
| Per ½-cup serving | Per ½-cup serving |
| Calories 90 | Calories 270 |
| Fat 1g | Fat 18g |
| Carbs 16g | Carbs 21g |
| Sugar 13g | Sugar 21g |
| Protein 2g | Protein 5g |
Matcha, Mint & … Kale?!
(approx. 8 ½-cup servings)
- 1 tablespoon kale powder
- 1 tablespoon matcha powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons arrowroot starch
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 can full-fat coconut milk**
- ¼ cup chopped fresh mint
- 1 tablespoon lime juice, 1 tsp zest
- Combine the kale powder, matcha powder, and arrowroot starch. Warm the unsweetened almond milk in a small pot and whisk in the powders to make a smooth paste.
- In a blender or food processor, blend the honey, coconut milk, and mint. Add the unsweetened almond milk mix and puree until combined and smooth.
- Add the lime juice and zest and pulse together.
Nutrition Facts
| Precision Nutrition Matcha, Mint & Kale Ice Cream |
Häagen Dazs® Mint Chip Ice Cream |
|---|---|
| Per ½-cup serving | Per ½-cup serving |
| Calories 115 | Calories 300 |
| Fat 8g | Fat 20g |
| Carbs 11g | Carbs 27g |
| Sugar 9g | Sugar 23g |
| Protein 1g | Protein 3g |
Avocado Toasted Coconut
(approx. 8 ½-cup servings)
- 1 ½ teaspoons arrowroot starch
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 ½ teaspoon coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ½ can full-fat coconut milk**
- 1 avocado, peeled and seeded
- ¼ cup toasted coconut
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- In a sauce pot over medium heat, whisk the arrowroot starch with the unsweetened almond milk, coconut oil and the honey. Once the honey has been incorporated and the mixture is thickened, transfer the liquid into the blender.
- Add the coconut milk and blend on high until frothy. Add the avocado and continue blending until smooth and thick.
- Stir in the toasted coconut and sea salt.
Nutrition Facts
| Precision Nutrition Avocado Toasted Coconut Ice Cream |
Häagen Dazs® Pineapple Coconut Ice Cream |
|---|---|
| Per ½-cup serving | Per ½-cup serving |
| Calories 109 | Calories 230 |
| Fat 9g | Fat 13g |
| Carbs 9g | Carbs 25g |
| Sugar 6g | Sugar 23g |
| Protein 1g | Protein 3g |
A few final notes
* Lactose intolerant (like me)? You can replace chocolate milk with chocolate unsweetened almond milk. And replace yogurt with regular unsweetened almond milk.
** Want to cut down on the fat and calorie content of any particular recipe? Although a moderate amount of daily fat isn’t something to be scared of, you can replace regular coconut milk with the same volume of low fat coconut milk or unsweetened almond milk. However, not only is fat tasty, it’s creamy and velvety. So lower fat options will end up less creamy and more icy.
*** Don’t know what arrowroot starch or saffron threads are — or you wouldn’t consider yourself much of a culinary artist — start with the simplest recipe here to build you confidence.
In the end, if you’re an ice cream lover, give some of these recipes a try. In no time you’ll be making delicious, exotic, ice cream recipes that delight your taste buds and impress your friends.
Eat, move, and live…better.©
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