This chocolate protein ice cream recipe is dairy-free and made with frozen bananas, cocoa powder, chocolate protein powder, and almond milk! With 15 grams of protein per serving, it is a healthy treat too!
Chocolate Protein Ice Cream
Did you know you can enjoy ice cream as a breakfast treat or even as a post-workout snack? This chocolate protein ice cream wears a lot of hats.
This protein ice cream is made from a frozen banana base and incorporates your favorite protein powder along with cocoa powder, vanilla, and almond milk.
Other high protein ice cream recipes we’ve mixed up include peanut butter chocolate chip banana nice cream and strawberry protein ice cream, but nothing beats chocolate!
Why you’ll love it!
There are only 6 ingredients needed to blend up a batch of this chocolate ice cream before you’ll be enjoying a big spoonful of heaven. We love this protein ice cream because it is:
Dairy-free
Made with frozen bananas
Easy to prepare
It’s healthy!
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What You Need for Protein Ice Cream
This recipe is simple and you only need a few ingredients. Let’s break down everything you need to make this protein ice cream.
- Bananas– the base of this protein ice cream is frozen bananas! Frozen bananas are easy to freeze, become creamy when frozen and blended, and add natural sweetness. Learn how to freeze bananas here!
- Cocoa powder– it wouldn’t be chocolate ice cream without chocolate. We use unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Chocolate protein powder – you make this chocolate protein ice cream extra chocolate-y by using chocolate protein powder. Feel free to use whey or plant based protein powder. Our personal favorite protein powder is Teras Whey.
- Vanilla extract– a little extract adds delicious depth to ice cream.
- Unsweetened almond milk– you only need a little bit of almond milk to think out the ice cream when you blend everything together.
- Rainbow sprinkles– ice cream deserves a delicious topping. We chose rainbow sprinkles, but use whatever ice cream toppings you would like.
Best Protein Powders
Check out our top protein powder recommendations for baking, smoothies, and everything in between.
guide to protein powder
Looking for the best protein powder to buy? Check out our Guide to Protein Powder where we share our top plant-based and whey protein powders.
How to Make Protein Ice Cream
- Place ingredients in a food processor- Immediately place frozen bananas into the food processor when you remove them from the freezer (the ice cream won’t work if the bananas aren’t frozen). Add the cocoa powder, protein powder, almond milk, and vanilla.
- Blend until smooth- Cover the food processor and blend until smooth. You may need to scrape the sides a couple of times.
- Add more almond milk- If the protein nice cream isn’t blending well, add another teaspoon or two to the food processor and blend until it turns into a soft serve consistency.
- Serve- Serve the protein ice cream as soft serve right away or freeze for later.
2 Ways to serve protein ice cream
No matter how you serve this chocolate ice cream, it will be delicious. Luck you, you get to decide how you want to serve it.
Soft Serve
If you like to enjoy your ice cream as a soft serve, go ahead and eat the protein ice cream right away with your favorite ice cream topping.
Ice Cream
If ice cream is more of your jam, line a loaf pan with parchment paper and pour the chocolate protein ice cream in the pan. Evenly spread the ice cream out and cover with plastic wrap. Place it in the freezer for at least 2 hours.
High Protein Ice Cream Tips + Tricks
Consistency is Key
The last thing you want is to end up with drippy chocolate protein ice cream. To avoid this you have to be sure to do a few things.
- Make sure your bananas are frozen up until you blend it in the food processor.
- Only add a little almond milk at a time to avoid a chocolate protein smoothie.
- If you do decide to freeze the chocolate protein ice cream be sure to cover the ice cream so there isn’t freezer burn.
Choose your toppings
We chose a simple and classic ice cream topping, SPRINKLES! You can use any of the ice cream toppings below, too.
- chocolate chips
- yogurt chips
- fresh berries
- coconut flakes
Is Protein ice cream healthy?
This chocolate protein ice cream is a healthy snack option that is packed with protein.
make it easy
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Variations
- Add a frozen berry: ditch the cocoa powder and add frozen blueberries or strawberries.
- Use a different flavor protein powder: don’t love chocolate? Swap your protein powder for vanilla or another yummy flavor such as banana or strawberry.
- Go all out banana: use a banana-flavored protein powder and ditch the cocoa powder for a banana protein ice cream treat.
Chocolate Protein Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 2 cups frozen sliced bananas
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ cup chocolate protein powder any kind
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-4 tablespoon unsweetened almond milk*
- Rainbow sprinkles for topping
Instructions
- Place all ingredients into a high-speed blender or food processor.
- Process on high until a smooth, thick consistency has been formed. Option to add more milk by the tablespoon as needed.
- Soft-serve: serve immediately.
- Ice cream: line a parchment-lined bread loaf. Then, place into the freezer for 1 to 2 hours to firm up. Use an ice cream scoop to serve.
- Top with sprinkles and enjoy!
Tips & Notes
- Add more almond milk as needed to thin out the protein ice cream.
I’m so glad I stumbled upon this recipe. It’s absolutely delicious and has quickly become a family favorite.
I don’t have any chocolate protein powder. Could I use vanilla protein powder then add in cocoa powder?
Can I add fresh banana? I don’t have any frozen fruits and I want to try this recipe today…
Hey Kandy – just freeze your bananas! It only takes a few hours 🙂
Ice cream for breakfast ? Heck, why not? Sounds interesting. and I love homemade ice cream ! It’s the best! I like it before it gets hard- like soft-serve.
PB froyo is my favorite and when it comes to ice cream, I love banana pudding flavor. I love making “ice cream” with frozen fruit and this is a great twist with the protein powder and cocoa!
Banana ice cream is one of my favorites! This version looks amazing! I love the fact that this is the perfect post workout meal.
I really need to make this for desert!!! They look so so so good! 🙂 I would say my favorite type of frozen yogurt is black raspberries… so probably that for me.
I love the pictures from lunch! What a pretty view… Whats the funnest place you have ever done Yoga? One day I want to try SUP Yoga. BUT I have to get more well balanced in Yoga and actually try SUP boarding for the first time…
http://www.panchayoga.com/photos-from-august-9th-paddle-yoga/
CAKE BATTER PROTEIN ICE CREAM FOR ME PLEASE! With protein rainbow sprinkles! LOL
This looks amazing! That peanut butter chip soft serve sounds delicious too 🙂 I love all things peanut butter and chocolate!
Awesome, looks delicious! I would totally try this with the addition of peanut flour! Chocolate and Peanut Butter…perfection! And that is the one yoga move I am just to scared to really work on! I am so scared for my neck and placing my head on the floor always hurts, i can never find the right position. I can do a normal handstand and am working on forearm stands, but headstand is a no go!
This ice cream looks fantastic and I’m so excited to try it!!! BTW…I love the pics! 🙂
I make something similar…but don’t add powdered protein. I freeze a banana, cut up (actually, about 5 bananas at a time). After frozen, put banana (s) in blender, and for each banana add about 1 T. cocoa or cacao powder, and a big serving spoon of peanut butter (organic, and possibly any nut butter you have will work). Blend in food processor and serve as soft-serve right away. We have also frozen it, but it freezes harder than dairy…so you have to let it thaw a bit.
Your recipe encourages me to branch out a bit–adding cacao nibs or some nuts to compliment the nut butter. Possibly, too, the addition of a nut milk may make it smoother. Thanks so much–excited to try this!
o0o that is pretty similar! Sounds. DELISH.
I love banana ice cream – it’s such an easy and healthy treat. Though I haven’t tried the chocolate version yet. I surely will make it soon! Also, I am quite jealous that you can do yoga in your lunch break. The headstand is rad!