How to make smooth and creamy Pistachio Ice Cream from scratch. This recipe is super easy and utterly delicious made using homemade Italian pistachio cream for that classic sweet and nutty flavour!
You can't walk into a gelateria in Italy and not find Gelato di Pistacchio, it's so popular and incredibly delicious. It's without a doubt my absolute favourite flavour of all time and there's no way I could walk out of a gelateria without it.
So of course, we had to figure out how to make it at home and here it is, our homemade pistachio ice cream. It's smooth, creamy, sweet and nutty and totally addictive.
What's even better is how easy it is to make, see the full recipe below including our top tips, step by step photos and helpful video. Enjoy!
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Ingredients - what you need
See the photo below that shows you everything you need to make this recipe plus some important tips on ingredients!
- Pistachio cream - follow our recipe to make this popular Italian spread, it's sweet and addictivley delicious plus it's really quick and easy to make!
- Whole milk - make sure you use whole milk for best flavour and creamy texture.
- Heavy cream - this is an essential ingredient, don't use low fat cream.
- Sugar - you only need a small amount of sugar since the pistachio cream is already really sweet.
Step by step photos and recipe instructions
Put the cream, milk and sugar in a large saucepan on a medium heat. Heat the mixture until the sugar has completely dissolved (don’t let it boil) (photo 1).
Once the sugar has melted, turn off the heat and whisk in the pistachio cream until melted (photos 2 & 3).
Let the mixture cool completely then churn in your ice cream machine. Depending on what machine you have it can take up to 20 minutes to churn. It should be thick and creamy (photos 4-6).
Transfer the ice cream into a suitable container and freeze. Remove from the freezer 5-10 minutes before serving (photos 7 & 8).
Recipe tips and FAQs
- Pistachio cream - this is a mix of pistachios, white chocolate and milk. It's super quick and easy to make and is the key to the best tasting pistachio ice cream!
- Churning the ice cream - the length of churning time will depend on your own ice cream machine, ours takes around 20 minutes for it to double in volume.
- Make sure the mixture is cold before churning - it's important to let the ice cream mixture cool completely before churning or it may not work. If a skin has formed on the milk remove it before churning.
- Toppings - top your ice cream with extra chopped pistachios, it's delicious!
Yes, because most no-churn recipes use condensed milk it would overpower the pistachio flavour.
The ice cream will keep well in the freezer for up to 6 months.
More delicious ice cream recipes to try
- Stracciatella Gelato (No Churn)
- Italian Affogato Recipe - Ice Cream And Coffee
- Italian Lemon Ice Cream with Limoncello
- Tiramisu Ice cream
- Panettone Ice Cream (No Churn)
If you’ve tried this Pistachio Ice Cream or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW US on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST or sign up to our NEWSLETTER to see more of our delicious food
📖 Full Recipe
Pistachio Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1 batch Pistachio Cream (300g)
- 2 cups whole milk (475ml)
- 2 cups heavy cream (double cream UK) 475ml
- ¼ cup sugar (50g)
- chopped pistachios for topping (optional)
Instructions
- Put the cream, milk and sugar in a large saucepan on a medium heat. Heat the mixture until the sugar has completely dissolved (don’t let it boil).2 cups whole milk, 2 cups heavy cream, ¼ cup sugar
- Once the sugar has melted, turn off the heat and whisk in the pistachio cream until melted.1 batch Pistachio Cream
- Let the mixture cool completely then churn in your ice cream machine. Depending on what machine you have it can take up to 20 minutes to churn. It should be thick and creamy.
- Transfer the ice cream into a suitable container and freeze for at least 3 hours. Remove from the freezer 5-10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Pistachio cream - this is a mix of pistachios, white chocolate and milk. It's super quick and easy to make and is the key to the best tasting pistachio ice cream!
- Churning the ice cream - the length of churning time will depend on your own ice cream machine, ours takes around 20 minutes for it to double in volume.
- Make sure the mixture is cold before churning - it's important to let the ice cream mixture cool completely before churning or it may not work. If a skin has formed on the milk remove it before churning.
- Toppings - top your ice cream with extra chopped pistachios, it's delicious!
- Freezing - will keep in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Nutrition
- I always use extra virgin olive oil in all of my recipes unless stated otherwise
- When I use canned or jarred tomatoes of any kind I always use Cirio or Mutti brands for the best results and flavour.
- All vegetables are medium sized unless stated otherwise
- All recipes are tested and developed using a fan (convection) oven
- Find out more about how nutrition is calculated.
- Check out our must have Italian Pantry Staples.
- You can also find all our Essential Kitchen Tools for Italian Cooking.
Kryshondra
Pretty tasty!