Summer is basically here! For those of you who don’t have a Ninja Creami but still want a healthier ice cream, you only need 4 ingredients to make one of best original protein ice creams around! This Protein Banana Ice Cream recipe is super easy to make, can be made with multiple flavors, and it actually has the perfect ice cream texture.

You’ll need to start this one by taking out 2 medium, ripe bananas. The riper the better here! Peel them by pinching the bottom and pulling up toward the stem. Who else peels their bananas like this?

Pro tip: The riper a banana gets, the sweeter it tastes, as its starches gradually break down into simple sugars. Those brown speckles on the peel are actually a sign that the fruit has reached its peak sweetness!

Cut your peeled bananas up into slivers and add those slivers into a freezer safe container. Throw your cover on and put them into the freezer until frozen.

While those are freezing, take out either a food processor, blender, or really good hand blender! If you don’t have either of these, I’ll put a link to mine below in the recipe card. 

Add right into whatever you’re using, your frozen banana slivers, 1/4 cup of a milk or milk substitute, 2 tablespoons of a nut butter, 1 scoop of a vanilla protein powder, and 1/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum which is optional but helps guarantee perfect texture.

Want a chocolate protein banana ice cream? Swap in chocolate protein powder over vanilla and add in 2 tablespoons of a cocoa powder. 

Ultimately the flavor of your protein should complement the banana flavor and be a protein powder that tastes good. Here’s a bunch of my other flavor variations I’ve made:

Protein Ice Cream Flavors

• Strawberry: use cashew butter + 1 scoop strawberry protein powder + add 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
• Peanut butter: keep the vanilla protein powder + use peanut butter as your nut butter and bump it to 3 tablespoons, or use PB2 by adding 2 tablespoons of the powder straight into the blend for a lighter option
• Mocha: use almond butter + 1 scoop chocolate protein powder + add 2 tablespoons cocoa powder + 1-2 teaspoons instant coffee or espresso powder
• Cookies and cream: use 1 scoop cookies and cream protein powder + fold in 2 tablespoons crushed chocolate cookies
• Cinnamon roll: keep the vanilla protein powder + add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and a splash of vanilla extract
• Pumpkin spice: keep the vanilla protein powder + add 1/4 cup pumpkin puree and 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• Mint chocolate chip: keep the vanilla protein powder + add 1/4 teaspoon mint extract and 2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips

Add right into whatever you’re using 2 medium ripe bananas, 1/2 scoop of your choice flavor protein powder, 1/4 cup of fat free milk or unsweetened milk substitute, and 1-2 packets of your choice sweetener.

Process or blend everything together until your protein ice cream is smooth.

If your ice cream looks too thick or it’s having trouble mixing, add in a little more milk until it “thins” out! If your ice cream appears to be too thin you could add in some xanthan gum (1/4 teaspoon).

You can optionally top yours with or mix in anything you want like M&Ms, granola, chopped up chocolate, low or no sugar syrups, whipped cream or whipped topping, and so on. Let us know what you add to yours below!

From here, if you don’t want a soft-serve style protein banana ice cream, cover it and toss into the freezer for around 20-30 minutes. Once it’s frozen to your desired consistency you can pull it out of the freezer and dig in!

Protein Ice Cream Storage

The most important thing about this protein banana ice cream? If you choose to make it in bulk or aren’t eating it right away, make sure you let it thaw for around 10 minutes from frozen. This will help you get a good ice cream texture back.

The two most common issues people run into with this protein banana ice cream is that it’s too icy or the ice cream never firms up properly. Icy texture usually means your bananas were not ripe enough before freezing, or you skipped the xanthan gum. Not firming up is almost always a liquid problem, so pull back on the milk. If your blender is stalling, resist the urge to add more milk right away and just pause, scrape down the sides, and try again.

Top some Protein Banana Pancakes with this ice cream for the ultimate combo!