Healthy Vanilla Protein Ice Cream
Ice cream. ICE CREAM. IIICCEE CRREEEEAAAAAMM!!! Sorry, I’ll try to contain myself from now on, I’m just a little (read: extremely) excited to share this recipe. Vanilla Bean Ice Cream is an all-time classic… and now it’s been made totally, utterly, and completely guilt-free with this Healthy Vanilla Protein Ice Cream recipe. This sweet and creamy, mouthwatering amazingness is refined sugar free, low carb, low fat, and high protein, but you would NEVER ever ever suspect it. Ohhhh yes.
I worked pretty darn hard to perfect this recipe. It required three trials to get just the right flavor, texture, and amazing nutrition label. But it was so, so worth it.
In my first trial, I tried to make a no-churn ice cream by blending all of the ingredients in a blender, pouring everything into a ceramic loaf pan, then freezing until firm. Sadly, it froze into a rock hard brick, and even after thawing it for a while, each scoop was super icy and crystallized.
In the second trial, I gave up on the no-churn ice cream idea and used my ice cream maker. The texture was spot on, but it wasn’t flavorful enough and could be a bit sweeter.
In the third (and final) trial, I added more stevia extract and some more Homemade Vanilla Paste. To achieve that “true” ice cream flavor, I also added a tiny bit of butter flavoring. My first bite? FOODGASM ON A SPOON.
This Healthy Vanilla Protein Ice Cream is delectable all on its own, sandwiched in between two Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies, on top of a warm slice of Citrus Pound Cake, added to a Red Velvet Smoothie to transform it into a milkshake, or served alongside some Homemade Maraschino Cherries! No matter how you serve this sugar free ice cream, you’ll be glad you did.
Healthy Vanilla Protein Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 32 oz Plain, Nonfat Greek Yogurt
- one 12oz can Evaporated Fat Free Milk
- 1 tsp Vanilla Paste
- 2 tsp Liquid Stevia Extract
- 1 tsp Natural Butter Flavor
- 128g (4 scoops) Unflavored Whey Protein Powder
- 1 tsp Xanthan Gum
- ¼ tsp Salt
Instructions
- Freeze your ice cream maker bowl for 24+ hours (I used my KitchenAid ice cream maker attachment).
- In a blender, add the yogurt, milk, vanilla paste, stevia extract, and butter flavor. Blend until smooth.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the protein powder, xanthan gum, and salt. With the blender running, slowly add in the dry ingredients. Blend until smooth.
- Place the frozen ice cream maker attachment onto the stand mixer and turn on the "stir" speed. Pour ice cream mixture into the ice cream bowl and churn until soft-serve consistency.
- Transfer the ice cream into a freezer-safe dish. Cover and freeze until it's the texture you prefer (~3-5 hours). Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
WHHHHAAAT?!?!?!? CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??? Only 150 calories, .5g fat, and 10g of carbs PER CUP!
Did you know that typical storebought ice cream has 500 calories per cup? Yeah, for real… compared to 1 cup of Ben & Jerry’s Vanilla Ice Cream, 1 cup of my Healthy Vanilla Protein Ice Cream has:
- 350 less calories
- 31.5g less fat
- 31g less sugar
- 16g more protein
I really couldn’t ask for more. Actually yes, I could — I could most certainly ask for another bowl full of this Healthy Vanilla Protein Ice Cream.
If you stopped buying ice cream from the grocery store, you sure won’t be missing out on anything with this Healthy Vanilla Protein Ice Cream — it’s perfectly scoopable and totally creamy, just like storebought ice creams.
The only difference is that this heavenly goodness is made without the added sugar, heavy cream, and eggs. BOOM.
Enjoy!
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With love and good eats,
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– Jess
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Indulge − no strings attached!
Happy birthday! This looks great.
xx
S
Happy birthday! I hope you still enjoy it. I once went to exam prep for the whole day on my b-day. I didn’t get to make myself delicious healthy ice cream like you so it looks like you’re having a good birthday to me. Just go out and celebrate later ok?
Thanks Samantha Erin and Kat!
Kat, exam prep for a whole day?! 🙁 I wish I could’ve shared my ice cream with you!
Happy Birthday! Thanks for procrastinating and making this healthy vanilla ice cream 😉 It looks super good!
Out of all the ice cream I’ve made I have for some reason never made my favorite classic – vanilla. This recipe looks delicious.
And happy belated birthday!!
your recipes are amazing!! i love them all 🙂
Ah! I’m late to the party on this one, but HAPPY BIRTHDAYYYYY!!!
And oh my gosh this recipe looks awesome! I’ve been craving ice cream like mad because the supermarket stuff is filled with high fructose corn syrup, or a ton of cream. But this looks amazing! I can’t wait to try it ^_^.
i like your pictures and would like to invite you to share them on tastingspot.com
I’m late but Happy brithday! I hope your exam went well 🙂
Thank you all for the birthday wishes! My exam went well too (I think this ice cream is a lucky charm)
😀
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This looks so good – I can’t wait to try it!
x Izzy
CANNOT WAIT TO MAKE THIS.
BUT…Can I use almond milk in place of the •one 12oz can Evaporated Fat Free Milk?
I’ve never had luck using almond milk in ice cream. It turns things super icy. Evaporated milk has a lower water content compared to almond milk, which is why this ice cream is creamy, so I wouldn’t recommend subbing it.
Hi. I followed the recipe pretty closely. Froze the ice-cream bowl for more than 24hours and used all the same ingredients MINUS the evaporated milk and the whey. I used soy milk instead and since I was out of whey, I used vegan protein powder.
It would NOT churn! I’m wondering if you know what COULD have happened? There was a lot of mixture in the ice-cream maker. Will it not turn to ice-cream if there is TOO MUCH in the machine? Or perhaps it needs more than 10-15 minutes? SO CONFUSED! (It tasted REALLY good though)
There’s a big difference between whey protein and vegan protein… vegan protein thickens much more than whey! Was your ice cream “batter” pourable like a thick smoothie? That’s what the texture should be like.
Also, what size ice cream maker do you have? I used a 2-quart ice cream maker, which was plenty.
yes,it was pourable like a thick smoothie – in fact, that’s what it made me think of.
It’s 2-quart as well! To the brim it went!
Any ideas?
That’s strange… how long did you churn it for?
about 15 minutes.
Not sure why then, maybe it needed a few more minutes or maybe it was the vegan protein powder. If you churned it as best you could, you could probably just scoop the churned soft serve into the dish you’re freezing it in and continue on with the recipe.
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Hi Jess this looks fantastic. Do you think this would work without the protein powder? Or do I need to use it to bing everything together? Cheers xx
The protein powder is a required ingredient in this recipe. It thickens the ice cream “batter” and helps prevent iciness 🙂
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I’m so happy to have found your site! I’ve been making myself content with the Vita-mix “ice-cream” while losing weight – essentially milk, ice, powdered milk, and I swap the sugar for the stevia blend and just choose to be happy lol. I can’t wait to try your other recipes.
OMG that’s such a genius idea! I’ve gotta try making your ice cream recipe! My Vitamix is honestly my favorite kitchen appliance when it comes to instant ice creams! 😍
That’s so funny! I am lobbying my husband for an ice cream maker so I can try your recipe!
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I do not have the kitchenaid blender with attachment can I still make this in a regular blender or do you need this precise machine to make it? Thank you
I wouldn’t recommend making this recipe without an ice cream maker :/
The ice cream machine churns the mixture so it’s creamy and not crystallized, and it incorporates air as well so it’s nice and fluffy and creamy (thankfully ice cream makers are pretty affordable) 🙂
I love your website! I finally got my ice cream maker!! I’m making this today!
YES YES YES YES!!! Congrats on the new ice cream maker!!! And of course I hope you LOVE the recipe 🙂
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Wow, it’s interesting to know that protein can be incorporated into ice cream by actually using protein powder. My grandma used to make some homemade ice cream for me back when she was still alive so I’ve always been on the look out for ice cream shops that use homemade recipes to make their brand unique. I hope I can one day take my kids to a shop like that and enjoy how infinite the possibilities are when it comes to ice cream flavors.
A little confused on your math. According to the serving size on the protein powder you linked, 4 scoops would be 60g, not 128 as you list. Seems you’re overestimating the amount of protein
I first mentioned the WEIGHT of the scoops I used, which was 128g. The company recently changed their scoop size, so now it would be 8 scoops. I’m not overstating the protein level, just follow the weights.
Gotcha, that’s what I figured, just thought I’d clarify
What does the yoghurt do? Can the recipe work with a smaller amount?
The yogurt replaces heavy cream, which is the common main ingredient in ice cream.
I wouldn’t recommend reducing the recipe quantity because it won’t churn properly.
Hi,
Thank you for this recipe you are the best. Can I replace the whey protein concentrate with vanilla casein? I heard it is the best protein powder for cooking as it makes the dish more creamier not sure though…
Thanks!
I haven’t had much luck replacing casein protein for whey protein, unfortunately :/ it absorbs too much liquid and doesn’t work the same!
I’ve just “discovered” your website and this delicious recipe for homemade vanilla ice cream! I have to buy an ice cream maker (which is in my Amazon cart as we speak!) but I’m wondering if this can be made as chocolate cause that is my all time favorite! If not, no biggie, I’m still going to make it and I’m sure I’ll love it 🙂