9 Green Fast Food Desserts To Order This St. Patrick's Day

When March rolls around, it's an understatement to say that a lot of people make plans to do something special to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. One of the biggest parts of the holiday is going green. While people don green attire and accessories, some major cities turn their rivers green (a Chicago tradition since 1962) with a dye that only lasts for the day. Fast food chains even get in on the fun by serving green menu items, some of which are desserts.

These modern ways of commemorating St. Patrick's Day have expanded far beyond the religious feast day the Catholic Church started in the 17th century. However, it's hard to resist indulgent desserts throughout the month. Specifically, Culver's, Dairy Queen, McDonald's, and Sonic have special, minty treats for the holiday. These eye-catching green desserts are either new, annual recurrences, rotating options, or always available on their fast food menus. Just keep in mind that, as of the time of writing, these options are what Daily Meal could confirm will be available to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in March 2026.

The Mint Explosion is a frozen custard Flavor of the Day at Culver's. That means it's one of 30 flavors that are rotated on the menu. Every day and at every location, the custard flavor will be different, and the Mint Explosion is a favorite that your local Culver's may make for St. Patrick's Day or at least sometime during March. It features Andes mint candies, chunks of Oreo cookie, and a sprinkle of novelty chocolate mixed into the chain's mint custard. While you can enjoy this dessert in a dish, the cake and waffle cones add some extra crisp and crunch.

Curious about why Culver's Custard is such a delicious frozen dairy treat? Compared to ice cream, the mixture contains more pasteurized egg yolk and butterfat and fewer air bubbles. Plus, it's slow-churned fresh in small batches using fresh farm milk throughout the day.

Bringing fans something new for St. Patrick's Day, Dairy Queen launched a Mint Crunchin' Cookie Dipped Cone on February 23. This treat features a cone of creamy vanilla soft serve that's dipped in a green mint-flavored coating that's packed with chocolate cookie crumbles.

Available for a limited time at participating locations, Dairy Queen also provides some variations that you can buy while the Mint Crunchin' Cookie is on its menu. For instance, you can get a Mint Crunchin' Cookie Blizzard that mixes the cone coating into the treat, or ask for a sidecar of the coating to dip each bite. Another option is the Mint Crunchin' Cookie Parfait, which layers the coating between the chain's famous soft serve.

The Mint Crunchin' Cookie Dipped Cone continues a trend for the chain. For instance, Dairy Queen adds Dreamsicle Dipped Cones to its menu periodically for spring, and it had a blue version of the Crunchin' Cookie Dipped Cone on its menu in spring 2025.

Sonic is bringing a new green dessert item this year, too, and it's totally different from the rest of the items on this list. In a TikTok video posted by @sonicdearborn, you can watch as a restaurant worker makes the Sour Shamrock Slush. It starts with some pumps of green apple syrup and a couple scoops of sour lemon-lime BITZ popping candy that are mixed together when the slush is added — similar to the Orange Cloudsicle Slush Float that Sonic released in summer 2024. Then, it's topped with whipped cream and a piece of tart rainbow candy.

According to a press release sent to Daily Meal, the Sour Shamrock Slush will also have a sprinkle of the popping candy on top. "We like to do things differently at SONIC, and the Sour Shamrock Slush is no exception," said Sonic vice president of culinary innovation and category management Barbara Williams. "With a bright green apple slush, tart sour flavors and popping rainbow candy, the Sour Shamrock Slush isn't just a drink, it's a St. Patrick's Day celebration in a cup."

Having corned beef and cabbage is an Irish-American tradition, which is why a lot of diners eat a Reuben on St. Patrick's Day. At Culver's, you're able to not only indulge in this tradition with a Grilled Reuben Melt but also pair it with the chain's Mint Shake for a bit of luck. To make this chilly treat, the restaurant mixes mint syrup into its vanilla frozen custard, which turns green from the Yellow 5 and Blue 1 dyes in the syrup ingredients. This sippable dessert flavor is always available – not just for St. Patrick's Day.

From 2023 to 2025, McDonald's Shamrock Shake was already on its way at the start of February. This year, the fast food chain didn't start serving it until February 17, but you still have plenty of time to indulge for St. Patrick's Day. Concocted in 1967 specifically to mark the St. Patrick's Day holiday, the Shamrock Shake initially debuted in select locations starting in 1970.

The restaurant's vanilla soft serve ice cream is blended with mint syrup and topped with whipped cream. After years of fandom, the chain finally added the frozen treat to the nationwide menu in 2012 for the first time. While variations of the Shamrock Shake are offered sometimes, the green frozen dessert is one of the most anticipated fast food seasonal items of the year.

In the spirit of St. Patrick's Day, Dairy Queen has dubbed its Mint OREO Blizzard Treat the Blizzard of the Month for March 2026. The dessert is a blend of soft serve, a cool mint topping, and chunks of Oreo cookies. Although it landed near the bottom of Daily Meal's ranking of mint chocolate treats because the mint is too subtle, it has become a fan favorite.

Dairy Queen has been serving Blizzards since 1985, but the first Mint Oreo Blizzard was introduced in 1997 to celebrate the Irish holiday. By 2010, the green dessert had "become a DQ tradition," International Dairy Queen chief brand officer Michael Keller told Nation's Restaurant News, calling it one of the restaurant's most popular flavors.

Alongside the Mint Shake, you can order a Mint Concrete Mixer any time you visit Culver's. It's thicker than the milkshake because no extra milk is added to make it sippable. Instead, you eat it out of a cup with a spoon.

When you order a Concrete Mixer, you get to choose at least two ingredients to mix with the vanilla frozen custard. Any of the chocolate or chocolate mint options will complement the mint syrup for a St. Patrick's Day treat. These include Andes mints, brownie pieces, Dove chocolate, Eli's chocolate cake, M&M's minis, and Oreo cookies. If you don't mind the surcharge, you can add more than just two of these chocolatey mix-ins to your holiday dessert.

The Shamrock Shake isn't the only St. Patrick's Day offering on the McDonald's menu. In 2020, the chain launched the Oreo Shamrock McFlurry to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its original green dessert. This twist on the fan-favorite follows a very similar recipe with green, mint syrup blended into vanilla soft serve ice cream. Instead of having whipped cream added on top, though, chunks of Oreo cookie are mixed in. If you don't have room for a regular McFlurry, you have the option to get a mini version of the treat to cap off your St. Patrick's Day McDonald's meal.

Like the Mint Explosion, the Andes Mint Avalanche is one of the 30 Flavor of the Day custards on rotation at Culver's. This one features the mint custard with Andes mint candies and novelty chocolate mixed in (no Oreo cookie pieces this time). Since it's a Flavor of the Day, it may or may not be available at your local Culver's on or around St. Patrick's Day. Check your location's schedule by entering your zip code on the chain's Flavor of the Day page to make sure you don't miss this refreshing dessert in March.