Enjoy learning how to make homemade vegan ice cream with this easy recipe. It requires only 3 ingredients, a few minutes of your time and is no-churn!
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I, like most children, LOVED ice cream growing up. In fact, my whole family enjoyed ice cream most nights of the week.
To this day, I still love a hefty scoop of vegan ice cream. Unfortunately, non-dairy ice cream is harder to come by, especially here in Asia.
That's why I love to make my own homemade vegan ice cream!
There are so many ways you can make vegan ice cream at home. You can make healthier versions like my Vegan Banana Ice Cream Sandwiches or Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Banana Ice Cream Blizzards.
Or if you're feeling extra decadent you can make my amazing Vegan Ice Cream Cake with Oreo Crust or this 3 ingredient Vegan Ice Cream Recipe I'm sharing with you today!
How to Make Homemade Ice Cream
There are a few different methods for making ice cream at home. I'm sure many of you as a kid used the bag and salt method at some point. Or, if you have the space and budget, you can always buy an ice cream maker and churn your own ice cream at home.
However, there are also a couple no-churn methods for making ice cream at home.
- For a healthy, whole food version, you can always make banana ice cream or fruit sorbet by just processing frozen fruit in a food processor or high speed blender until smooth and creamy.
- For a richer, more authentic ice cream, you can use the method I'm sharing with you today. For this version you'll be folding together vegan sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract and whipped coconut cream to create a decadent, scoop-able vegan ice cream!
Ingredients for Homemade Vegan Ice Cream
This easy, 3 ingredient vegan ice cream recipe results in vanilla flavored ice cream. For the basic vegan vanilla ice cream base, all you need are the following ingredients:
- Vegan sweetened condensed milk
- Vanilla extract (the real stuff that contains alcohol!)
- Coconut cream (not milk!). I use the Kara brand of coconut cream. It works great!
Vegan Ice Cream Mix-In Ideas
Unless its really really good gelato, (I'm thinking of you Sottozero Factory in Malta!), then my vegan ice cream has to have mix-ins.
Below I'll share some ideas for things you can add to your vegan ice cream base to make it more exciting and textured.
Sometimes just one mix-in is all you need, but other times a combination of mix-ins is the winning ticket! You can always think of your favorite store-bought ice cream and try to create a version of that as well.
Mix-In Ideas for Vegan Ice Cream
- Vegan cookie dough
- Broken up Oreos (or any homemade cookies you have on hand!)
- Broken up dairy-free Reese's cups with peanut butter swirl
- Vegan caramel sauce
- Brownie pieces and chocolate fudge sauce
- Fresh fruit (raspberries, cherries, strawberries, etc.)
- Chopped-up candy bars
- Chopped up nuts (toasted would be amazing)
- Vegan marshmallow pieces and nuts for a rocky road flavor
- Crumbled up cake pieces
How to Make Vegan Ice Cream Without a Machine
If you're trying to make homemade vegan ice cream without a machine, you need to make sure you use vanilla extract that contains alcohol. Adding alcohol to the base of this ice cream raises it's freezing point, allowing the final produce to be non-icy, scoop-able, creamy vegan ice cream!
Step 1: Combine condensed milk and vanilla
To start you'll need to whisk together the vegan sweetened condensed milk and the vanilla extract.
Step 2: Make coconut whipped cream
In a separate bowl using a hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the chilled coconut cream until peaks form.
Step 3: Combine the condensed milk and coconut whipped cream
Next you'll loosely mix in about a cup of the whipped coconut cream to the vegan sweetened condensed milk mixture to loosen it up. Then pour the loosened condensed milk mixture into the bowl with the remaining whipped coconut cream and fold everything together until a semi-homogenous mixture forms.
Pro Tip: If you over-whip your coconut cream (like I've done a couple times!) it will be a lot stiffer and harder to fold evenly into the sweetened condensed milk mixture. Don't worry. You can still use it to make this vegan ice cream recipe and the final result will still be delicious!
You just won't have straight-out-of-the-freezer-scoop-able ice cream and the sweetened condensed milk mixture will melt quicker than the cream mixture.
Video Instructions
Video instructions for how to make vegan ice cream are in the recipe card below.
Just to note, unlike in the video, you'll want your base to be as smooth as possible before you freeze it.
Pro Tip: You'll also see that I immediately stir in the mix-ins before freezing the vegan ice cream base. However, I recommend freezing the ice cream base for about 2 hours before stirring in the mix-ins. This keeps heavier mix-ins from sinking to the bottom of the ice cream. It's not necessary, but just a tip!
Enjoy the video and be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you don't miss a recipe video!
Please let me know if you give this vegan ice cream recipe a try! I'd love to know how it works out for you and what mix-ins you include.
If you make this vegan ice cream recipe and love it as much as we do, be sure to leave a 5 star rating by clicking on the stars in the recipe card.
Be sure to share the recipe with your friends as well! And as always, be sure to take a picture and tag @theconscientiouseater on Instagram so I can see the final product!
📖 Recipe
The BEST Vegan Ice Cream Recipe
Ingredients
- 14 ounces Sweetened Condensed Coconut Milk* not evaporated milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract**
- 2 cups coconut cream, chilled 500 g
- Optional mix-ins: mini chocolate chips nut butter, caramel sauce, brownie pieces, crushed sandwich cookies, etc.
Instructions
- About 8 hours before you plan to make this ice cream, place the coconut cream into a container and place it in the fridge to chill.
- When you are ready to make the ice cream, start by whisking together the sweetened condensed coconut milk and vanilla extract (or whatever alcohol you're using) until combined. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer or a large bowl with a hand mixture, beat the chilled coconut cream until stiff peaks form. Take about 1 cups worth of the whipped cream and gently stir it into the condensed milk mixture until well blended. This will loosen up the condense milk mixture to make it easier to fold into the remaining whipped cream.
- Next pour the condensed milk mixture into the large mixing bowl with the remaining whipped coconut cream and use a spatula to fold everything together until as smooth as possible, without completely loosing the air in the whipped cream.
- Pour the mixture into a loaf pan (or another freezer-safe container) and place the pan in the freezer.
- Around the 2 hour mark, you can stir in any mix-ins you desire. Then return the ice cream to the freezer for about another 3 hours or until completely frozen.
- Remove the ice cream from the freezer about 5-10 minutes before serving. Scoop and enjoy!
Video
Notes
**It's important that you're vanilla extract contains alcohol and isn't just vanilla flavoring. You could actually use whatever alcohol you have on hand. Get creative with your flavor base!
Fanci says
I found a non dairy sweetened condensed cream and made it totally vegan! It’s wonderful, thanks for the recipe!
Faith VanderMolen says
So glad you found one you like. I hope you can try out this ice cream recipe!
Sophie says
Hi! When you say 14 oz, do you mean 14 fluid oz or 14 dry oz? Thanks so much! This is a stupid question, sorry for bothering.
Faith VanderMolen says
I used to buy a can of sweetened condensed milk that said 14 ounces on the can. I believe the brand I linked to in the recipe is now 11.25 ounces so I guess I'd have to use a scale and 1-2 cans of sweetened condensed milk. So, to answer you question, if you're using a food scale, measure out 14 fluid oz!
Alex says
I whipped the coconut cream for a really long time, however, it was still quite liquidy and thin. Decided to put it in the fridge anyway, and I'll see how it turns out in the morning.
Faith VanderMolen says
Different brands always seem to whip differently. I wonder if some of the coconut water got into the cream, thinning it out? I hope it turned out!
Rachel says
Hi
If I dont want to add any mix-ins into the ice cream do I still need to take it out of the freezer after 2 hrs and stir it?
Thanks 😊
Faith VanderMolen says
Hi Rachel! If you are able to stir the ice cream after 2 hours, it will make the ice cream creamier and easier to scoop in the end, but it's not absolutely necessary!
AP says
Would be great to have metric measurements. Grams, ml, etc, so I can get the ratios right! Aussie here. We do metric. Not ounces and all that.
Faith VanderMolen says
I hope to have that feature available in the future! I know how time consuming it is to try to convert measurements into different metrics. I hope you're still able to try out this recipe!
Sandy says
Hi, I’m about to make this with ice cream maker - I don’t need to whip anymore if I have to churn it or do I still have to? ♡
Faith VanderMolen says
Hmm. Good question Sandy! I've never used an ice cream maker for this recipe. The point of whipping the coconut cream is to make it nice and fluffy so that it turns into a soft, scoop-able ice cream after freezing. I'm wondering if an ice cream maker would deflate the whipped coconut cream as it spins? If you try it out, please let us know how it turns out!
If you end up whipping the coconut cream and going through all the steps, you could also just skip the ice cream maker and freeze the mixture in a tupperware as the recipe states. I don't think it'd take any extra time!
Jaime says
We are just changing to a vegan diet and have missed ice-cream. Found this recipe and tried making this icecream. I had a hard time getting stiff peaks with the cream. Completed mixing the ice-cream with soft peaks. When we went to eat it, it was so hard you couldn't scoop it. Flavor is good and will probably try it again to see if I can get it right. If I can get it right I think it will be a good substitute for dairy ice-cream.
Faith VanderMolen says
Hi Jaime! I'm sorry to hear you had issues with whipping the coconut cream and scooping out the ice cream. There are so many different brands and kinds of coconut cream, I'm sure there will be some trial and error to finding the right one. Did you scoop the coconut cream out of a can of coconut milk or buy specific coconut cream? I'm guessing the issue with getting the coconut cream nice and airy was what made the ice cream so hard. Did you also use vanilla extract that contained alcohol? That's important for lowering the freezing point of the ice cream and making it scoop-able! I hope you can make this recipe work!
Joan says
Can you use coco whip ( like cool whip) instead of coconut cream?
Faith VanderMolen says
That's a great question. I haven't tried it but I think that would work! Let us know if you try it out and how it goes:)
Fabi says
The sweetened condensed coconut milk is extremely thick. What implement do u use to whisk it together with the vanilla extract?
Faith VanderMolen says
I just used a whisk!
Danyell says
Do you use tube entire can of coconut cream liquid portion and all or just the hardened part that rises to the top.
Faith VanderMolen says
If possible, try to just use the coconut cream at the top of a can of coconut milk. If you can find a carton or can of just coconut cream then that should work too!
Joshua Howard says
Wow! Made it and it turned out perfect! The instructions were easy to follow! I think I'll make it again and again....Thank you for posting this!
Faith says
So glad you made and enjoyed this recipe Joshua! Isn’t it so easy? I hope you can have fun experimenting with different add-ins and flavors. Thanks for commenting and rating the recipe!