Mint chip ice cream is a cool and refreshing frozen delight that has enchanted taste buds for generations. This classic flavor combines the invigorating essence of mint with the delightful crunch of chocolate shards, creating a harmonious balance of flavors and textures.

mint chip ice cream in a ramekin with a tub of homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream in the background with a metal ice cream scoop

Whether enjoyed on a hot summer day or as a comforting treat year-round, this timeless favorite never fails to provide a satisfying burst of coolness and sweetness, making mint chip ice cream a beloved choice for ice cream enthusiasts of all ages. Making this tasty ice cream at home if quite easy – provided you follow one key technique.

Mint chip is quite the polarizing flavor. You seem to either love it or hate it. There is also the issue of using fresh mint vs mint extract – you’ll see my position on this later. However regardless of your preference, this recipe can still teach you some strategies for the ultimate chip-ification for that signature chocolate texture.

What You’ll Need

As with all of my ice cream recipes on Scoops of Delight, you need an ice cream machine. The exact style and brand does not matter too much but you do want one that is decent quality. I personally use the Smeg ice cream maker. The only issue with it is that you need to already have a Smeg stand mixer – which can be quite pricey. While there are plenty of recipes for no-churn ice creams, I often find a properly churned ice cream magnitudes better.

Some other things you will need for this homemade ice cream recipe are:

Mixing Bowls
Whisk
Steel Pans (I personally find steel the best for making ice cream, but you can use any as long as you are careful about the temperature.
Rubber Spatula
Sealable Container (The best thing to use to store homemade ice cream is plastic in my opinion. You want something that is more flat than tall as it provides more surface area to quickly freeze in a home freezer).
Kitchen Scale (optional, but recommended as almost all of my recipes use metric as it is more precise than imperial for most home cooks).

3 Quick Rules For Making The Best Mint Chip Ice Cream

Do NOT use eggs. Because mint chip ice cream is such a mono-flavor you don’t want to add anything to the ice cream base that adulterates the normal milk flavor. To get the thickness eggs would add, without imparting eggy flavor, I add powdered sunflower lecithin. It is near tasteless, and the main emulsifier in egg yolks.
Mint extract > Fresh Mint. I know this sounds counterintuitive, since the whole point of making ice cream at home is to use high quality ingredients. Let me tell you, high quality extracts, in my opinion, do a much better job of imparting mint flavor than steeping a bunch of leaves. The latter method can add in herbal or grassy notes which I find off-putting in what should be a bright and refreshing dessert.
Use the Stracciatella Method when adding the chocolate. This technique, originally made famous in stracciatella gelato, involves trickling melted chocolate into the ice cream while it is churning. This creates the signature sharp shards of chocolate which have a better mouthfeel than using larger chocolate chips.

How To Make Homemade Mint Chip Ice Cream

9 ingredients may seem like a lot for mint chip ice cream, but each and every one serves an important purpose. For the sake of keeping the science to a minimum I’ll just explain in general terms what role everything plays.

Ingredients

500 ml Heavy Cream (36% fat)

250 ml Milk (3.5% fat)

150 grams Sugar (granulated. You can increase this to 200 if you like a really sweet ice cream)

8 grams Sunflower Lecithin Powder (this is an emulsifier that is naturally found in egg yolks. By using the powdered sunflower version, you are getting that emulsion factor without any eggy flavor. You can substitute this amount of powdered lecithin with 10 ml of liquid lecithin.)

0.8 grams Xantham Gum (Xantham gum is a powerful stabilizer that, when used correctly, reduces the size of ice crystals, makes for easier scoop-ability, slows melt, and creates a creamier mouthfeel. Personally, it is my favorite stabilizer to use; even moreso than the much vaunted Locust Bean Gum, Carageenan, or Guar Gum. Many gums should be used together for best effect, which can make making homemade ice cream quite the expense)

Mint Flavor (I like the ones that use both spearmint and peppermint combined as opposed to one or the other. Add drop by drop while tasting constantly so as to not overpower the ice cream. I suggest looking for a high quality mint flavor (called ‘aroma’ in Europe) with propylene glycol as the main ingredient. This flavor concentrated ‘double-alcohol’ has the added chemical effect of slightly lowering the freezing temperature of the ice cream making for easier scoop-ability. Note: propylene glycol is completely food-safe and used in a ton of the things you already eat. I use the Criamo brand but if you prefer to buy online then I can easily recommend this LorAnn bottle.

Mint Green Gel Food Coloring (this is optional of course, but I am personally partial to that nice, elegant, mint green color when I enjoy mint chip ice cream.

100 grams Dark Chocolate (64% dark or higher. I use Callebaut recipe 70-30-38 which is a high quality chocolate – although a bit on the expensive end)

1 tbsp Coconut Oil (I suggest using refined, although you can likely get away with unrefined here as you are using so little of it).

Step 1

mint chip ice cream base in a mixing jug

Ok here is just how easy this mint chip ice cream recipe actually is. Get a large vessel (about 1 liter) and add the milk and cream and 100 grams of the sugar. Sprinkle in the lecithin and blitz it with an immersion blender until the lecithin is fully combined. Let sit in the fridge for 30 minutes to fully hydrate the lecithin powder.

After a half hour, mix the rest of the sugar with the xantham gum and add it to the base while again using the immersion blender. Continue blending and add mint flavor a drop or two at a time while tasting constantly until you get a level you are happy with. Then add the food coloring to your desired color preference. Place back in the fridge for 10 minutes more.

Step 2:

smeg ice cream machine setup with mint chip ice cream base in a jug

After just 10 minutes chilling you will see that the foamy top layer has not dissipated. This is because the lecithin and gum has thickened and stabilized the mix. Now set up your ice cream machine. Add the mint chip base and run for as long as your machine’s instructions dictate.

Step 3:

a ramekin of melted chocolate above an ice cream machine with soft serve mint green ice cream

To add the chocolate we are applying the stracciatella method. Add your chocolate to a ramekin and microwave it for a minute. Then add your coconut oil and stir until homogenous.

a chocolate drizzle into mint ice cream while in the machine

While your machine is churning the ice cream (which should be at a soft serve consistency by now), trickle in your chocolate. Due to the coconut oil it will harden as soon as it comes in contact with the cold ice cream (anyone remember Magic Shell?). Since the machine is churning it will shred the chocolate into shards for that signature mint chip ice cream texture.

mint chip ice cream in a plastic sealable container

Place your homemade mint chip ice cream into a sealable container. Put it into the freezer to set before serving. You don’t really need a garnish for this ice cream, but you can always add a sprig of mint leave if you are making this for a dinner party.