Vegan pistachio ice cream

This vegan pistachio ice cream starts with a base of full-fat coconut milk that has a whole cup of pistachios blended into it, so the nut flavor runs through every spoonful instead of sitting only in the chopped pieces. A little cornstarch, boiled briefly, gives the base body; sugar and a little corn syrup keep it soft enough to scoop; and a thorough chill before churning gives a smooth, fine texture. It works in an ice cream maker or, with a little more effort, without one.

What replaces the dairy and eggs

Classic pistachio ice cream is a dairy dessert: milk and cream, often thickened with egg yolks into a custard, then flavored with pistachio paste. Each of those jobs has a plant-based stand-in here:

Where the pistachio flavor comes from

Most of the flavor is in the blended nuts. Pistachios ground into the coconut milk release their oil and color into the base, the same idea as the pistachio paste used for pistachio gelato. The difference between a faint pistachio ice cream and a strong one is how smooth that blend is: if you can feel grit when you rub a drop between your fingers, keep blending. Any bits that remain give a sandy texture when frozen, which is why the card lets you strain the cooked base.

The chopped roasted pistachios folded in at the end are there for crunch and a toastier note. Using raw pistachios in the base and roasted ones as the mix-in gives both flavors.

A few options if you want more pistachio:

• Pure pistachio paste or pistachio butter (just pistachios, no sugar or oil added) can replace the blended raw nuts. Use about 1/2 cup and whisk it into the coconut milk.
• A drop of almond extract is a common trick in pistachio ice cream; it sharpens the nutty flavor. Keep it to a scant 1/4 teaspoon, since more tastes of marzipan, and leave it out for anyone avoiding almonds.
• Lightly salted roasted pistachios for the mix-in add a salty contrast. Leave out the 1/4 teaspoon of salt in the base if you use them.

Real color, no dye

Homemade pistachio ice cream is pale green-beige, sometimes with an olive tint. The bright, almost mint green of many commercial versions often comes from added food coloring rather than from the nuts. To get the most natural color:

• Choose raw pistachios with green kernels; roasted nuts turn the base tan.
• Rub off the purple-brown skins if you want it greener. Blanching the shelled nuts in boiling water for about a minute and rubbing them in a towel loosens most of the skins.
• Do not cook the base longer than the card says. Long heating dulls the green.

The color will still be soft. That is what pistachio actually looks like.

Why the base is cooked and chilled

Cornstarch gives body. Coconut milk is rich but thin; a small amount of cornstarch thickens it so the frozen ice cream feels dense and smooth. Cornstarch only thickens fully once the liquid comes to a boil, so let the base bubble gently before you take it off the heat.

A cold base churns better. An ice cream maker freezes the base while the paddle beats in a little air and breaks up ice crystals as they form. The faster the base freezes, the smaller the crystals and the smoother the ice cream. A base that goes into the machine lukewarm takes longer to freeze, grows larger crystals and may never firm up past a soupy stage. Chill it in the refrigerator for at least the 4 hours on the card, or overnight; a refrigerator at 40°F or below, the temperature the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service gives for safe cold storage, gets it there.

Fat and sugar keep it scoopable. Water freezes hard; ice cream stays soft because the sugar dissolved in it lowers its freezing point, so part of the ice cream stays unfrozen even in the freezer. Corn syrup adds body and helps limit large crystals. The fat in full-fat coconut milk gets in the way of large ice crystals and gives a creamy, rich texture. Cutting the sugar or swapping in a low-fat milk gives an ice cream that freezes rock hard and tastes icy.

The no-churn method

Without an ice cream maker, the problem is that a base left to freeze in one block grows large crystals. The method on the card gets around it: freeze the cold base in ice cube trays, then break the cubes down in a food processor. The blade does the job of the churning paddle, smashing the crystals small and beating in some air. Work in batches so the processor is not overloaded, scrape down the bowl, and stop when the mixture is smooth and creamy. A short final freeze firms it up for scooping.

No-churn ice cream made this way is a little denser than churned ice cream. It is best eaten within a day or two, since it tends to harden more in the freezer.

Pint-style ice cream processors

A countertop machine that shaves a frozen pint (instead of churning a cold liquid) also works with this base. Pour the cooked, chilled base into the machine’s pint container, leaving the headroom it asks for, and freeze it for the full time the maker gives, usually around 24 hours, until solid. Process it on the ice cream setting; if it comes out crumbly, add a tablespoon of coconut milk and re-spin, which is the normal fix with these machines. Add the chopped roasted pistachios with the mix-in function at the end. The full recipe makes more than one pint, so freeze the rest in a second container or use the ice-cube-tray method for it.

Substitutions that work, and some that do not

• Lighter plant milks: almond, oat or soy milk alone make an icy ice cream, because they lack the fat of canned coconut milk. If you want to lighten it, replace no more than a cup of the coconut milk. For how the common plant milks differ, see the plant milk comparison.
• Sugar: cane sugar works the same as granulated sugar. Maple syrup can replace the corn syrup, but adds its own flavor.
• Corn syrup: you can replace it with the same amount of extra granulated sugar. The ice cream will be slightly firmer straight from the freezer.
• No coconut: there is no one-to-one swap for the coconut milk, since it supplies nearly all the fat. A different base works instead: thick, unsweetened plant yogurt blended with roasted pistachios, sweetened with maple syrup and frozen in a loaf pan sets like a firm frozen yogurt. It is tangier and icier than this recipe, and it needs about 30 minutes in the refrigerator before it can be scooped.
• Less sugar or sugar-free: sugar does a structural job here, not only a sweet one; it keeps part of the ice cream unfrozen. Cutting it, or replacing it with a zero-calorie sweetener, gives an ice cream that freezes rock hard. If you want it less sweet, cut the sugar by no more than a couple of tablespoons and expect a firmer scoop.
• Other nuts: the same method works with cashews (milder) or almonds (blend longer and strain the base, since almonds stay grittier). For a toasted-nut version with a caramel swirl, see vegan butter pecan ice cream.

Common mistakes

• Gritty texture: the pistachios were not blended smooth. Use a high-speed blender, blend longer, and strain the base.
• Soupy after churning: the base was not cold enough, or the maker’s bowl was not frozen solid. Both need to be thoroughly cold before you start.
• Hard as a brick: the sugar or corn syrup was cut back, or a lighter milk replaced some of the coconut milk. Soften it at room temperature before scooping.
• Separated or greasy: the coconut milk was not whisked smooth before churning. Coconut fat firms in the fridge; whisk the cold base well.

Storing and softening

Keep the ice cream in a covered container with parchment pressed onto the surface, which limits ice crystals and freezer smells. FoodSafety.gov notes that freezer storage guidance is “for quality only”: frozen foods stored continuously at 0°F (-18°C) or below “can be kept indefinitely”, but homemade ice cream slowly turns icy, so it tastes best within a couple of weeks. Let it stand at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes before scooping. Do not refreeze ice cream that has melted; it turns icy, and the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service advises discarding perishable food left at room temperature for more than 2 hours (1 hour if the temperature is over 90°F).

For a quick frozen dessert with no cooking or churning, banana nice cream is frozen bananas blended with a little vanilla and salt.

Allergy and ingredient notes

This recipe contains tree nuts (pistachios) and coconut. Coconut milk is the base, so there is no simple swap for anyone who avoids coconut. There is no nut-free version of a pistachio ice cream; for a nut-free frozen dessert, banana nice cream without nut toppings is the simplest choice. The recipe has no soy, wheat or peanuts, but check pistachio packaging for processing alongside peanuts if that matters to you. It is made with gluten-free ingredients; check labels for cross-contact. The almond extract option adds almond flavoring.

A note on the nutrition: the card counts the coconut milk with the USDA record for coconut milk used in cooking, whose values match USDA’s fresh (raw) coconut milk, because USDA’s canned coconut milk record has no fiber or sugar values. Canned full-fat coconut milks also differ in fat from brand to brand, so read the calories and fat on the card as approximate.