The surprising flavor of this Rosemary and Olive Oil Ice Cream recipe will you have coming back for more!
I know, right?
Two ice cream recipes in a row!? What gives?
Well, you know how sometimes your rediscover a kitchen gadget or appliance and remember how awesome it is and go crazy with it?
That’s me with my ice cream maker lately. If you have a KitchenAid stand mixer, you can get your Ice Cream Attachment from Amazon here.
I tend to eat ice cream in binges. I don’t mean that I’ll polish off a half-gallon tub all in one sitting, but that I’ll go months and months without having any and then one day… it begins.
I’ll see a particularly tempting carton in the freezer section, bring it home, and before I know it I’m demanding after-dinner ice cream every night.
I made the eggnog ice cream, then decided I wanted something a bit more sophisticated.
Rosemary and olive oil ice cream recipe? I know that it might sound a bit strange, but it is SO incredibly delicious. It’s rich, fragrant, and completely surprising.
The olive oil adds extra creaminess to the mix, making it extra easy to scoop. It’s important to use the best quality olive oil you can find, because it will make all the difference in the final flavor. I use this Arbequina – it’s my go-to *special* olive oil.
The first bite of this rosemary ice cream completely throws you off because it is so unexpected. Then, before you know it, you’ve licked your bowl clean and are looking around for more.
I topped mine with a bit of flaky sea salt and let me just say WOW.
You could also get a little crazy and drizzle more olive oil right over the top. Make sure to use the good stuff!
This olive oil ice cream is delicious on its own, but it would also be great on top of a spice or semolina cake.
Or, you know, just eat it for breakfast.
Here’s the Recipe!
Rosemary and Olive Oil Ice Cream Recipe
RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- ½ cup white sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
- Pinch of flaky sea salt
- 4 fresh rosemary sprigs
- 5 egg yolks
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Combine the whole milk, white sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, salt, and rosemary in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. The sugar should be melted, the milk should be hot, and the mixture should smell of rosemary.
- Place the egg yolks in the bowl of your stand mixer. Use the whisk attachment to beat the eggs on medium until well-combined and light in color. Strain the rosemary from the milk mixture.
- With the mixer running on the Stir setting, very slowly trickle a ladle-full of hot milk into the yolks to temper. Pour the egg mixture into the saucepan and cook the custard, stirring constantly, over medium heat until thick enough to coat a wooden spoon (about 2 to 4 minutes). Turn off the heat and strain through a sieve into a large bowl. Stir in the heavy cream and olive oil, cover, and chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours or overnight.
- Freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions for your ice-cream maker model. For KitchenAid, turn the mixer on to ‘stir’ then pour in the mixture and churn for 20 to 30 minutes (or until you reach your desired consistency). Scrape the soft serve ice cream into a freezer-safe air-tight container and freeze until solid.
Nutrition

I did not enjoy this at all. The only flavor I could taste was olive oil and I even used an extra sprig of rosemary. I used imported Italian olive oil. Couldn’t taste any rosemary at all, which was also freshly cut from my garden. I recently had amazing Italian Rosemary gelato and I wanted to recreate it but this just wasn’t good 🙁
Made this today with a blood orange olive oil, and it was absolutely amazing. Even my husband was thrown back by how delicious it was. Thanks for sharing this recipe.