This vegan strawberry ice cream is better than any other I've tasted, vegan or not. It's creamy, light, and refreshing, with irresistible juicy and sweet strawberry flavor.
Using fresh strawberry puree is what makes this ice cream so special, the flavor actually reminds me of strawberry Carte d'Or or Häagen Dazs!
If you only make one vegan ice cream recipe this summer, let this be the one!
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📖 Recipe Overview
- Packed With Real Strawberries - This ice cream is bursting with strawberry flavor. Fresh berries make a huge difference. I did originally try cooking down the strawberries to concentrate and intensify their flavor. However, the more "jammy" flavor was not right, so I quickly scrapped that idea!
- Creamy Scoopable Consistency - Made with coconut milk and vegan sweetened condensed milk, which gives a perfect scoopable texture without an overpowering coconut flavor. In fact, I can't taste coconut at all.
- Minimal Ingredients - You just need 7 ingredients, some of which you may already have in your pantry!
- Allergy-Friendly - Eggless, dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free, soy-free, and made without bananas!
If you're looking for refined sugar-free strawberry ice cream, try these vegan strawberry ice cream bars next.
🧾 Ingredients Needed
I've kept the ingredients minimal for this dairy-free strawberry ice cream. In fact, if you want to simplify the recipe even further, you can skip the strawberry syrup - just leave out the arrowroot and fresh lime!
Ingredients notes
- Fresh Strawberries - These are the way to go for this strawberry ice cream recipe. The quality of berries is important to get a good end result. The strawberry flavor is what stands out in this ice cream recipe, so the better quality berries you use, the more amazing your ice cream will be!
- Full-Fat Coconut Milk - This forms the creamy base of your vegan ice cream. You can also use coconut cream. Refrigerate the cans overnight to separate the cream from the liquid - the cream is the part you want. Don't worry, you can reserve the liquid and add it to smoothies, soup, stir-fries, or curries.
- Sweetened Condensed Coconut Milk - This replaces regular condensed coconut milk, typically used in ice cream recipes. It adds sweetness and creates a consistency that doesn’t get too solid once frozen (aka. easier to sink your teeth into straight from the freezer!).
- Vanilla Extract - Adds another layer of flavor that compliments the fresh strawberries, it also enhances their sweetness.
- Cane Sugar - The berries are macerated in sugar before being blended, which releases their juices. The remaining syrup is thickened and turned into a delicious strawberry sauce. You can sweeten the strawberry sauce with any sugar you like. Just note that brown sugar/coconut sugar will give it a darker appearance.
- Arrowroot powder - The thickening agent for the strawberry sauce. You can also use cornflour/cornstarch in its place.
🥣 How To Make Vegan Strawberry Ice Cream
Find the complete list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.
There are a couple of steps involved between making the fresh strawberry puree, strawberry syrup and ice cream base. But after that, your ice cream machine will do all the heavy lifting for you!
Here's how it's done:
Step 1: Macerate the berries. Wash and cut the tops from the strawberries. Cut them into small cubes and add them to a medium bowl. Sprinkle the sugar on top of the strawberries and give them a stir. Cover the bowl and let it sit for 20-30 minutes until the strawberries release their juices.
Step 2: Strain the juice. Place a fine-mesh sieve on top of a bowl and sift the strawberries, separating the syrup. Set the syrup aside for making the strawberry sauce later.
Step 3: Make strawberry puree. Add the cubed strawberry pieces to a food processor or blender, or use a stick blender to blitz them until smooth without lumps.
Step 4: Reduce the strawberry puree. Whisk the strawberry syrup, arrowroot, and lime juice in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Thicken whilst stirring, then remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.
Step 5: Whip the cream. Add the coconut cream or coconut milk to a large bowl and whisk for a few minutes until light and fluffy.
Step 6: Sweeten. Add in the vegan condensed milk and vanilla extract, and whisk for another minute to combine.
Step 7: Flavor. Slowly add the strawberry puree to the whipped ice cream base in about half-cup increments. Whisk between each one until all of the puree has been mixed through.
Step 8: Churn. Slowly add the mixture to your ice cream maker. Add it to the machine about a ¼ cup or a few tablespoons at a time (not all in one go). Churn according to the manufacturer's instructions, mine usually takes about 30-40 minutes.
Step 9: Transfer to a mold. Gently fold in half of the strawberry sauce using a spatula. Then transfer the ice cream mixture to a loaf pan.
Step 10: Top with syrup. Swirl the remaining strawberry sauce on top. Cover and freeze for a minimum of 2 hours.
🍓 Optional Variations
Here are some ideas to take your homemade ice cream to the next level:
- Berry Ice Cream - I reckon you could use this as a base recipe for many other berries such as raspberries or blackberries, or even a mixed-berryhttps://addictedtodates.com/vegan-chocolate-cookie-ice-cream/ version.
- Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream - Add some crushed golden oreos or vegan shortbread cookies to the mixture before churning.
- Vegan Neapolitan Ice Cream -Combine this strawberry ice cream with my vanilla ice cream and chocolate ice cream to remake the popular classic.
📝 Recipe Tips
Chill your coconut milk and use only the thick part from the top of the can. You want to avoid adding the watery part from the bottom of the can as this will result in an icy texture.
Allow the ice cream to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving. this makes the consistency perfect for scooping.
Use a hot ice cream scoop dipped in boiling water between each scoop.
💬 FAQs
This recipe uses an ice cream maker to get the best possible, creamy, and indulgent end result. Sometimes no-churn ice cream recipes can leave you with an icy mouthfeel - especially if they have a high fruit and water content. You can pick them up reasonably enough, you certainly don't need a top-of-the-range fancy ice cream machine!
You can use another vegan condensed milk such as sweetened condensed oat milk. As for the coconut cream, I haven't tried but you could possibly use a whipping oat cream or soy cream. A vegan custard may also work!
I don't recommend using frozen berries for this recipe as the berries need to be macerated in sugar to release syrup, and defrosted strawberries have a much higher water content.
Place it in an airtight container, making sure it's sealed. It will keep for a couple of months in an airtight container in the freezer.
🍨 More Vegan Ice Cream
Still, have more strawberries to use up? Check out this delicious roundup of 11 vegan strawberry dessert recipes!
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star ★★★★★ rating in the recipe card below and consider leaving a comment as well, thanks!
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📖 Recipe
Description
Ingredients
- 600 g (21.2 oz) fresh strawberries
- 50 g (¼ cup) granulated sugar
- 400 g (14.11 oz) coconut cream, or chilled full fat canned coconut milk *see notes
- 320 g (11.3 oz) sweetened condensed coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lime juice, freshly squeezed
- 2 teaspoons arrowroot powder, or cornflour/cornstarch
Instructions
Strawberry puree and strawberry sauce
- Wash and remove the tops from the strawberries. Cut them into small cubes and add them to a medium bowl. Sprinkle the sugar on top of the strawberries and give them a stir. Cover the bowl and let it sit for 20-30 minutes until the strawberries release their juices.
- Place a fine-mesh sieve on top of a bowl and sift the strawberries, separating the syrup. Set the syrup aside for making the strawberry sauce later. For the strawberry puree, add the cubed strawberry pieces to a food processor or blender, or use a stick blender to blitz them until smooth. Set the strawberry puree aside.
- Make the strawberry sauce by adding the reserved strawberry syrup to a saucepan along with the arrowroot and lime juice. Whisk well until there are no visible lumps of arrowroot in the mixture. Place on medium heat until simmering for a couple of minutes until the mixture thickens. Make sure you stir it continuously with a spatula to prevent the sauce from burning to the bottom of the pan. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
Ice cream
- Add the coconut cream/coconut milk to a large bowl and whisk with an electric whisk for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add in the sweetened condensed coconut milk and vanilla extract, and whisk for another minute to combine.
- Slowly add the strawberry puree to the whipped coconut mixture in half cup increments, whisking to combine between each one. Once all of the strawberry puree has been incorporated into the mixture, slowly add it to your ice cream maker. Add it to the machine about a ¼ cup or a few tablespoons at a time (not all in one go). Churn according to the manufacturer's instructions, mine usually takes about 30-40 minutes.
- Once churned, turn off the ice cream machine and gently fold in half of the strawberry sauce using a spatula. Transfer the ice cream mixture to a loaf pan and swirl the remaining strawberry sauce on top. Cover and freeze for a minimum of 2 hours.
- Remove the ice cream from the freezer about 15 minutes before serving to allow it to thaw slightly and use a hot wet ice cream scoop to serve.
Notes
- Canned coconut milk: Refrigerate overnight and use only the thick part from the top of the cans. Depending on the brand you use, you will need anywhere from 2-4 400ml cans. I find Biona and Nature's Charm yield the best volume of coconut cream per can.
Nutrition
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