This post may include affiliate links.
Rainbow sherbet is a frozen treat that swirls orange, lime, and raspberry into one scoop. Here’s how to make it at home, with real fruit instead of dye!
What’s a more nostalgic treat than rainbow sherbet? The electric green, magenta and bright orange hues transport me right back to childhood, licking dribbles off my sticky fingers.
Turns out, it’s a fun project to make at home: and tastes so much better than the store-bought stuff. Mine recipe gets its flavor from juiced oranges, lime zest, and raspberries: the colors are bright and beautiful and the flavor is deliciously fruity!
What Is Rainbow Sherbet?
Rainbow sherbet is a creamy frozen dessert that layers three or more different flavors, traditionally orange, lime and raspberry. It was invented in the 1950s in Pennsylvania, after an ice cream company employee invented a way to fill a carton with three different flavors of sherbet at once.
Sherbet is made of blended fruit, sugar, and cream or milk, then churned like ice cream to make its signature frosty texture. It’s like a lighter version of ice cream: sherbet has 1 to 2% milkfat, whereas ice cream has at least 10% milkfat.
Most rainbow sherbet has a mix of bright orange, pink, and green sherbet to match the orange, raspberry and lime flavors. But there are variations: for example, the Baskin Robbins variety features pineapple, orange and raspberry.
The Three Flavors You’ll Need
This recipe is an assembly job: you’ll make each sherbet separately, then layer them. Head to each recipe for full ingredient lists and quantities:
- Orange Sherbet: It’s sweet, creamy, and the mildest of the three.
- Lime Sherbet: Zingy and tart! It’s the only one that uses food coloring (you’ll need just 2 drops).
- Raspberry Sherbet: Deep pink and jammy: my personal favorite of the three!
Tips For Making Rainbow Sherbet At Home
Homemade sherbet is easy to make and has a pure, fruity and creamy flavor. It’s well worth making it over opting for store-bought! However, making rainbow sherbet at home is a bit of a project because you have to make three separate sorbet flavors. You’ll also need an ice cream maker. Here are a few notes on the process:
- Plan around your machine. If you have the freezer-insert style of ice cream maker, budget three days: the bowl has to refreeze overnight between batches. If you have a compressor machine, you can churn all three back to back in an afternoon.
- Freeze each flavor solid before you assemble. Soft sherbet blurs into the layers, and you lose the distinct color bands.
- Fill a loaf pan with alternating scoops of each color of sherbet, starting with a layer in the bottom of about 6 dollops. Then add another layer on top, and another until the container is filled. Resist the urge to stir. Smooth out the top with a spoon.
- Freeze again before serving. Place the container in the freezer and freeze for at least 1 hour to allow it to harden to a scoopable texture.
Ways To Serve Rainbow Sherbet
Here are a few fun ways to serve this rainbow sherbet:
- In a waffle cone: which my kids love!
- As a sherbet float: pour ginger ale over two scoops.
- With fresh fruit, especially fresh raspberries.
- Alongside a slice of pound cake or angel food cake: the tartness compliments them perfectly
Storage and Leftovers
Rainbow sherbet makes a beautifully bright, frosty treat that has so much flavor, you might fall out of your chair. I served it to guests who were incredibly impressed, and of course my kids were in love. Here are a few notes on serving this rainbow sherbet:
- Rainbow sherbet tastes best the day it’s made, but it lasts up to 1 week frozen. Make sure to leave it out for 10 to 15 minutes to soften before serving.
- Don’t want to make 3 flavors over 3 days? We get that. To us, it was a fun challenge. Doesn’t feel doable? Pick one of the three flavors and try just one!
Dietary Notes
This rainbow sherbet recipe is vegetarian and gluten-free.
Frequently Asked Questions
Bright, tart, and lightly creamy. The orange is sweet, the lime is sharp and zesty, and the raspberry is sweet with a little tang.
“Sherbet” is the correct spelling. “Sherbert,” with a second R, is a widespread variant. The word actually comes from the Turkish şerbet and Persian sharbat, with no R in the middle. If you grew up saying sherbert, you’re in good company (I certainly did!).
U.S. labeling requires that ice cream has at least 10% milkfat, and sherbet is 1-2% milkfat. Sherbet is fruit with a splash of dairy; ice cream is all dairy.
Sorbet has no dairy at all: it’s just fruit, sugar, and water. Sherbet includes a small amount of milk or cream, which gives it a softer, slightly creamier texture. If you want a dairy-free version of this, make three sorbets instead and layer them the same way.
Use my sorbet recipes: Raspberry Sorbet and Lime Sorbet, then make the orange sorbet by swapping in orange juice and zest in the lime sorbet recipe.
Rainbow Sherbet
Rainbow sherbet is a colorful and fun frozen treat! The classic combination of orange, lime and raspberry is fruity and refreshing.
- Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Freeze Time: 3 hours
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 quarts (10 to 12) 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Frozen
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 recipe Orange Sherbet
- 1 recipe Lime Sherbet
- 1 recipe Raspberry Sherbet
Instructions
- Make the orange, lime and raspberry sherbet recipes separately and freeze until ready to assemble. If you have an ice cream maker with a freezer insert, plan to complete this over 3 days (you’ll need to re-freeze the base overnight after each sherbet flavor). Other types of ice cream makers can handle churning the three flavors back to back.
- If you’ve made your sherbet in advance, allow it to sit out at room temperature for about 15 minutes to make it easy to scoop. (If it’s freshly churned, skip this step.)
- Fill a loaf pan with alternating scoops of each color of sherbet, starting with a layer in the bottom of about 6 dollops (see the photos above). Then add another layer on top, and another until the container is filled. Resist the urge to stir. Smooth out the top with a spoon.
- Place in the freezer and freeze for at least 1 hour to allow it to harden to a scoopable texture (or 2 hours if working with freshly churned sherbet). Store frozen for up to 1 week: allow it to stand at room temperature for at least 10 minutes before serving to make it easy to scoop.
Let us know if you have any questions!