Eat Baked Potato Ice Cream in Boise, Idaho

Throughout the first year of our family gap year, whenever we’d ask our kids, “What’s your favorite thing we’ve done so far,” they’d reliably answer,

“Baked potato ice cream!”

As we traveled the United States, our goal was to have a unique local experience in every state. Knowing that we’d be driving through Idaho, I went searching for something fun we could do along the way.

And I found it: baked potato ice cream.

I’m sure Idaho has a lot of other sites to see and things to do, but when you think Idaho, who doesn’t think potatoes? And who doesn’t want to eat delicious ice cream made to look like a potato?

Driving through Boise, I thought it was beautiful, like the community really takes pride in their city. It definitely made my list of places I’d like to revisit.

But on this trip, we were just headed through, so we stopped at the Westside Drive In for dinner and, you guessed it, baked potato ice cream.

Dinner did not disappoint. When ordering, I did have to ask what “potato gems” were, to be told that they were tater tots. You learn something new every day!

We enjoyed our meals but of course the real treat was coming. It also happened to be our youngest daughter, Melody’s, 2nd birthday! So this was her birthday treat.

How do you make baked potato ice cream?

I don’t claim to be any kind of food blogger, so rather than attempt a recipe of my own, I’m going to link you to one I found online. But overall, baked potato ice cream (which is fully made of sugary goodness — no actual potatoes in there) is a potato-shaped lump of hard vanilla ice cream, covered with cocoa powder, and topped with whipped cream.

It. Looks. Just. Like. A BAKED POTATO!

Click here for a great baked potato recipe!

Dipping our spoons into the baked potato ice cream and taking that first bite was like a mind explosion. It really looked like a baked potato, so my mouth and brain were just not prepared for it to taste like ice cream. But it did, and it was delicious!

So if you ever find yourself driving through Boise, and you’re looking to do something unique (and potato-themed), definitely stop at the Westside Drive In and get yourself some baked potato ice cream!

And if you’re a clueless non-local like me, don’t forget: potato gems = tater tots!

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