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Shamrock shake season is upon us! Our cool, minty shake is even creamier and more delicious than the fast food version and you can make it all year round!
Featured with this recipe
A Shamrock shake is a minty green milkshake served at McDonald’s for a limited time around St. Patrick’s Day. It usually pops up on the menu mid-February. The official ingredients, courtesy of McDonald’s website, are vanilla soft serve, shamrock shake syrup, and whipped light cream. We are huge fans of this shake, but it gets pricey to buy for the whole family, so we figured out how to make them at home. Skip the drive-thru! This copycat shamrock shake recipe is easy, uses simple ingredients, and it also tastes just like the original, if not better.
Ingredients in a Shamrock Shake
Just like any traditional homemade shake, this Shamrock shake is filled with your basic shake ingredients with the help of mint extract for flavor and some green food coloring to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. You can’t go wrong making this simple Shamrock shake!
- Vanilla Ice Cream – The quality of your Shamrock shake will depend on the quality of your ice cream. Because of that, we like to use a super creamy vanilla ice cream as the base.
- Milk – Just a little bit of milk gives these shakes the perfect, smooth texture you can drink through a straw! Use whole milk for the best results.
- Mint Extract – It took a lot of trial and error to get just the right amount of mint flavoring. Too much can make it taste like toothpaste. Additionally, too little mint, and the mint flavor gets lost in the vanilla. Trust us on the amounts of mint extract!
- Green Food Coloring – Since you are only adding a few drops of green food coloring, you can use liquid food coloring or gel food coloring. When baking cakes I like to use gel, but either is okay for this recipe.
- Optional Toppings – I like to top my Shamrock Shakes with whipped cream and also a maraschino cherry. You can also top them with chocolate sauce, Andes mints, Oreo cookie pieces, or green sprinkles!
Steps for Making a Shamrock Shake
This simple copycat recipe comes together in minutes! Simply blend the ingredients and serve with your favorite toppings and a cute straw. A shamrock shake is a must-have dessert this St. Patrick’s Day!
- Blend – Add all the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth and has a creamy texture in consistency.
- Serve – Pour into a tall glass and top with whipped cream and sprinkles, a chocolate mint, or a maraschino cherry.
Variations for the Shamrock Shake Recipe
You could turn this St. Patrick’s Day treat into a delicious and easy dessert any time of year! When you are craving a milkshake just try a few of these variations to make it just the way you like it!
- Christmas – Serve them with green and red sprinkles at Christmastime.
- Valentine’s Day – Use red food coloring to create a delightfully pink Valentine’s Day dessert.
- Chocolate – Turn it into a chocolate mint shake by adding chocolate syrup at the bottom of the glass before pouring it, then garnish with a drizzle of chocolate syrup. Top it off with chocolate chips for a chocolate lover’s dream!
- Mint Chocolate Chip – Turn this into a mint chocolate chip milkshake by adding a handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips to the blender.
- Mint flavors – Try adding peppermint extract to the milkshake mixture and have another flavor of mint. Menthe or plain mint extract also gives minty milkshakes flavor. Spearmint is another type of mint that has a delicious taste too.
- Ice cream – We love a good vanilla bean ice cream but try other vanilla-based ice cream or even a chocolate ice cream for a mint chocolate milkshake.
- Crushed Oreos – McDonald’s came out with a new way to enjoy your Shamrock shake, the Oreo Shamrock McFlurry. It has all the delicious taste of a Shamrock shake but blended with crushed Oreo cookies. Just add a few Oreo cookies when blending, it’s that easy!
Low-Calorie Version
If you are counting calories, we also have a low-calorie version. Make your Shamrock milkshake with low-fat vanilla ice cream (we love Dreyer’s Slow Churned), fat-free milk, and a bit of real sugar. A McDonald’s small Shamrock shake has 530 calories, and a large is 820 calories. With those changes, this recipe is 393 calories per serving.
“My husband and daughter are big mint lovers (I’m more of a chocolate fan) We all loved this shake I make it now for more than just St Patrick’s Day.”
-Jade
Frequently Asked Questions
Shamrock milkshake has vanilla ice cream, whipping cream, and mint extract with a green coloring to the shake.
This shamrock shake tastes like a minty vanilla ice cream shake. It has a rich, thick, and creamy texture of ice cream with mint extract flavoring.
McDonald’s Shamrock Shake came out in 1970 at McDonald’s. It is served with soft served vanilla ice cream, artificially flavored minty green syrup, and whipped topping. The price varies from year to year but it is usually around $3 to $4 each.
Not too long! Just like any other milkshake, it needs to be consumed quickly and before it melts. Placing the shake in the freezer can help slow down the melting process but it will still continue to happen once it is no longer being chilled in the freezer.
More Irish Recipes for St. Patrick’s Day
If you are looking to create an authentic Irish feast to celebrate the luck of the Irish this year, then try a few of these favorite recipes! These are all Irish favorites and simple to make for the special holiday!
How to Make a Shamrock Shake
Shamrock Shake Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups vanilla ice cream
- ½ cup whole milk
- ¼ teaspoon mint extract
- ¼ teaspoon green food coloring
Toppings
- whipped cream
- sprinkles
- Andes Chocolate Mints
- maraschino cherries
Instructions
- Blend all shake ingredients in a blender until smooth.
- Pour into a tall glass and top with whipped cream and sprinkles, an Andes Chocolate Mint, and a maraschino cherry.
Why do you have to use sugar? Milk and ice cream have enough sugar in them. Why add more sugar?
We just tried to make it taste exactly like the one from McDonalds and that’s what it took! But you can definitely leave it out or use a substitute like stevia!
Shamrock Shakes are the best. It so great to be able to make these year round with your recipe. My daughter is enjoying them and I’m glad I don’t need to go to McD’s to buy them anymore.
Shamrock Shake sounds so good right now! Its the perfect comfort food anytime of the year. Your recipe looks really delicious. Going to make mine with whipped cream topping.
My husband and daughter are big mint lovers (I’m more of a chocolate fan) We all loved this shake I make it now for more than just St Patrick’s Day.
Thank you for your comment. We will retest the recipe.