Protein Ice Cream
Strawberry protein ice cream blended from cottage cheese, frozen strawberries and vanilla whey, sweetened with a little allulose. No ice cream maker needed. About 15 g of carbohydrate and 12 g of protein per ½ cup.
One serving
One serving is ½ cup (makes 2 cups). Prep 10 min · Cook 0 min · Rest or chill 2 h 15 min.
Steps
Let the frozen strawberries sit at room temperature for 10 minutes so they blend more easily.
Blend the cottage cheese, strawberries, protein powder, allulose and vanilla extract in a food processor until completely smooth, scraping the sides twice, about 2 minutes.
AI-generated illustrative image. Eat it right away as soft serve. To scoop it, spread it in a loaf pan lined with parchment, cover and freeze for 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes, until firm but scoopable.
If it’s firm, let it stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. If it has frozen solid, let it stand 20 minutes, or break it into chunks and blend it again for 20 to 30 seconds.
On the plate
A dessert, not part of the plate. Half a cup adds about 15 g of carbohydrate, 6 g of it from allulose, and 12 g of protein.
Nutrition
| Nutrient | Per serving (1/4 of recipe) |
|---|---|
| Calories (kcal) | 96 |
| Total carbohydrate | 15 g |
| Dietary fiber | 2 g |
| Total sugars | 6 g |
| Protein | 12 g |
| Total fat | 1 g |
| Saturated fat | <1 g |
| Sodium | 35 mg |
Total carbohydrate includes fiber, as on US nutrition labels. Values are calculated from USDA FoodData Central for the ingredients as listed and are estimates. How we calculate.
Where these numbers come from
| Ingredient | Weight | Carbs | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| cottage cheese Cottage cheese, 1%, no salt added | 225 g | 6.1 g | “Cheese, cottage, lowfat, 1% milkfat, no sodium added”, USDA SR Legacy, FDC ID 168114 |
| strawberries Strawberries | 300 g | 23.0 g | “Strawberries, raw”, USDA SR Legacy, FDC ID 167762 |
| protein powder Whey protein powder | 30 g | 5.4 g | “Beverages, ABBOTT, EAS whey protein powder”, USDA SR Legacy, FDC ID 173167 |
| allulose Allulose, granulated | 24 g | 24.0 g | “ALLULOSE SUGAR”, USDA Branded, FDC ID 2652700 |
| vanilla extract Vanilla extract | 4 g | <1 g | “Vanilla extract”, USDA SR Legacy, FDC ID 173471 |
Counted as zero because the source has no value and the amount is 1 g or less per serving: vanilla extract ().
Calculation engine v1.3.0.
Swaps and variations
- Raspberry
- Use the same weight of frozen raspberries; the carbohydrate goes up a little and the fiber doubles.
Storage
Freeze, covered, up to 1 week. It freezes rock hard, since it has far less sugar and fat than ice cream; let it stand 20 minutes or blend it again for 20 to 30 seconds before serving.
How we checked this recipe
We haven't cooked this recipe in our kitchen yet. Before publishing it, we compared it with tested recipes of the same kind and checked how its ingredients behave and its safe temperatures.
- Best eaten right after blending or after a short freeze; after a night in the freezer it is hard as ice. Blending it again for 20 to 30 seconds brings it back to soft serve.
- Protein powders vary in carbohydrate and sweeteners; the numbers assume a typical vanilla whey.
- The recipe makes 2 cups. If yours makes less, each ½ cup has more carbohydrate than listed.
Tested recipes we compared
- Cottage Cheese Ice Cream · Taste of Home. Test-kitchen method: frozen in a pan, stirred, left to stand before scooping
- Strawberry cottage cheese ice cream · Alberta Milk. Frozen strawberries and cottage cheese: 2 to 3 hours in the freezer, a short stand
- High-protein strawberry ice cream · Optimum Nutrition. Whey and frozen fruit, served right away or frozen firmer
How the ingredients behave
- Finding Science in Ice Cream · University of Guelph (H. Douglas Goff). Sugar and fat are what keep ice cream scoopable
- Dolcia Prima crystalline allulose · Tate & Lyle. Allulose lowers the freezing point
Food safety
- Cold food storage chart · FoodSafety.gov. A 0°F freezer; storage times are for quality
Nutrition values are estimates calculated from USDA data for the ingredients as listed. This recipe is information, not medical advice; decisions about your diet belong to you and your healthcare team. How we calculate.
Printed from diabetesbites.com/recipes/protein-ice-cream. Nutrition per serving is calculated from USDA FoodData Central for the ingredients as listed.
FAQs
Quick answers about protein ice cream.
Can you make protein ice cream without a Ninja Creami?
Yes. A food processor and a loaf pan in the freezer work fine.
Does cottage cheese ice cream taste like cottage cheese?
Not once it’s blended smooth with fruit and vanilla.
Why does protein ice cream freeze so hard?
It has much less sugar and fat than regular ice cream, so more of its water turns to ice. The allulose softens it a little, not enough for a long freeze. Eat it soon after blending, or blend it again.
Is this protein ice cream sugar-free?
No. The strawberries and cottage cheese bring about 6 g of natural sugars per ½ cup, and allulose is itself a type of sugar that US labels count in total carbohydrate but not in sugars.
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