Vegan Matcha Ice Cream

⭐️ Why You Should Try This Recipe

• Ridiculously creamy and rich. I am confident you won’t find a better vegan matcha recipe! It has that rich mouthfeel, an exceptional green tea flavor, and a vibrant color. Non-vegans couldn’t tell it was dairy-free!
• Nut-free and coconut milk-free. No cashew or coconut will come to alter the fabulous matcha flavor in this recipe! It relies on cacao butter that rounds up the overall taste, giving it a subtle white chocolate note.
• Scoopable straight from the freezer. There is no need to let the ice cream sit on the counter for a few minutes. It is just like the commercial ones, instantly scoopable!
• Cheaper than store-bought. Never buy a pint of vegan ice cream at $6 again. This homemade version is about 50% cheaper and tastes even better!

🍵 What is Matcha

Matcha (抹茶) is a type of Japanese green tea powder. It is made by steaming green tea leaves called Tencha, drying them, and finally stone-grinding them into a very fine powder.

There are two main types of matcha that are classified by grade:

• Ceremonial grade: Made from the youngest tea leaves, ceremonial-grade matcha is generally the highest quality matcha. It has a sweet and herby flavor with a very subtle bitterness. It has a vibrant light green color.
• Culinary grade: Unlike the ceremonial-grade matcha, culinary-grade matcha is made from older tea leaves. It has a yellowish, faded green color and is usually more bitter.

While both types will work in this recipe, I personally recommend going with the ceremonial grade, as it yielded a much better flavor during my tests.

🥛 Ingredient Notes

This vegan ice cream recipe requires a few specific ingredients you may not have on hand. However, all of these ingredients can be found easily online. Here is what you will need:

• Plant-based milk – Use unsweetened plant-based milk. I like to use soy milk, but any vegan milk will work. For information, the soy milk brand I use contains 1.8g of fat per 100g, so if yours contains less fat, I recommend increasing the amount of cacao butter slightly.
• Cacao butter – Cacao butter brings richness and creaminess to the ice cream. Ensure you are using deodorized cacao butter. Otherwise, the cacao aroma will overpower the matcha flavor. You can use coconut oil instead if you don’t have cacao butter on hand (remember to use deodorized coconut oil as well).
• Oil – Use a neutral liquid oil like sunflower, rapeseed, or canola oil. The combination of solid fat, in this case, cacao butter, and liquid oil, gives the ice cream a better consistency.
• Sugar – White granulated sugar works best here. Do not use coconut sugar or brown sugar, as it would cover the matcha flavor.
• Dextrose – Dextrose helps improve the scoopable factor, making the ice cream softer and scoopable instantly from the freezer, just like commercial brands. I do not recommend omitting or substituting it.
• Gums – You will be using two gums: locust bean gum and guar gum. Locust bean gum prevents the ice cream from getting an icy texture, while guar gum will add more body to the ice cream.
• Vanilla extract – Optional. Vanilla extract enhances the overall flavor.
• Matcha – Last but not least, matcha powder. I highly recommend using the highest quality ceremonial grade matcha you can find.

🥣 How to Make Vegan Matcha Ice Cream

This vegan matcha ice cream is done in 3 steps: preparing the base, chilling it overnight, and churning it.

Make the ice cream base

1. Blend the matcha. Add the matcha powder and 170ml of the milk to a blender. Blend until fully combined and smooth. Set aside.
2. Melt the cacao butter. Add the rest of the milk, cacao butter, oil, and vanilla extract, if using, to a saucepan. Heat over low-medium heat until the cacao butter has melted.
3. Mix the dry ingredients and add to the milk. Whisk together the sugar, dextrose, salt, lecithin, and gums in a small bowl. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the warm milk as you whisk. Give it a good stir until fully combined.
4. Heat. Next, to activate the locust bean gum, bring the ice cream base to about 170°F (75°C), constantly whisking. I recommend using a candy thermometer for this step.
5. Stir in the matcha. Remove from heat and stir in the matcha milk. To prevent any clumps, you can pour it through a fine-sieve mesh. Whisk to combine.
6. Blend. Transfer to a blender and blend for about 30 seconds. This step will help emulsify everything.
7. Chill. Transfer the ice cream base to a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap touching the top (to prevent a crust from forming). Chill overnight in the refrigerator.

Churn it

Once the ice cream base is cold, it’s time to churn it. You can use this Kitchen Aid Ice Cream Maker Attachment if you own a KitchenAid or a regular machine like this Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker.

1. Turn on your ice cream maker and slowly pour in the chilled ice cream base.
2. Churn on low speed (If using the Kitchenaid attachment, use speed 1) for 20-25 minutes or until it looks like soft-serve ice cream.
3. Transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze for at least 6 hours before enjoying!

🥞 How To Serve This Matcha Ice Cream

You can serve this dairy-free matcha ice cream as is, in a waffle cone, or:

• As a cookie sandwich: Sandwich a scoop of ice cream between two chocolate chip cookies for a decadent treat!
• On top of pancakes, crêpes, waffles, or brownies.
• Wrapped in mochi: Make delicious matcha mochi by wrapping a scoop of ice cream in a mochi wrapper.
• With other flavors: You can also serve it with different ice cream flavors, such as vanilla ice cream or chocolate ice cream.

💬 FAQ

🍨 More Vegan Ice Cream Recipes

• The Best Vegan Vanilla Ice Cream
• Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream

Let me know in the comments if you try this recipe!