Homemade Shamrock Shake – Mint Milkshake
This is a fun homemade version of a popular Shamrock Shake that you can make any day of the year, not just in March! I make my mint milkshake using both, fresh mint leaves and peppermint extract for the best flavor.
While the popular mint milkshake at McDonald’s is available around St. Patrick’s Day, you can always make it at home when you have the recipe! That’s why I put together this fun recipe to be able to make it any time we feel like it.
Essentially, it’s a vanilla milkshake that’s all dressed up with mint flavors and a dash of green food coloring just for fun. I use two different types of mint because fresh mint on it’s own is not very strong, so you’d need to use a lot of it. And, a lot of peppermint extract will just tase like toothpaste.
That’s why combining the fresh mint with peppermint extract will give the milkshake a more natural flavor and enough mint to appreciate it.
Food Allergy Tips and Substitutions
- Vanilla Ice Cream – choose your favorite brand of vanilla ice cream because it is the base for the whole milkshake. If needed, you can use a milk alternative vanilla ice cream like oat milk or cashew milk ice cream. Oat and cashew milk based ice creams tend to be better because they are more rich and creamy than coconut or almond. Lactose free vanilla ice cream works too.
- Whole Milk – you can use oat milk as a diary free milk alternative or lactose free milk for lactose allergy.
- See recipe card for complete information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make a Mint Milkshake – Tips and Tricks
- Remember that if you would like to decorate the rim, do it before making the milkshake. You can decorate the rim with green sugar, rainbow sugar, rainbow sprinkles or green sprinkles.
- Combine all the ingredients in the blender and pulse them very well, until there are no more chunks of ice remaining.
Topping Options
- Whipped cream
- Cherries
- Green and/or orange sprinkles
- Chocolate shavings
- Chocolate syrup
- Green decorating sugar
- Thin mint cookies (crushed)
Variations to Try
- Mint Chocolate Chip: Mix in 1/2 cup of either semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips and make sure to blend well.
- Oreos: Add 6-8 Oreo cookies to the blender and blend well. Add the amount of Oreo cookies based on personal preference.
- Thin Mint: You can add about 6-8 thin mint cookies and 3-4 tablespoons of dark chocolate syrup to the blender with the other ingredients to create a delicious thin mint milkshake.
- Boozy: Some great liquors to add are vodka, rum, creme de menthe (check out my Grasshopper recipe) and cream the cocoa (if you’re making mint chocolate chip shake).
Recipe FAQs
Absolutely! Simply use plant based or lactose free vanilla ice cream as the base. Personally, I love oat milk ice cream. It’s rich and creamy and makes great milkshakes. As far as milk, use a milk alternative like oat milk or almond milk. Or, to make it lactose free, use lactose free whole milk.
While fresh mint is totally optional here, it adds a great natural mint flavor! I highly recommend it.
Yes, you can use gel food coloring instead of regular food coloring but it will take more of it.
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Shamrock Shake – Mint Milkshake Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pint vanilla ice cream
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 5-6 fresh large mint leaves
- 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
- 8-10 drops green food coloring
- 3/4 cup whipped cream topping
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients in the blender and pulse until completely smooth.
- Divide the milkshake mixture among glasses and top it off with some whipped cream if you wish.
Video
Notes
- Dairy Free/ Lactose Free Alternative – use plant based or lactose free vanilla ice cream as the base. I recommend oat milk ice cream because it is creamy, rich, and usually nut-free. As far as milk, use a milk alternative like oat milk or almond milk. Or, to make it simply lactose free, use lactose free whole milk.
- Topping options: Whipped cream, cherries, green and/or orange sprinkles, chocolate shavings, chocolate syrup, green decorating sugar, thin mint cookies (crushed).
Nutrition
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in March 2024.
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All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
As I’m reading this recipe again, I noticed that you have added the whipped cream to the other ingredients and combined them together in the blender. Is that correct? Then top with additional whipped cream?
Thank you for this recipe. I love McDonald’s shamrock shake and the reason is because it’s not overly powered by the mint. Could I leave out the fresh mint leaves as I don’t use them so I don’t have any readily available and I’m afraid it would be too minty. Thank you again for posting this. Your presentation is beautiful.