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Banana ice cream is a healthy frozen treat that is almost too good to be true. Why eat a plain banana when you can make it into ice cream?
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I have recently discovered banana ice cream and it is my new favorite treat. And the best part? My kids love it too! It is the perfect guilt-free, low-sugar summer snack. My kids could eat this all day and never even know it’s not “real” ice cream. I’m not even a big fan of bananas and I love it. The banana flavor isn’t overpowering at all (especially when you add some mix-ins). The texture is smooth, creamy, and it turns out delicious every time. Just like ice cream, but you don’t need an ice cream maker.
Banana Ice Cream Ingredients
This recipe has just one easy ingredient: bananas. Some like to add a little splash of vanilla or a splash of coconut milk (which is delicious), but honestly just one ingredient is all you need!
How to Make Banana Ice Cream
- Peel and slice bananas
- Put bananas in freezer until completely frozen (6-8 hours)
- Using a food processor, pulse until smooth like ice cream
- Serve as soft-serve or freeze until hard enough to scoop
Mix-In Ideas
There are so many flavor variations to take this easy ice cream up a notch. Stir in one or more of the following ingredients to create an ice cream mixture of your own. You may discover some ice cream recipes that are not only healthier than regular dairy ice cream, but that also taste amazing.
- Frozen mango and pineapple
- Nutella
- Peanut butter or almond butter with cocoa powder
- Frozen raspberries and cocoa powder
- Mixed berries or strawberries
- Peanuts, pecans, or almonds
- Chocolate chips
- Pineapple and coconut milk (Pina colada)
- Vanilla and Oreo cookies (Cookies and cream)
Recipe Tips
- Freeze your bananas sliced. You can use whole frozen bananas but I have found it is hard on my food processor. It is much easier to blend up slices. Find more great tips on our post how to freeze bananas.
- Use a food processor. I have a Blendtec blender and it works pretty well, but if you have a low-powered blender I wouldn’t recommend it. Even though I have a high-powered blender, I still like the food processor better.
- If it seems crumbly and isn’t smoothing out, keep blending! It will get smooth eventually, promise.
- Re-freeze after blending to make “scoop-able” ice cream, or serve immediately for soft serve ice cream.
Questions About Banana Ice Cream
Yes! This is considered a healthy snack because you are literally just eating a banana. It is a vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, low calorie, high potassium snack. Plus, there are no added sugars!
Although this is a very healthy treat, it is not considered “Keto”. This is because bananas are naturally higher in carbohydrates and has a good amount of natural sugars.
This recipe for banana ice cream has one ingredient – frozen bananas.
More Easy Frozen Summer Treat Ideas
Banana Ice Cream (1 ingredient)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 ripe bananas
- parchment paper
Instructions
- Peel and slice bananas into 1"-2" slices. Place banana slices on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze for 6-8 hours.
- You can prepare ice cream immediately or place bananas in a Ziplock freezer bag until ready to use.
- When ready to prepare ice cream, place frozen banana slices in a food processor (or high-power blender) and pulse until smooth and creamy. If it seems crumbly and not smoothing out, just keep blending. It will get there!
- Serve as soft-serve immediately or place in a freezer safe container and freeze for another 2-3 hours to scoop and serve.
Notes
Mix-In Ideas
Stir in one or more of the following ingredients to add additional flavors and textures to your ice cream:- Frozen mango and pineapple
- Nutella
- Peanut butter or almond butter with cocoa powder
- Frozen raspberries and cocoa powder
- Mixed berries or strawberries
- Peanuts, pecans, or almonds
- Chocolate chips
- Pineapple and coconut milk (Pina colada)
- Vanilla and Oreo cookies (Cookies and cream)
So easy and healthy! What a great summertime recipe!
Love that this recipe is so easy and delicious! Great treat for summer. Thank you!
Loved the one ingredient banana ice cream.
Great grandsons enjoyed my ice cream!!