Chocolate Protein Ice Cream (15g protein/serving!)

This chocolate protein ice cream recipe is dairy-free and made with frozen bananas, cocoa powder, chocolate protein powder, and almond milk! It has 15 grams of protein per serving, making it one epic dessert.

This chocolate protein ice cream is part of our 2024 Protein Dessert Series. If you make this recipe, snap a photo and upload it to the comment section to enter for a chance to win the Elemis Iconic Collection. You’ll also be entered into a greater giveaway for this series — a $500 lululemon shopping spree! Winners will be chosen on January 31.

We’ve been making protein ice cream for as long as I can remember. We first published this post in 2013 and it’s since been a favorite among readers and the team. This protein ice cream recipe is made with a base of frozen bananas, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, a splash of almond milk, and the star – your favorite chocolate protein powder.

After you blend it all up in a high-speed blender, the consistency will be like a thick Wendy’s Frosty. You can eat it immediately or freeze it for an hour or so to get scoopable ice cream consistency.

What You Need for 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.

How to Serve Chocolate 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.

1. 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.
2. 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.

More Protein Ice Cream Recipes

Get Perfect Protein Ice Cream with These 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 + Mix-Ins

We chose a simple and classic ice cream topping, SPRINKLES! You can use any of the ingredients below as toppings or mix-ins.

• chocolate chips
• yogurt chips
• peanut butter cups
• fresh berries
• coconut flakes

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.

Storage

Store leftover protein ice cream in the freezer, covered, for up to 3 months. We recommend storing in a glass container with a lid.