TheFrosty is afrozen dairy dessert of the American fast-food restaurant chainWendy's. The Frosty was among the first five items introduced on the Wendy's menu.[1]
Wendy's founderDave Thomas created the original "light chocolate" Frosty according to a recipe from Fred Kappus by combining chocolate and vanilla flavors, as he thought that a pure chocolate flavor would overwhelm the taste of the restaurant'shamburgers.[2] Thomas based the Frosty on themilkshakes he drank inDetroit as a youth, and created the Frosty to be thick enough to require a spoon to eat.[2] The consistency has been described as between that of a milkshake andsoft-serve ice cream.[1]
Over the years, Wendy's has occasionally introduced new Frosty flavor variations.[1]
In August 2006, a vanilla Frosty flavor was introduced after repeated customer requests.[3]
For both summer 2022 and summer 2023, the vanilla Frosty was temporarily replaced with a strawberry Frosty.[4]
In November 2022, Wendy's released the new peppermint Frosty for the holidays; this was the third new Frosty flavor released and temporarily replaced the vanilla Frosty.[5]
In September 2023, apumpkin spice Frosty was introduced.[5]
For winter 2024, the vanilla Frosty was reintroduced after having been continuously supplanted by other flavors for a two-year period. Wendy's generally swaps out the vanilla Frosty flavor whenever a specialty Frosty flavor is launched, while always keeping the original signature chocolate Frosty flavor available.[6]
For spring 2024, an orangedreamsicle Frosty was introduced.[5][7]
For summer 2024, a triple berry Frosty was introduced.[8]
In fall 2024, a "pineapple under the sea" Frosty was released in honor of the 25th anniversary ofSpongeBob SquarePants.[9] This was followed by a "salted caramel" frosty in November.[10]
In February 2025, Wendy's launched a new seasonal Frosty flavor namedThin Mints Frosty. It is a collaboration of Wendy's with Girl Scouts.[11]
On April 15, 2025, Wendy's introduced Frosty Swirls, where customers could choose to add caramel, strawberry, or brownie batter to their vanilla or chocolate Frosty. Less than a month later, on May 12, 2025, Wendy's introduced Frosty Fusions. Fusion flavors includedPop-Tarts Strawberry,Oreo Brownie, and Caramel Crunch. Each of these could top a chocolate or vanilla Frosty, at that point giving customers a total of 14 different Frosty options.[12]
Media related toWendy's Frosty at Wikimedia Commons