The strawberry fields opened up near our house, and guess what we did! We went strawberry picking! Oh yes! With what was leftover after making several batches of strawberry jam and strawberry syrup for our pancakes, we made fresh strawberry ice-cream. Strawberry ice-cream during strawberry season is the best! This dairy free vegan recipe is not only delicious and soft, but easy to make! Absolutely amazing!
I packed up the kids and headed to the fields. It sounds like a big deal, but really it’s down the street and no actual “packing” is involved. You just roll up in your car. They give you the buckets to put your berries in, and they even bag up your berries when you are done. Most people prefer to bring their own large plastic containers to bring the berries home in, because the result of several pounds of strawberries pushing down on each other can result in strawberry mush when you get home.
I was glad to have some remaining berries after all the batches of preserved goods, because I found a perfect recipe from the copy of my Great Grandmother’s cookbook: The Household Searchlight Recipe Book. I have done some research in the past on how to make vegan ice-cream, considering two of us are Lactose intolerant. Ice-cream, as wonderfully perfect as it is, does numbers to my digestive system. I typically buy coconut ice-cream from the store, and it is really difficult to tell the difference. The only noticeable difference is that store-bought coconut ice-cream can have a tendency to be harder. I typically leave it on the counter for 5-10 minutes before scooping.
This is not the case with this recipe! I was shocked. All the recipes I found online had many comments and reviews stating that the ice-cream was hard, had chucks of ice or it was a slushy consistency. Eck! I will pass on that one!
I was unsure at first how it would go, but it was super easy. Toss the ingredients in your kitchen aid ice-cream maker and you are good to go!
I stored the ice-cream in the freezer over-night, and the next day it was still soft and scoop-able. Then… the next day when we finished this batch off… just as soft! Weather you decide to go with the vegan version or use regular milk & cream, you will love this recipe.
- 2 cups strawberries
- 1 1/2 cups full fat original canned coconut milk
- 1 cup light canned coconut milk
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- Remove stems from strawberries and finely chop. Place strawberries in a large bowl and stir in sugar. Let stand for 1/2 hour, stirring frequently until sugar is dissolved.
- Add coconut milks (or optional milk and cream). Using the ice-cream attachment for your stand-mixer according to manufacturer directions, process mixture for 30 minutes. Pour into a loaf pan, or other desired container. Cover tightly with plastic wrap or the lid to your container. Freeze overnight or several hours until mixture is frozen through. Enjoy!
- This recipe makes 1 quart of ice-cream.
- You can substitute the full fat canned coconut milk for: 1 cup of milk and 1 1/2 cups thin cream
81 Responses
This was a hit with everyone! Normally very particular kids about their ice cream were begging to have some more of this and give up their normal dairy ice cream. I used a full can of full fat coconut milk and a full can of light coconut milk (both at room temperature so that the fat would be fluid, easily incorporated and not chunky). I put the coconut milk, 1 tsp of vanilla, 1/2 c. unrefined cane sugar, and a little over 2 cups frozen strawberries into our ninja blender. It took a bit to blend everything together. We don’t have an ice cream mixer so I poured all of the liquid into a disposable casserole pan and put it in the freezer. I wanted a large surface area to freeze quickly but the disposable pan allowed me to bend it and break off the pieces of the the ice cream after it was frozen. I put the frozen chunks back into the ninja blender and blended things all together, mixing and moving things around as needed to blend everything together. I had to work fairly quickly since it was starting to melt a bit outside of the freezer. After blending it all together it resembled a cross between sorbet and slightly melted ice cream (just like the picture at the beginning of this blog). The first time I made this I put all of the ice cream into a plastic container with a lid and put it back in the freezer for a little while to help re-freeze things since I took a little while to get things blended. It came out beautifully – just like ice cream should.
The taste was sweet – but not overpowering. I love to taste the strawberries with just a hint of sweetness. The texture was creamy and there were no chunks of fat. There was an occasional tiny chunk of frozen strawberry but we all loved that. My sister wanted the recipe to make it at home the next day.
We had some left over ice cream that we put in the freezer. the next day the ice cream was extremely hard but after removing the lid and putting the whole thing in the microwave for 10 -15 seconds it softened up and was just like the night before when we had served it fresh. Very happy with this ice cream.
I’ve also used this recipe, with regular white cane sugar, to make ice cream in a bag with 7th grade kids that are lactose intolerant – This recipe is always a big hit.
This ice-cream is so easy to make, and delicious! Perfect for summer time!
I bought a Kitchen Aid with ice-cream attachment at Christmas and have been experimenting a bit to find a good dairy-free ice-cream. This is by far the best result! I did make a couple of additions and as I haven’t made it without them I’m not sure if they are improvement – just know that the final result was delicious! I read that you should always add a pinch of salt to sweet dishes to bring out the flavour and that all ice-cream bases should have vanilla so I added a teaspoon of essence. I also reduced the sugar to just less than a cup and it was perfect. When I have used sugar replacements in other recipes the texture hasn’t been as smooth.
Great recipe! The vegan ice cream was delicious and I will definitely make it again. Much better than any of the non dairy ice cream I’ve purchased at the market.
This looks so good! Does the coconut flavor come through much?
I cant believe this is vegan…wonder how the coconut taste works with strawberry.
What would you use as an alternative for the sugar could you use coconut sugar
Oh my goodness– this was wonderful!!! 1 can full fat coconut milk, about 2 Tbls cashew kefir for probiotics, and almond milk to make up the rest of the liquid (total 2.5 c. milk.) I only used 1/4 c. sugar and about 4 drops stevia liquid. Our strawberries were super sweet naturally which helped. I blended it all in the Vitamix and poured it into our Cuisinart ice cream maker. It was soft but scoopable in about 20 min. Everyone loved it– vegan teen and dairy-free friend, vegetarian husband, and “flexitarian” teen and mom. Easy, healthy, probiotic with a little kefir and super good! Thank you!
We made this last night, and it was delicious! For anyone who has had the Trader Joe’s strawberry coconut ice cream, thats what it tasted like but even better. I didn’t want to use granulated sugar, so we blended 6 medjool dates in with the strawberries. Next we added a can of the Thrive Market extra thick coconut cream (there is a tiny bit of milk in it). I realized i didn’t have any of the light coconut milk, so i did a cup of cashew milk. Voila! YUM!
What sugar do you use for this recipe please?
I used half the sugar. And added sweetened coconut shavings. Yum!!!! Although I don’t think it need even 3/4 cup of sugar. Next time I’ll only add 1/4 cup or none at all. 🙂
So yummy though!!! Cost me $7.45 to make a gallon. Win! Dairy free ice cream in stores is SO pricey!!
can you use coconut milk that was frozen and then thawed to make this? I’m not terribly familiar with coconut milk. I also had coconut fat chunks i the ice cream – plan to run the coconut milk through my blender first, let the bubbles subside and then go from there.
🙁 coconut fat is very saturated.
Coconut fat is a healthy fat. You can use frozen bananas as a healthier alternative
medium chain saturated fat (like that in coconut) is one of the best fats for your body.
Tried it first with fresh strawberries and it was wonderful. Tried again with frozen raspberries and puréed them after adding the sugar so the mixture was runny and the ice cream came out more like sorbet. Should I Have thawed the raspberries first before adding the sugar?
Any thoughts?
Sounds good! Do you think I can make this in a electric ice cream maker?
I do not have a kitchen aid, would I be able to just blend the ingredients in a blender or food processor?
It would taste fine, but it won’t be light and scoop-able ice-cream. The purpose of the ice-cream maker attachment, is that it freezes slowly. Without this step, it will turn into a block of ice.
Hi! Do you recomend any other sweetner for it to be sugar free?
wow,will try it when i buy an ice cream maker.
I made this what a waste of money. Of all the things I have made on pinterest this by far was the worst. Sorry.
I agree! It tastes awful… I will not make again..
Love the recipe and how easy it is! I never knew making from scratch ice cream could be this fun ?. A tip however is don’t refrigerate the coconut milk before adding it. I tried this an ended up with frozen chunks of coconut cream! Bad idea. But cannot wait to try the finished product!!!
I did not refrigerate my coconut milk and still ended up with frozen chunks of coconut cream…?
I didn’t know how to comment on here so I used the reply button. I was wondering if these two (milks are what you are talking about? here is a link maybe you can give me some links to what you use? http://amzn.to/1LT0p2B and http://amzn.to/1SpFyDp please tell I would like to make this! I miss icecream sooo much!
instead of strawberries do you think i could substitute for another fruit?
White sugar??? Let’s not use white sugar, haa…that’s an insult to the strawberries and the whole healthy approach 🙂 How about replacing sugar with dates. I recommend adding a half of the juice of fresh lemon, yum… Thank you for the inspiration!
What a great idea KD! Lately, we are trying to cut back on sugar… and I love this idea! What are your thoughts on coconut sugar?
Yes, I agree, changing up the sugar for a healthier recipe would be great! What about coconut sugar, or aguava?
That’s what I do–except a whole lemon juiced!! Adds SO much!
Also, the dates give it a better trxture, I’m told.
My son is a strict vegan and also does not consume any sugar or flour. Can I substitute agave for the sugar?
I think so, but I’m not positive. If you try it and it works nicely, let me know! I would love to share it with everyone!
I use pure, unrefined honey as my sweetener in just about everything but I’m not sure about ice cream. Any one have any input.
There are vegan sugars available on the market. The only reason sugar isn’t vegan is that conventional sugar is processed with animal bone char. If you want to, you can substitute coconut sugar or a natural cane sugar.
On Peta they have great substitutes for sugar.. I bake a ton and you can order them online (amazon ) or fine at grocery store
Please be careful about agave, a lot of brands use corn syrup
.
You may want to cut down on agave, it is sweeter than sugar.or could use coconut nectar which is less sweet.
What is the fat content of this strawberry coconut ice cream?
My Girl is allergic to coconut, what can I use instead of that?
Pretty sure you could try cashews! YUM!!! With cashew or almond milk, blend them together. I’m going to try it! ?
You can use a vegan coffee creamer. I’ve heard that if you properly incorporate arrowroot powder (mix it in cold then pour it into ingredients on stove) that it reduces ice crystal formation. U could use regular cream if you don’t care if it is dairy. I tried using cashews. But you can’t just use cashews. As it gets too thick I find. And when you add a liquid you might get more ice crystals depending on the fat content of what your usin. )why using low fat milk is not as nice as using cream. It’s like slush). You could. Just purée strawberries and milk and sweetener of choice in blender (add some vanilla though… You’ll thank me). And t tastes just like a strawberry milk shake from McDonald’s.
HI!,
We had a bit of a disaster making this, not because of the recipe but because of our ice cream maker attachment and we had to save the batter, wash out the ice cream maker bowl and re-freeze it, do you think it’s okay to leave the batter mixture (which tastes delicious BTW!) in the refrigerator over night while the bowl refreezes? Thanks!!
Kristin
I don’t see why not! Should be fine! Let me know how it goes!!
THIS WAS SOOOOOOOO DELICIOUS!! Thank you so much for posting this! Chilling it overnight worked wonders and made it mix into ice cream in about 15 minutes as opposed to 30. Also, Amazon sells res-usable ice cream tubs if anyone is interested. Thank you again! 😀
Oh good! I’m glad you loved it 😀 I’m also glad everything was ok after chilling overnight. 😀
Here is a link to the Amazon Ice-Cream tubs!
This VEGAN ICE CREAM was delicious!!! It was a little sweet for me though…would it be a big deal to leave out some sugar?
Thank you Priscilla! I thought it was great too! I’m not sure, about leaving out some of the sugar. I have never tried it. I read once that the sugar is what helps the ice-cream stay soft and scoop-able. If you try it, let me know!
This recipe looks amazing! I was wondering if I could use my regular kitchen aid hand mixer? Would that work? Also wondering if I could use my nutri-bullet blender for this. Me and my sister would really love to try this recipe.Thx
I don’t think a hand mixer would work. For this recipe I used the ice-cream maker attachment to my kitchen aid. It freezes the ice-cream while it mixes to make a light scoop-able ice-cream.
Okay ,thank you. 🙂
I’m not sure what people are reading, who are insisting that this isn’t vegan, but it’s made solely with coconut milk. She merely OFFERS a dairy version for folks who might want or prefer that. Good lord, people, lol. Nit-picking and being completely wrong at the same time.
Probably because of the sugar. Sugar is made white by using animal bone char. You can’t call it vegan then, unless its made with another type of sugar, not white.
White sugar is not vegan. It is processed with bone char. Educate yourself, Google it. You are welcomed
Actually there are many certified vegan white sugar in stores. Educate yourself…
Can I substitute frozen strawberries for fresh ones, since I have some already?
Hey! I tried this recipe last night but sadly it looks and tastes like frozen strawberries although I followed the instructions exactly. Any suggestions
Oh no! I’m sorry this didn’t’ go well Melanie. I’ve read that the amount of sugar you use, determines the softness of the ice-cream that and using the FULL Fat coconut milk. Lately I’ve been using Thai Kitchen Organic Coconut Milk
. Hope that helps!
Suggestions for making this without a Kitchen Aid. I don’t own a stand mixer, but I do own a Bosch mixer, but no ice cream paddles. Thanks!
This will be a delictable treat for me! Thanks for sharing this …
You’re welcome! I hope you LOVE it!!
I’m trying to give up sugar. But this looks so good. May have to try it.
Try dates. They have almost completely replaced sugar in my kitchen and I don’t think I could tell the difference in a taste test.
Really? I have some dates, I should give it a try!
Hi Anna, what quantity of dates would you use with the measurements above so as not to be too sweet?
This sounds really good but my granddaughter is allergic to milk. I would have to use soy milk. Do you think I would use same portions?
This recipe calls for coconut milk, which is dairy free. I am not sure how soy milk would work. I’ve never tried it. I know that almond milk doesn’t freeze well. It doesn’t have enough fat in it.
I don’t have an ice cream attachment. I have an old stand mixer with regular beaters and bread dough beaters. What do I have to do different?
You can combine all the ingredients and freeze it in the freezer, however you won’t get quite the same constancy you would get from using the ice cream attachment.
This sounds wonderful, I will try it. But to call this recipe vegan, no dairy milk or cream can be used. I wonder if it will turn out well if I use only low fat coconut milk? Will it change the consistency? And ice cream is not correct…maybe strawberry-coconut frozen dessert.
I would try blending it in your blender and then place in the freezer. I would then after an hour or 2 throw it back in the blender and back to the freezer and repeat maybe 1 more time.
If you don’t have an ice cream mixer, it’s a bit more faff to get a good consistency, but worth it. Simply take the mixture out of the freezer every half hour – 45 mins and whip it up again, then put back in the freezer. Do this about 4/5 times and then leave for an hour or so, and hey presto icecream maker esq icecream.
This ice cream looks delicious!
It WAS delicious 😀