No Churn Pistachio Ice Cream

Have a penchant for pistachios? Then this no-churn ice cream recipe is for you! My no-churn pistachio ice cream is so simple to make but oh so creamy and full of flavour. Get the recipe below.

Keeping it simple

I've posted 3 fantastic no churn recipe ice creams on the blog so far. The secret to all of them? They all use the same simple base. Once I nailed the ratios of double cream to condensed milk I had this wonderful blank canvas that I could start covering with weird and wonderful flavour combinations.

I've made a tonne of "regular" ice cream flavours using this method - strawberry and raspberry ripple are two of my favourites. Black Sesame Ice Cream, however, was a real revelation and I've been getting tonnes of good feedback from people who have tried it on Instagram. Blueberry and Yuzu Ripple Ice Cream was another Japanese inspired flavour combination that has gone down really well.

For this recipe I decided to keep things simple with just one flavour - pistachio. I love pistachios for two reasons: (1) they look stunning; (2) they taste amazing when turned into desserts. I've never been one to sit and munch on a handful of pistachios (though they do taste pretty good in a salad) but when they are turned into confectionery or baked into cakes and pastries they are my absolute favourite!

I considered making a chocolate ice cream and just adding the pistachios for a bit of crunch but then chocolate would be the star of the show and I really wanted this recipe to be all about the bright green nuts I love so much. The question was, how do you take a whole nut and get it in a form that can be mixed with cream and condensed milk to make a smooth ice cream? It turns out the answer is a high powered blender!

I chucked the pistachios into my Vitamix and whizzed them until they were a fine powder - as fine as icing sugar. When I stirred this pistachio "dust" into the whipped cream and condensed ice cream base it turned a lovely pale shade of green. I sprinkled a few chopped pistachios over the top and the froze the mix for 3 hours before spooning out into velvety smooth balls of pistachio ice cream.

A drizzle of chocolate sauce and a few extra chopped pistachios finished this simple dessert off nicely.

The recipe

So here it is, that simple recipe in all its glory. Let me know what you think in the comments below. Are there any other weird and wonderful flavours you'd like me to try?

For pistachio lovers

If you love pistachios as much as I do you must try one of these pistachio recipes.

I particularly love the Dark Chocolate and Pistachio Cake. The buttercream is made using a similar method, blitzing the pistachios into a fine powder. No green food colouring required! It's 100% pistachio!

Your feedback is important

If you do try this recipe, or any others from the blog, I'd love to hear from you. You can leave a comment or just leave a star rating in the recipe card above.