Recipes

How to Make Homemade Shamrock Shakes

Never again will the Shamrock Shake be deemed “limited time only” – with this Creamy Mint Shake recipe you can make this refreshing dessert right at home!

Combining creamy vanilla ice cream and mint extract give this seasonal specialty an extra refreshing taste and flavor.

shamrock shake copy cat

Homemade Shakes from Scratch

Ah, the tastes of spring. Rolling through the local McDonald’s drive thru during the month of March (aka shamrock shake season) only meant one thing, green mint shakes! Whether St. Patrick’s Day is one of your favorite holidays or not, this shake alone is a reason to celebrate!

I remember growing up, when our parents would let us try a spoonful of their after dinner grasshoppers at a fancy midwestern supper club. I was hooked on the minty flavor, only it was alcoholic. So we learned how to make our own kid-friendly mint shakes at home- sans the alcohol, of course!

Even though this minty beverages seems like a seasonal dessert, to us it’s a delightful treat all year round! They’ve even made an appearance at our New Years Eve parties, birthday celebrations or our family get together card parties.

These mint shakes also make an excellent cool down treat for the guys in the field during the hot summer months! They love this unexpected refreshing minty shake when they’ve been working in the sun all day. You can check out what else we serve our hard working farm crew here!

Making the Creamiest Mint Shake- the Video!

Creamy Mint Shakes at Home!

We all love the seasonal specialties to look forward too. When we were kids we could hardly wait for March to roll around so we could have a fish sandwich and a shamrock shake from the drive through.

These days are a little different and as prices increase, it’s nice to know we can still celebrate the season here at home. This recipe is delightful because you can bring it out any time of the year that needs a little refreshing dessert.

The green color can be added, but can also be left out, if you prefer. It’s more for looks and fun, so not necessary to the taste of the shake.

The combination of vanilla and peppermint extracts gets you as close to the drive through version as humanly possible and that was my goal! Add a few garnishments to go above and beyond and you’ll have yourself some serious seasonal memories!

Using good quality ingredients are key to this shake’s success. We use Watkins extracts and Kemps Vanilla Ice Cream and yes, it does seem to make a difference.

Why You’ll Love This Homemade St. Patricks Mint Shake

  • You can save on gas and make these right at home!
  • These are the perfect after dinner deserts that everyone loves to help make
  • The soothing cool mint will actually help with digestion! This homemade spin on the recipe also has less calories than traditional shamrock shakes
  • This copycat recipe allows you to have a minty shake any time of year!

*You can also make it an Adult drink with the same creamy texture! See Recipe below!

mint shake top

St. Patricks Day Treat

Start a new tradition at St. Patricks Day supper by serving up these Cream Minty Desserts!

Ingredients you’ll need to make this Creamy Mint Shake

  • 3 Cups vanilla ice cream
  • 1.5 Cups milk
  • 2 Drops green food coloring
  • 1 Tsp. Watkins Pure Peppermint Extract
  • 1 Tsp. Watkins Vanilla Extract
  • A Blender or food processor of sorts. We don’t use a blender, I just use my Kitchen Aid Immersion Blender Stick!
  • A Couple fancy glasses, or just good old Ball Jars!

Adult version: add 3/4 oz. White Creme de Cacao Liqueur 

How to Dress up your Shamrock Shake

Optional Garnishments for extra aesthetic and flavor

  • Chocolate sprinkles
  • Maraschino cherries
  • Piles of whipped cream
  • Mint leaves
  • Colorful or green sprinkles
  • Cacao nibs
  • Chocolate syrup
  • Mini chocolate chips
  • Oreo cookie pieces
watkins products + mint shake

Printable Shamrock Shake Recipe Card

mint shake recipe

Creamy Mint Shake

A quick and delicious, creamy mint shake that you can make right at home!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 2 servings

Equipment

  • 1 Blender

Ingredients
  

  • 3 Cups Vanilla Ice Cream
  • 1.5 Cups Milk
  • 2 Drops Green Food Coloring
  • 1 tsp. Watkins Pure Peppermint Extract
  • 1 tsp. Watkins Vanilla Extract

Optional Garnishments

  • chocolate sprinkles
  • maraschino cherries
  • piles of whipped cream
  • mint leaves
  • colorful or green sprinkles
  • cacao nibs
  • chocolate syrup
  • mini chocolate chips
  • Oreo cookie pieces

Make an Adult Version

  • 3/4 oz. White Creme de Cacao Liqueur 

Instructions
 

  • Add all ingredients to blender and blend until desired consistency!
Keyword creamy mint shake, Mint Shake, mint shake recipe, shamrock shake, shamrock shake recipe

Helpful tips!

  • Feel free to try substituting regular milk for almond milk, soy milk, or coconut milk
  • You can play around with different ice cream flavors such as mint chocolate chip ice cream
  • Add chocolate! You can elevate the delicious taste of a shamrock shake and make it a mint chocolate shake!

Pin this for later!

mint shake pin
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Affiliate Disclosure & Content Disclaimer

This post may contain affiliate links from a paid sponsor, Amazon or other program. When you use these links to make a purchase I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This allows me to continue creating the content that you love. The content in this article is created for information only and based on my research and/or opinion. 

Emily T.

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