Strawberry Milkshake (secret ingredient) - Celebrating Sweets (2025)

Ingredients needed

• Strawberry ice cream: Start with the good stuff; no fake flavorings or colorings. You’ll want a high quality strawberry ice cream with real strawberry flavor. You know I’m partial to Tillamook.
• Milk: Just a bit of milk is needed to help thin out the milkshake and make it creamy.
• Vanilla: Vanilla and strawberries are a perfect pairing! A splash of vanilla extract helps balance the strawberry flavor.
• Strawberries: I use fresh strawberries for this milkshake. Ideally you’ll want strawberries that are extra sweet, red, and juicy. See below for substitutes.
• Strawberry jam: This adds a strong concentrated strawberry flavor that takes this milkshake from good to great. More on this below.
• Malt powder (optional): I find that a tablespoon of malt powder helps to give this milkshake a creamy well rounded flavor. It’s not enough to actually make it taste like a malt, although, if you wanted to add more (so that it does have a malt flavor) you absolutely can. If you don’t have malt powder, don’t worry, this is delicious without it.

Secret ingredient

Drumroll, please… STRAWBERRY JAM. This adds a stronger, more intense strawberry flavor that takes this recipe over the top. Here’s how we use it:

Wash, hull, and halve your strawberries. Toss the strawberries with strawberry jam. Allow the strawberries to sit for at least 15 minutes. The sugar in the jam will start to pull out the juices from the strawberries and the jam will help intensify the flavor of the fresh strawberries. You will add the strawberries (jam, juices, and all) to the blender with the other ingredients.

Recipe substitutions

Strawberry Ice cream: Don’t have strawberry ice cream? Vanilla ice cream works great! The strawberry flavor will be a bit less strong, but it will still be delicious.

Non-dairy ice cream: Prefer a non-dairy alternative? Use a dairy free strawberry or vanilla ice cream.

Milk: I typically use 2% milk, but you can use whole milk or plant based milk.

Jam: I highly recommend this recipe with the strawberry jam, but if you can’t get strawberry jam, you can use 1-2 tablespoons of granulated sugar in place of the jam. Stir the strawberries with the sugar and allow it to sit for 15 minutes before blending.

Strawberries: If you can’t get fresh strawberries you can use frozen strawberries. Thaw and proceed with the recipe using them in place of fresh strawberries.

Other berries: You can swap blackberries, blueberries, or raspberries for the strawberries. Just be sure to use the same flavor of jam as the berry that you choose. Choose your ice cream flavor accordingly.

Smaller or larger quantities

The recipe makes 2 large or 4 small milkshakes. If you’d like more or less, you can use the following:

1-2 servings

• ¼ pound fresh strawberries (about 6-7 strawberries)
• 2-3 teaspoons strawberry jam
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ cup milk
• 1 cup strawberry ice cream
• 1 ½ teaspoons malt powder (optional)

4-8 servings*

• 1 pound fresh strawberries
• 2-4 tablespoons strawberry jam
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk
• 4 cups strawberry ice cream
• 2 tablespoons malt powder (optional)

*Large portion: Depending on the size and power of your blender you might need to blend a little at a time.

Serving and storage

Ideally you’ll want to serve this right after blending it. The consistency will be thick yet pourable. If you have leftovers you can stick them in the freezer for up to one week. The milkshake will freeze solid. Allow it to sit at room temperature to soften, stirring it a few times.

More frozen treats

• Rocky Road Ice Cream (fully loaded!)
• Chocolate Malt
• Cookie Dough Ice Cream (the ice cream base actually tastes like cookie dough!)
• Apple Pie Ice Cream
• Mint Chip Ice Cream