Try this one-minute trick to turn plain vanilla ice cream into a show-stopping dessert tonight

The singer talked about this combination in November 2023, during a conversation with Greg James on BBC Radio 1. She explained that she added olive oil and sea salt to vanilla ice cream and said she had convinced several people to join her “dark side.”

Shortly afterward, the combination went viral on TikTok, where numerous users recreated the recipe and shared reactions ranging from surprise and enthusiasm to outright rejection.

Dua Lipa didn’t invent olive oil ice cream, though her name helped bring an already well-known practice back into the conversation. The combination had previously appeared in Italian restaurants, ice cream shops, and home kitchens; social media simply presented it as a new discovery. It’s one of those cases where the novelty isn’t in the dish itself, but in the number of people seeing it for the first time.

The answer depends, to a large extent, on the quantities and quality of the ingredients. Too much oil can coat the palate and make the experience feel heavy. Too much salt overpowers the delicacy of the vanilla. When added in moderation, however, both ingredients enhance the ice cream without masking its identity.

This logic can be understood through several ideas found in some of the most influential contemporary books on flavor.

In her book *Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat*, Samin Nosrat argues that salt enhances flavor and that fat influences both taste and texture. When applied to this dessert, the oil does not act like a conventional sauce: it contributes its own aromas (fruity, vegetable, or slightly spicy) and prolongs the creamy sensation.

Salt, on the other hand, tempers the monotony of the sweetness and makes the vanilla stand out more clearly.

This isn’t about adding fat to a food that already contains it simply for the sake of excess. Two fats with distinct personalities are incorporated. The milky fat in the ice cream is rounded, sweet, and familiar; that of the olive oil can be fresh, herbaceous, fruity, or spicy. This is where the contrast comes in, ensuring that each spoonful doesn’t taste exactly the same as the one before it.

The pairing can also be understood through aromas. In *The Flavor Matrix*, James Briscione and Brooke Parkhurst explain that two ingredients can work well together when they share certain aromatic nuances, even if their flavors are different. In this case, a mild, fruity olive oil can harmonize with the sweet, floral notes of vanilla while also providing a vegetal or slightly spicy contrast. Thus, the oil adds depth and aroma, the salt enhances the sweetness, and the vanilla keeps the overall flavor profile familiar.

To prepare it, start with a generous scoop of good-quality vanilla ice cream and let it sit for a few seconds outside the freezer until it begins to soften slightly. Next, drizzle a teaspoon of extra-virgin olive oil in a thin stream, making sure to spread it evenly over the entire surface, and finish with three or four flakes of sea salt.

It’s best to use a fruity, well-balanced oil rather than one that’s extremely bitter or spicy: the goal isn’t to showcase its intensity, but to let it complement the vanilla.

It takes less than a minute and requires no cooking. The result is still unmistakably ice cream, but less uniform, more aromatic, and with a slightly more sophisticated flavor.

Dua Lipa may have brought the outfit back to social media, but its staying power doesn't depend on the celebrity. It depends on something much simpler: against all odds, it works.