Here's How To Make A Shamrock Shake At Home

There's probably nothing I love more than seasonal cuisine, because it gives me an excuse to chow down and drink up what I usually wouldn't. Of course, that means I indulged in a pumpkin spice latte in the fall, lots and lots of eggnog in December, and now, it's time for my annual Shamrock Shake from McDonald's in honor of St. Patrick's Day. But while the Golden Arches' version is tasty and awesomely green, this year I've decided to take a more proactive approach to getting my frozen minty fix. I decided to come up with my own quick and easy recipe.

Can anything top this McDonald's March masterpiece, you ask? I’m here to tell you it can be done — or at the very least, there are recipes out there that manage to match the flavor factor of Micky D's signature drink. All it took was a quick Google search to find some green Shamrock Shake inspiration. All of them are great, but some recipes are easier than others. With a little experimenting (and a dash of laziness), I figured out my own simple, quick, and healthy recipe. My version of the shake only has three ingredients — one of them is a fruit — and you don't have to wait in line at the drive thru, or worse, risk going to a McDonald’s restaurant only to find out they are out of stock of the minty good stuff. So get out your blender, and get ready to mix up one of these festively delicious treats for yourself.

How to make your own Shamrock Shake

Prep time: 15 mins

Yields: 1 shake

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup low-fat mint chocolate chip ice cream
• 3/4 cup non-fat or skim milk
• 1/3 cup avocado, sliced

Optional:

• Ice cubes (if you want your shake thicker)
• Non-fat whipped cream (if you wanna have fun)
• Sugar or sweetener (if you want it sweeter)

Instructions:

1. Pour and combine the ice cream, non-fat milk, and avocado into a blender.
2. Blend for 3 to 4 minutes until thick and creamy. Add ice to thicken or sugar to sweeten if you want.
3. Pour into a glass. Apply non-fat whipped cream if desired.
4. Serve immediately!

Super easy, right? As calculated by My Fitness Pal, this base recipe (not including the optional stuff) has 321 calories, 12 grams of fat, and 23 grams of sugar, which means it's slightly healthier than the real thing, and easy to throw together whenever the craving may hit.

If you’re looking for a recipe that doesn’t use the avocado (as well as the other healthy bits), you can bet that TikTok has all the awesome DIY recipes to make your very own minty green goodness. Check them out below...

Traditional Shamrock Shake

For a traditional Shamrock shake, you’ll need vanilla ice cream, milk, peppermint extract, green food coloring, as well as whipped cream and cherry toppings, which are optimal. Blend your main ingredients together and you have your own homemade cup of yum.

Boozy Shamrock Shake

Fact: Everything’s more fun with booze. Try adding mint schnapps (or any other minty flavor liquor that you like) to your shake and garnish with some Lucky Charms.

Healthy Shamrock Shake

If you’re a bit more on the health conscious side, you can still have your cake and eat it too with this shamrock shake-inspired smoothie. Combine banana, yogurt, spinach, mint leaves, mint extract, vanilla extract, and ice and taste the luck of the Irish.

Chocolate Shamrock Shake

Mint and chocolate are a timeless pairing, so why not throw in Oreo bits to their Shamrock shakes? If you really want that chocolatey taste, add in some chocolate chips too.

So go ahead — get your Shamrock Shake on, and then go back for seconds. Happy St. Patrick's Day!