McDonald’s Ice Cream Flavors You Can’t Taste in the US

With their famous golden French fries and mouthwatering Big Macs, McDonald’s may seem like it has it all, but when it comes to cool summer treats, it turns out that there are a handful of ice cream flavors not available in the United States.

The dog days of summer are here, and those heading to the Golden Arches for a cool summery treat may be disappointed when they discover that their only ice cream flavor option is vanilla. If your taste buds are craving something more exotic, say black sesame seed or matcha, you will have to grab your passport, pack your bag, and hop on a plane on a journey across the world.

Keep scrolling to see the McDonald’s ice cream favors that you cannot taste in the U.S.

Lilac Sweet Potato Ice Cream

Customers visiting select Golden Arches locations in Hong Kong can sink their teeth into the sweet lilac-y treat that is the sweet potato flavored ice cream.

Made from purple sweet potatoes, giving the specialty ice cream its infamous namesake color, the ice cream is swirled atop an Oreo waffle cone.

Lychee Ice Cream

Pack your bags and head to Malaysia or Singapore if you want to try lychee ice cream, a cool perfect-for-summer treat that gets its name from the fruit it is made from.

Having roots in China, the exotic lychee is a roughly textured red fruit with a translucent, fleshy interior that a large, shiny black seed. The edible part of the fruit is described as being both tart and sweet.

Customers can opt to get just the lychee flavor or they can have it swirled with vanilla ice cream.

Dulce de Leche Ice Cream

Available in Argentina and Uruguay for some time and briefly introduced in Brazil, the dulce de leche flavored ice cream, dubbed Cono de Dulce de Leche in the respective countries, features a subtle caramel flavor.

The popular treat was even made available in shake form for a short period of time.

Cendol Ice Cream

“A unique taste that’s so delightful, you will be back for more,” at least that is McDonald’s claim when it comes to their cendol flavored frozen treat available in Malaysia.

Described as sweet and creamy, the cendol ice cream contains green rice flour jelly, coconut milk, and palm sugar, which sits atop a brightly green colored cone.

Matcha Ice Cream

Matcha is the latest craze, and you can get a taste of it in ice cream form at McDonad’s locations in Singapore and Indonesia. With its light green color, the ice cream, which launched alongside several other unique McDonald’s treats, is described as being subtly sweet.

The favorite flavor also comes in the form of a Matcha Hot Fudge Sundae and a Matcha McFlurry.

Black Sesame Ice Cream

McDonald’s Singapore added some local flavor to their menus with the addition of Black Sesame Ice Cream. The light gray cold treat gets its coloring from its namesake addition: the black sesame seed, which has a nutty flavor.

The popular ice cream flavor replaced the Red Bean ice cream flavor on menus and also briefly came in a McFlurry version.

Strawberry Ice Cream

Despite being a common offering at various ice cream shops across the United States, strawberry remains a flavor that is nonexistent on McDonald’s menus in the U.S. To get your hands on fruity flavor, you will have to pack your bags and travel to Malaysia.

The flavor, which has been touted as a “yummy must-eat,” is commonly swirled with vanilla soft-serve.

What other flavors are out there?

Matcha, black sesame, and cendol are only just a few of the flavors not available in the United States. Other popular flavors in countries around the world also include fruity mango, tart green apple, and even banana, which debuted as a special treat in Singapore as promotion for Despicable Me.