Pistachio Pudding Homemade Ice Cream is the most delicious, decadent, silky, super-creamy ice cream ever! I can’t get enough of this stuff. It’s really easy to make (no eggs, no cooking). Plus, you can change it up and make different flavors. You have got to try this!
☘Happy St. Patrick’s Day!☘ Since green is the color of the day today, I thought it would be a perfect time to share this wonderfully green and delicious Pistachio Pudding Homemade Ice Cream a.k.a. THE BEST ICE CREAM I HAVE EVER EATEN (yes, I’m shouting…it’s that good!).
It’s weird how I stumble upon recipes sometimes. A few weeks ago, David and I were having some pistachio pudding (my favorite!) for a late-night snack when he said, “This would make really good ice cream. Do you think we could make vanilla ice cream and put the pudding mix in there?” Holy crap. Best. Idea. Ever.
Just for the heck of it, I checked around to see if this had been done before. As it turns out, it had, and we aren’t the geniuses we thought we were in that moment, but who cares? We just wanted some kick-a$$ ice cream.
So we gave it a shot and ended up with the most delicious, indulgent, creamy ice cream we’ve ever had, and it’s really easy to make. There’s no eggs in this ice cream, so you don’t have to cook it. Just mix everything together, chill it, put it in your ice cream maker, freeze it, and done!
I may never buy ice cream again!
INGREDIENTS YOU NEED TO MAKE PISTACHIO PUDDING HOMEMADE ICE CREAM:
- Milk
- Heavy cream
- Sugar
- Instant pistachio pudding mix
- Almond extract
- Vanilla extract
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT NEEDED:
- Ice cream maker
HERE’S A QUICK LOOK AT HOW TO MAKE PISTACHIO PUDDING HOMEMADE ICE CREAM:
The most important thing you need to remember is that the bowl of your ice cream maker must be completely frozen before you begin, so plan ahead! I keep my bowl in the freezer at all times so that it’s always in there and ready to make some ice cream.
The ice cream will be ready to take out of the ice cream machine when it is the consistency of soft-serve ice cream. In my experience of making ice cream, I’ve never been able to get it much firmer than that in the machine.
Now, you can certainly eat it at this point – it’s totally up to you – but if you like a firmer ice cream, you’ll need to freeze it for a few hours. It’s really hard to wait, I know, but then you will have THIS to enjoy:
Oh, and if you want to add any mix-ins to your ice cream (such as chopped pistachios), add them only during the last few minutes of processing in the ice cream maker. You want to add them at the very end so they are just stirred in and don’t get broken apart (and also so you don’t jam up your machine). If your machine is pretty full, you can stir them in by hand after you take the ice cream out of the machine.
But wait…there’s more! You can absolutely change this up and make different ice cream flavors. Just change the pudding flavor you use, change up the extracts, maybe throw in some mix-ins. Experiment and have fun!
I’ve already done it with chocolate and butterscotch. Amazing! For those, I used 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and eliminated the almond extract. Coconut, cheesecake, and cookies and cream are next on my list to try.
I hope you try this recipe for Pistachio Pudding Homemade Ice Cream (or any flavor!) and love it as much as I do. Thanks for visiting today!
Pistachio Pudding Homemade Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 cups heavy cream
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 (3.4-ounce) package pistachio instant pudding
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- First things first: make sure the bowl of your ice cream maker is thoroughly frozen before beginning!
- Whisk together all ingredients in a large bowl.
- Cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator to chill for at least two hours (longer is okay).
- Following the instructions for your specific ice cream maker, pour the chilled mixture into the ice cream maker and process until thick (about 15 to 20 minutes). It will be ready when it is the consistency of soft ice cream.
- For firmer ice cream, transfer the ice cream to a freezer-safe bowl, cover, and put in the freezer for at least 4 hours.
Notes
- Be sure to use instant pudding mix as it will dissolve in the cold milk and cream. Pudding that has to be cooked will not dissolve, and the mixture will be lumpy.
- If you want to add in any mix-ins, add them to the machine during the last few minutes or stir them in by hand after you remove the ice cream from the machine.
- You can make different ice cream flavors with different pudding flavors, extracts, and mix-ins. Experiment and have fun!
If you made this or any of my other recipes, take a photo and tag @nowcookthis on Instagram and hashtag it #nowcookthisrecipes.
Wow! This is dangerously delicious. My family had so much fun making this…..and wow…the taste is like no other. This is like the best ice cream I ever had. I also love simplicity of it.
I made chocolate too. That was amazing as well. I am excited to experiment more with different flavors. My girls want to try making Oreo Cookie ice cream next. Fun and delicious.
I am so glad your family enjoyed the ice cream! Let me know how your future flavor experiments go!
Could you make a sugar free version of this, perhaps with kefir milk and kefir cream? I haven’t found any other recipes on kefir instant pistachio pudding ice cream.
Hey, Brenda! I don’t have much experience with converting recipes to sugar-free or with using kefir, but I don’t see why you couldn’t try a sugar-free version using kefir milk, kefir cream, sugar-free instant pudding, and a sugar-free sweetener. If you decide to give it a try, please come back and let us know how it went!
Thank you so much for this delicious recipe. Came out really creamy and yummy.
Thank you, Teri! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Do you think you could use Lime Jello to make key lime ice cream? Or can you only use pudding mix?
Hi, Lauren! I have only ever used pudding mix, so I can’t say for sure, but using lime Jell-O might also work. It might taste more like sherbet…Yum! I guess there’s only one way to find out. If you give it a try, please come back and let us know how it goes!
I used sugar free pudding and monk fruit sweetener. The mixture was VERY firm when I put it in my Cusinart but let it run about 10 minutes. It was not moving so added a cup of low-fat milk and ran another 15 until it was barely moving. The texture is perfect! I don’t know if the heaviness was due to the sugar free products but hopefully I saved someone else an experiment! Enjoy! I will try other sugar free pudding flavors.
Hello, Janet! I have made this ice cream many times (using the recipe as written) and, although the mixture is slightly thicker due to the instant pudding mix, it is never firm and does not give my ice cream maker a hard time at all. I don’t know if the changes you made to the recipe caused the mixture to have a different consistency, but I’m glad it turned out well for you in the end. Thank you for sharing your experience with the changes you made.