This makes healthy, homemade ice cream and sorbet in 20 minutes - it's a heatwave hero

Homemade ice cream and frozen drinks always sound like the perfect summer treat, but traditional machines often come with a catch: hours of pre-freezing, lengthy churning times, or both. Not GreenPan Frost though. In around 15 minutes, it can whip up everything from velvety ice cream and frozen yoghurt to slushies and frappés, making it one of the quickest ways to cool down when the temperatures soar.

You might already know GreenPan for its non-toxic cookware, but the brand's first venture into frozen treats has generated just as much excitement. The Frost combines an ice cream maker and slushie machine in one sleek appliance, making it a fun addition to any outdoor kitchen. It also arrives at a time when frozen drink makers are having a real moment, with the Ninja Slushi proving just how much demand there is for homemade ice cold drinks at home.

After the Frost sold out shortly after launch, I was keen to find out whether it lives up to the hype. Could one machine really replace both an ice cream maker and a dedicated slushie machine, while delivering delicious results in just 15 minutes? I put it through its paces to get the scoop on whether it's a worthwhile summer investment.

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Greenpan Frost Ice Cream Maker and Slushie Machine review

• RRP: £399.99
• Dimensions: 43.8D x 22.2W x 44.1H centimetre
• Weight: 11 kgs
• Voltage: 230
• Pre-sets: classic soft serve ice cream and refreshing slushies, frozé, milkshakes, smoothies, protein shakes, frozen yogurt, dairy-free/vegan ice cream, custard, sorbet, sherbet, frozen cocktails, mocktails
• Frost settings: 7
• Dishwasher safe: yes

Who would the Greenpan Frost Ice Cream Maker and Slushie Machine suit?

• Families looking for healthier, homemade alternatives to frozen treats
• Hosts who want to impress guests with frozen cocktails, slushies and cool drinks
• Anyone who wants an ice cream maker and slushie machine combined into one appliance

Like most ice cream and slushie makers, the GreenPan Frost is a fairly sizeable appliance, so it's worth considering whether you'll get enough use out of it to justify both the cost and the counter space. For me, one of its biggest strengths is how easy it makes homemade frozen treats. Instead of relying on shop-bought ice cream or slushies packed with stabilisers and additives, you can make your own using just a handful of ingredients. GreenPan includes recipe ideas to get you started, but you'll also find plenty of inspiration online, and most recipes call for no more than five or six supermarket staples.

The Frost also stands out because it combines multiple appliances into one. While many frozen drink makers are dedicated slushie machines, this can churn soft-serve-style ice cream, frozen yoghurt, frappés and frozen cocktails too. It even has a dedicated alcohol setting, which adjusts the freezing process to account for alcohol's lower freezing point, so you can make frozen margaritas, daiquiris and other cocktails with consistently smooth results.

Ultimately, I think this machine makes the most sense for people who love entertaining or have a busy family home. If you're the house where everyone gathers for summer barbecues, birthday parties or major sporting events, it'll quickly become the appliance everyone asks for. Living in a one-bedroom flat, I struggled to justify giving it permanent counter space, but I can absolutely see why families, especially those with younger children, or keen hosts would get their money's worth.

What is the Greenpan Frost Ice Cream Maker and Slushie Machine like to use?

The GreenPan Frost is really simple and straightforward to use. It offers six programmes (milkshake, slushie, soft serve, sorbet, frozen yoghurt and frozen cocktails) with seven texture settings that let you fine-tune the consistency of your drink or dessert. The controls are intuitive enough that you won't need to use the instruction manual to get started: you simply press the illuminated menu button to cycle through the modes, then use the dial to adjust the texture. I was surprised by how much difference each increment made. Moving the dial just one step transformed recipes from a firm, scoopable consistency to something much softer and closer to Mr Whippy-style ice cream.

One of the biggest selling points is that there's no need to pre-freeze a bowl overnight. Instead, the Frost chills ingredients as it churns, with most recipes ready in around 15 to 25 minutes depending on the volume and ingredients. The machine works by cooling the chamber to well below freezing while continuously stirring the mixture, preventing large ice crystals from forming. In my testing, the outside of the machine stayed cool to the touch and it ran with a gentle hum that was noticeable, but never intrusive.

I started with slushies, using 500ml of fruit juice made from concentrate to ensure there was enough sugar for the mixture to freeze properly. Just under 20 minutes later, I had a perfectly icy slushie with the fluffy, spoonable texture you'd expect from a cinema or theme park machine. You can make larger batches too, but I found 500ml was a great amount for two generous servings and chilled slightly faster.

The ice cream and frozen yoghurt were both equally impressive. I tested a classic vanilla recipe made with whole milk, cream, sugar and vanilla, alongside plain yoghurt straight from the pot. Both churned into exceptionally smooth desserts in around 20 minutes, although my first batch came out firmer than I wanted. A quick adjustment of the texture dial softened it into a much creamier, softer serve, and I appreciated having that level of control without needing to restart the programme. Vegan ice cream recipes made with plant-based cream and milk also worked well, although plant-based yoghurts didn't achieve quite the same creamy consistency as dairy versions.

I also love sorbet, so was keen to see what this would be like, as well as how different it would be to a slushie. Blending fruit coulis with fresh fruit created vibrant, intensely flavoured desserts that felt fresher than anything shop-bought, and the Frost handled small mix-ins well without affecting the texture. The sorbet was smoother and creamier, more like blended fruit than the slushie, which had more ice crystals.

The frozen cocktail programme also lived up to expectations. Piña coladas emerged thick, creamy and bar-worthy, while frosé was beautifully smooth rather than icy. It's not just a standard slushie setting with a different name either, the dedicated cocktail mode compensates for alcohol's lower freezing point, so drinks freeze to the right consistency instead of staying liquid. This is important to note when you're shopping around, because standard slushie machines won't offer this special setting.

Cleaning the Greenpan Frost Ice Cream Maker and Slushie Machine

Cleaning these machines can be difficult, because there are so many corners and crevices which can get sticky. Luckily, the GreenPan Frost is low effort. Rather than requiring you to dismantle lots of fiddly parts after every batch, it has a dedicated rinse programme that does most of the hard work for you. Simply add warm water with a drop of washing-up liquid, select the rinse mode, and the machine churns the solution around the chamber to loosen any leftover ice cream, yoghurt or fruit residue.

I found the rinse cycle surprisingly effective. I refreshed the water a couple of times until it was coming out as clear as it went in, and that was enough to leave the mixing chamber clean after everything from creamy vanilla ice cream to sticky fruit coulis. If you've made something particularly rich, such as a frozen cocktail with coconut cream, you may want to repeat the cycle once more, but it's still a very hands-off process.

It's also important to disassemble and clean all the separate parts, although I would say it's not as smooth as some rival machines. However, for day-to-day use, the Frost is super simple It strikes a nice balance between being hygienic and low maintenance, making it much less of a chore to clean between recipes.

How does the Greenpan Frost Ice Cream Maker and Slushie Machine compare?

The closest rival to the GreenPan Frost is the Ninja Slushi Max, but they cater to slightly different audiences. If your priority is frozen drinks, the Ninja has the edge: it's generally faster to reach serving temperature (I had full-capacity slushies in 15 minutes), produces exceptionally consistent slushies and frozen cocktails, and its removable parts make it easier to give a deep clean after use. However, the GreenPan is the more versatile machine.

In addition to slushies, frappés and frozen cocktails, it can make soft-serve-style ice cream, frozen yoghurt and sorbet, effectively replacing a separate ice cream maker. I also found its slimmer, more upright design easier to accommodate on a kitchen worktop, despite both being fairly substantial appliances.

The adjustable texture dial on both give you more control over the finished consistency, allowing you to tweak recipes from firm and scoopable to light, airy soft serve. If your summer revolves around frozen margaritas and icy soft drinks, the Ninja Slushi Max is still the specialist to beat. But if you'd rather buy one machine that can satisfy both your ice cream cravings and your frozen drink obsession, the GreenPan Frost offers better all-round value.

Should you buy the Greenpan Frost Ice Cream Maker and Slushie Machine?

The GreenPan Frost will really earn its counter space in the swing of summer. It’s fast, versatile and cleverly designed, turning out everything from soft-serve ice cream to café-style frappés and frozen cocktails in around 15 to 25 minutes, without the faff of overnight freezing. The texture control is a standout feature, giving you real precision over the final result, while the rinse cycle keeps day-to-day cleaning relatively low effort.

It isn’t perfect. The machine is still a sizeable investment, both in price and footprint, and it won’t replace a dedicated deep-freeze setup if you’re after absolute professional-grade consistency or ultra-speedy batch production. And while cleaning is easy, it doesn’t feel quite as thoroughly disassemblable as some rivals, which may matter if you’re very particular about hygiene.

But judged on what it’s clearly designed to do, make frozen treats and drinks feel effortless and fun at home, it's a winner. If you want a single appliance that can handle ice cream for the kids, frozen cocktails for guests and slushies for hot afternoons, the Frost makes a compelling case for itself.