How to Make Matcha Green Tea Ice Cream

This homemade version of matcha green tea ice cream is easy to make using an ice cream maker. Tips for achieving a perfect creamy texture are shared below! Don’t have an ice cream maker? Don’t worry! Check out my recipe for no-churn matcha ice cream instead.

I am seriously having a love affair with my ice cream maker. I can’t stop thinking up new flavor combinations to make ice cream with! This week I made an Asian classic – matcha green tea ice cream. It has become one of my favorite flavors next to durian ice cream and is also really easy to make!

Ingredients, Substitutions & Adjustments

• Whole milk & heavy cream – Adds creaminess and richness to the ice cream.
• Matcha powder – This adds the green color and the matcha flavor to the ice cream. I use Aiya culinary grade matcha powder.
• Vanilla extract – Adds flavor to the ice cream. A good substitute is vanilla paste or 1 vanilla bean.
• Egg yolks – Egg yolks add richness and creaminess to the ice cream.
• Sugar – White sugar adds sweetness to this recipe.

How to make matcha ice cream

First, whisk together whole milk, heavy cream, matcha powder, and vanilla extract in a small sauce pan. Heat over low heat until the milk is warm (about 5 minutes). Stick your finger in the milk to test that the milk is warm. Add a pinch of salt and stir.

Mix sugar and egg yolks in a small bowl. Add a 1/4 cup of the matcha milk mixture and whisk until it is well incorporated. This is called tempering. We are raising the temperature of the eggs so they don’t cook when you combine them with the warm milk.

After tempering the egg yolks, add them to the matcha milk. Stir and heat until the mixture reaches 170 degrees F. Strain the mixture into a bowl and let it cool in the fridge for at least 6 hours or overnight. This might seem like a long time but the colder your cream is the creamier your ice cream will be.

Pour the custard into the ice cream maker and churn for 10-15 minutes until the ice cream is a little bit harder than soft serve ice cream. Lastly, pour the ice cream into a freezer safe container and freeze for 6 hours or overnight. I usually do it overnight.

Matcha Ice Cream Video!

The importance of tempering the eggs

For this recipe, what you essentially want to make is a matcha custard before it goes into the ice cream maker. It is similar to how you temper eggs for creme brulees. I combined the dairy products, matcha powder, and vanilla in a sauce pan and heated up the milk over low heat. I then combined the eggs and sugar in a small bowl. Before adding them to the matcha milk, you want to temper the mixture to make sure that the eggs don’t cook…which happens reaaalllyyy easily. This happened to me a few times as I was testing the recipe, so make sure to temper!

Tips on how to make the perfect matcha ice cream

Make sure your matcha ice cream is cold before churning

You will get better results if your cream is cold. Put your finished cream into the refrigerator for 6-8 hours to cool it down before adding it to the ice cream machine. This might seem like a lot, but the colder your ice cream base is, the creamier your ice cream will be.

Be careful not to over churn

The maximum amount of time you should churn your ice cream is 20 minutes. The more you churn your ice cream, the harder it becomes. A done ice cream will have the consistency of something slightly harder than soft serve.

I actually like this recipe better than my first attempt at ice cream because the egg yolks make the ice cream much creamier. Plus who doesn’t like matcha ice cream?! This is the second of many many more flavors. I already have another one in the works! Can anyone say cereal milk ice cream?!

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