This is the best pistachio ice cream recipe! It's incredibly creamy and filled with salty pistachio bits. If you try one homemade ice cream this year it has to be this one!
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My favorite thing about making homemade ice cream is getting to enjoy some hard or impossible to find flavors. So it is with pistachio ice cream.
Often times pistachio ice cream from an ice cream shop is made with pistachio pudding. While some people may enjoy this, I really do not. It gives the ice cream a really artificial flavor.
Instead, we're making homemade pistachio ice cream flavored with real pistachios and a couple common extracts. Be warned, you may never want to go back to store bought ice cream again.
What makes this the best homemade pistachio ice cream?
This ice cream is super creamy and full of crunchy, salty pistachio bits. It uses a custard base, meaning it has eggs in it. The eggs, sugar, and cream create a custard that thickens up into a luxuriously smooth ice cream.
While it might seem intimidating to cook eggs properly for ice cream, it's really quite easy as long as you don't get distracted and know a few key things to keep an eye out for.
Pistachio ice cream ingredients
- Pistachios
- Granulated sugar
- Heavy cream
- Whole milk
- Salt
- Egg yolks
- Vanilla extract
- Almond extract
How to make pistachio ice cream
- Add pistachios to a food processor (affiliate link) and process until finely ground but not a paste. Set aside.
- In a medium sauce pan, heat heavy cream, milk, sugar, and salt over medium heat. Stir occasionally until sugar is dissolved and the mixture is warm.
- Stir in the ground pistachios. Cover and remove from the heat. Let steep for 30 minutes or more.
- Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a medium bowl, removing as much liquid as possible. Discard the solids.
- In another medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks.
- Slowly pour the warm milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then pour the egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan you used for the milk.
- Stir the yolk mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula.
- Pour more heavy cream into a clean medium bowl and set a fine mesh strainer on top.
- Pour the thickened egg yolk mixture through the strainer and stir it into the cream.
- Add the vanilla and almond extract and stir until combined.
- Cover and refrigerate 2 hours or until cold.
- Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.
- In the last 5 minutes of churning, add chopped pistachios.
- Transfer to an airtight container, cover, and freeze for 4 hours or overnight before enjoying.
Top tips and questions
Why isn't this pistachio ice cream very green?
When you buy pistachio ice cream at the grocery store or an ice cream shop, it has probably been made with green food coloring to help it stand out from the other flavors. This homemade ice cream doesn't use food dye, and therefore does not have that bright green color.
This pistachio ice cream does have a soft, pretty green tint to it. If you prefer your ice cream to be bright green, simply add a few drops of green food coloring to the heavy cream before adding to your recipe.
What is a fine mesh strainer?
A fine mesh strainer (sometimes called a fine mesh sieve) is like a colander made out of tightly woven mesh. It allows liquid through, but strains out any lumps that may have been caused by the eggs or other ingredients.
Why do you add almond extract to pistachio ice cream?
Almond extract gives off a very strong aroma and flavor. It doesn't taste exactly like almonds, but can nicely complement the existing flavors in your ice creams and baked goods.
A lot of the flavor in this recipe comes from the almond extract, so don't skip it.
How to temper eggs for ice cream
If you added hot milk to egg yolks all at once the heat would cook the eggs and you'd end up with scrambled eggs. That's not ideal for ice cream.
Tempering the eggs means bringing their temperature up slowly to match the rest of the ingredients to prevent curdling. To do this, slowly stream the milk into the whisked egg yolks while continuing to whisk constantly.
Once you've slowly added about half the cream you can start to pour a little more quickly. If you're new to tempering eggs, start slower than you may think you need to make sure you're not going too fast.
What kind of ice cream maker should I buy?
I used the KitchenAid ice cream mixer attachment for years to make ice cream, and it worked fine. After a few years the bowl cracked a tiny bit and the blue freezing liquid in the bowl started to leak out.
I replaced it with this countertop Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker and will never go back. I find this appliance freezes the ice cream better and more consistently.
How long will homemade pistachio ice cream stay good in the freezer?
I recommend enjoying this ice cream within 3-5 days of making it. You can improve how long it stays fresh by pressing clear plastic wrap against the surface before covering your container to help prevent ice crystals from forming.
What's the best ice cream scoop?
My ice cream scoop doesn't have any markings on it, but I believe it's an old Pampered Chef scoop. I love that it has a special liquid in the handle that uses the warmth of your hand to help melt and scoop the ice cream. It also doesn't have or need a release lever, so it works for both left and right handed people.
I found a similar ice cream scoop that has mixed reviews, but I think the most important thing to remember is you can't put these scoops in the dishwasher. You need to wash them carefully by hand to protect the materials that make it so useful.
Tips for customizing pistachio ice cream
- Add mini chocolate chips or chopped dried figs or apricots with the chopped pistachios
- Swirl in fudge sauce or salted caramel sauce before the final freeze
- If you have sensitive teeth, you can leave out the chopped pistachios that are added at the end so you won't need to chew
- Add ¼ teaspoon cardamom while the pistachios steep for an even more complex flavor
More homemade ice cream recipes
- Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookie Ice Cream
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream
- Salty Caramel Ice Cream
- Cherry Crisp Ice Cream
- Brown Sugar Grape Nut Ice Cream
- Goat Cheese and Honey Ice Cream
- Butter Pecan Ice Cream
If you make this recipe, be sure to rate it, leave a comment, or tag #theliveinkitchen on Instagram!
Recipe
Pistachio Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cups shelled pistachio nuts
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 6 large egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon pure almond extract
- ¾ cup shelled pistachios,, coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Place the 1 ⅓ cups pistachios in a food processor and process until finely ground, but not to a paste. Set aside.
- In a medium sauce pan, place 1 cup of the heavy cream, milk, sugar, and salt over medium heat. Stir occasionally until sugar is dissolved and mixture is warm.
- Stir in the ground nuts. Cover, remove from the heat, and let steep for at least 30 minutes.
- Strain the warm nut mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a medium bowl, pressing the nuts to remove as much liquid as possible, and discard the solids.
- In another medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan you used for the milk.
- Stir the yolk mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula.
- Pour the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream into a clean medium bowl and set a fine mesh strainer on top. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream.
- Add the vanilla extract and almond extract and stir until combined.
- Cover and refrigerate 2 hour or until cold.
- Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's directions. Add the chopped pistachios in the last 5 minutes of churning.
- Transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and store it in the freezer for at least four hours or overnight.
gillian says
YUM!
Papa says
Delicious ice cream Lins, but I think you forgot to leave me some, ha ha.
Love papa
Holly Waterfall says
I love your take on a St Patties recipe. I also have not posted anything green and probably won't. I'm not a huge holiday person, but I love the idea of throwing just a hint of green in there.
Judy says
Just wondering - are the pistachios the snacking kind - roasted and salted? or are they the kind I'd buy for baking?
I love pistachios, and I love ice cream, so this caught my interest immediately!
Lindsay Moe says
I did buy the roasted and salted kind and shelled them myself. I think the baking kind would probably be fine, but I might add a pinch of salt to the mixture to compensate.
cassie@choclateandmore says
I love pistachios and the idea to put them into ice cream was fantastic. I had to include you in my ice cream round up. Happy Fourth of July!
Lindsay Moe says
Thanks for including me!
Paula - bell'alimento says
One of my absolute favorites!
Tawnia says
This was amazing! So simple, creamy and delicious. I’ll definitely make this again.
Ananda says
Amazing recipe! Everyone said it was the best pistachio ice cream they had ever tasted!
Question though about Step 7 - what is the purpose of holding back some of the cream? (Mainly because I'm making this recipe again and forgot to do it that way!) Thanks!
Lindsay Moe says
I'm so glad everyone enjoyed it! Holding back some of the cream is about both flavor and texture. The first set of cream is used to create the custard, which could come out thinner with the addition of the extra cream. That first cream is also being infused with the pistachio flavor, and adding the additional cream later will also allow more of a milky taste. However, if you enjoyed it the way you did it, its totally ok to stick with that! I think most ice cream lovers probably won't notice the difference.