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Green Tea Ice Cream

Green Tea Ice Cream is my favorite ice cream off the beaten path. It’s a delicately mouthwatering balance of sweetness, creaminess, and green tea earthiness. Now you don’t have to go to a Japanese restaurant to enjoy green tea ice cream.

green tea ice cream in a glass cup

I love Japanese food for two reasons. The first is sushi. I can’t get enough of freshly made sushi; it’s the first thing I start eyeing the minute we walk through any Japanese restaurant.

The second reason I’m giddy over Japanese food: green tea ice cream. It’s like icing on the cake. Ya gotta have a bowl of green tea ice cream after every good sushi run.

Except now I no longer have to wait so long for my green tea ice cream fix…

green tea ice cream in a glass cup

Even when Hubby and I used to overindulge at favorite sushi bars in LA, we always made room for green tea ice cream at the end.

I mean, you can’t get good green tea ice cream just anywhere. It’s not your everyday traditional flavor. Except for Trader Joe’s Green Tea Mochi ice cream, which is heavenly, I’ve yet to find any other stores in my area that sell it.

Maybe one day we will see green tea ice cream sitting happy next to the cookies ‘n cream in freezer cases everywhere. Until then, here’s a fabulous recipe for making your own at home. Yeah, you’ll need an ice cream maker. I got mine on Amazon for $30 several years ago and it’s been such a worthwhile gadget.

You know exactly what goes onto every scoop of creamy ice cream you dish up. That’s important to me since my family can put away ice cream like there’s no tomorrow.

green tea ice cream in a glass cup

Making green tea ice cream is wonderfully simple. Good Matcha green tea powder is essential, of course. Marvelous Matcha. If you’re lucky enough to live near a good Asian grocery store, you can find Matcha green tea powder there. Otherwise, Amazon carries a variety of them.

Add the cream and sugar. Let your ice cream maker work it out all on its own.  The result will be soft and velvety when done. The only hard part is waiting. It needs to be transferred to the freezer for a couple hours in order to get that firm ice cream consistency.

green tea ice cream in a glass cup

The waiting is tough but oh-sooo worth it. You can always pass the time with a plate of sushi.

Enjoy.

Did you make this?

Please give us a rating and comment below. We love hearing from you!

green tea ice cream in a glass cup

Green Tea Ice Cream

5 from 1 vote
Now you don’t have to wait until your next Japanese restaurant run to get green tea ice cream! Easily make this at home with your ice cream maker anytime the craving hits.
Prep Time: 2 hours 5 minutes
Freeze: 3 hours
Total Time: 5 hours 5 minutes
Servings: 16 scoops (2 quarts)
Author: Amy Dong

Ingredients  

Instructions

  • In a heavy saucepan, combine half and half, sugar, and salt. Whisk and cook over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Add green tea powder and continue cooking and whisking until powder is completely dissolved and mixture is hot but not boiling. Remove from heat and let cool to room temp. Cover and chill 2-3 hours in fridge or until fully chilled.
  • Make sure your ice cream maker is ready to go, with the container solidly frozen. Transfer chilled mixture to ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer’s instructions (I generally go about 30 minutes.) Ice cream will be somewhat soft when finished. Use a rubber spatula to scrape all ice cream into an airtight container. Freeze 3 hours or overnight before serving.
  • Note: Unless you use some kind of food coloring/dye, the ice cream will naturally be more of a muted green, as pictured above, rather than vibrant green.

Notes

Different brands of Matcha tea powder may have varying intensities. For best results, start with lower amount of Matcha powder and add to taste, prior to chilling/churning.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 141kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 55mg | Potassium: 80mg | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 449IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 65mg | Iron: 1mg
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American

We all scream for ice cream. Here are a few of our faves:

  1. Cookies and Cream Ice Cream. Oh my, oh my…better than any store bought version.
Cookies 'n Cream Ice Cream 3
  1. Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream. Or Peppermint Bon Bon in some regions. Whatever you call it, we think you’ll agree it’s phenomenal.
mint chip ice cream
  1. Easy Chocolate Ice Cream. For all the chocolate lovers who don’t want to deal with tempering eggs, this one’s for you. Chocolatey delicious.
Simple Chocolate Ice Cream
  1. Snickerdoodle Ice Cream. Who says snickerdoodle goodies are only for winter holidays? This is a favorite summer treat, and one you won’t easily find elsewhere.
Snickerdoodle ice cream
  1. Very Berry Ice Cream. Berries, berries and more berries! This ice cream is totally natural and creamy good!
Berry Ice Cream 3

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10 comments

    • sofea

    Can i use whole milk instead of half and half since it is hardly to find at my place. Can I use full cream milk?

      • chewoutloud

      Yes, you can use full cream milk 🙂 Enjoy!

    • lolla

    can i use heavy cream in place of half and half

      • chewoutloud

      Yes, you can definitely do that! Enjoy 🙂

    • Serene

    Green tea ice cream did not turn out. Mixture was WAY TOO BITTER and I had to discard. I followed your recipe using 7 TB (tablespoons) of green tea powder as indicated in your ingredients. Did you actually mean 7 teaspoons? I will be using other recipes that call for 3 tablespoons of matcha.

      • chewoutloud

      I’m so sorry it didn’t work for you, Serene… I’m thinking the brand of Matcha tea powder makes a big difference. For me, I had to keep adding because it didn’t taste much like green tea until I loaded up on it 🙂 Thanks for your input, as it may help others who have varying brands of Matcha. Taste test the mixture and add tea powder to taste. Thanks, Serene!

    • Vanja

    What do you think of using raw honey instead of sugar?

      • chewoutloud

      you can use raw honey, Vanja, but not sure if the texture will be the same, since honey has a different texture than sugar. Give it a try and let me know how it turns out 🙂

    • Chi @chicory

    I love love love green tea ice cream! The bitterness of matha always goes so well with the creaminess and sweetness of ice cream!
    I love your blog and would like to invite you to become a Chicory recipe partner. Are you interested?

      • chewoutloud

      Email me details 🙂 thanks for visiting today!

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