Gelato is an Italian frozen dessert, similar to ice cream. Its ingredients include milk and sugar, often combined with flavorings and fruit, chocolate, liquor, spices, or nuts. Unlike true ice cream, gelato does not contain cream, and the term gelato also refers to similar frozen desserts that are prepared in this method. Gelato is often compared to ice milk rather than ice cream.

Gelato melts faster than ice cream because of its semi-frozen consistency. It is stored in a forced air freezer, different than those freezers that store American style ice cream. Some versions of gelato are lower in fat and calories than traditional ice cream.

Once combined, the gelato ingredients are cooled; the resulting product contains little air, which results in a denser, more flavorful dessert. A form of gelato made with water and no milk or soy milk is called sorbetto. Gelato is best served fresh.

Northern Italy is famous for the dairy form of gelato, and Southern Italy and Sicily take credit for the sorbetto version. Popular gelato flavors include chocolate, hazelnut, pistachio, strawberry, lemon, and combinations of vanilla, chocolate, and nuts. Some recipes that include gelato are ice cream cake and spumoni.

Gelato spazzacamino contains ice cream, scotch, and espresso coffee beans. Gelato truffles are small balls coated with coconut or other toppings. One American peach gelato recipe contains fresh peaches, peeled and pitted; sugar; and mascarpone, crème fraiche, or yogurt.

Traditionally, gelato recipes included eggs, but now they are not as commonly used, being replaced by other stabilizers. The name gelato derives from an Italian word, gelare, which means to freeze. An ice cream parlor in Italy is known as a gelateria. A gelateria may be a combination of a bar and a frozen dessert shop, or even of a bar and a dessert and pastry shop.

Because of its softer texture, gelato can be more easily swirled or molded with a spatula than can ice cream. Gelato cannot be classified in the United States as an ice cream because it does not contain a minimum of 10% butterfat, which the Food & Drug Administration requires of ice cream.