This Vegan Strawberry Ice Cream is naturally sweetened and dairy-free, and is just as satisfying as the traditional version. All you need is 4 simple ingredients to make it.
We’ve already covered coffee ice cream, pistachio ice cream, mint chocolate chip, and even avocado ice cream, so now it’s time for a strawberry version!
I imagine you could use any other fruit you love, too, such as mango, peaches, or raspberries.
Why You’ll Love It
- It’s vegan & Paleo friendly. Because this ice cream is made without milk or white sugar, it’s perfect for those following a special diet.
- No tree nuts required. The creaminess here comes from coconut milk, which is technically a drupe. I don’t think the coconut flavor is significant here, either. (My kids didn’t notice!)
- It’s naturally sweetened. Maple syrup is the perfect sweetener here, without adding a noticeable maple flavor. All you will taste is classic strawberry ice cream.
- It’s easy. Just blend 4 ingredients together, and run it through your ice cream maker. It will be ready to eat in less than 1 hour.
- It tastes like the real thing. Seriously! Coconut milk based ice cream usually turns out a little more “icy” in texture than one that is made with heavy cream, but flavor-wise this ice cream is perfect.
Want to make ice cream without an ice cream maker? Check out my instant Peach Ice Cream, which uses a food processor instead. You can swap the peaches for frozen strawberries, to make an instant strawberry version.
How to Make It
- Plan ahead. If your ice cream maker requires that you start with a frozen bowl, be sure to place it in the freezer at least 24 hours in advance. My ice cream bowl stays permanently stored in our freezer during the summer months!
- Blend. Add the strawberries, coconut milk, maple syrup, and vanilla to a blender, and blend until smooth.
- Process. Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker, and process until thick and creamy, about 30 to 35 minutes.
- Enjoy! Serve this ice cream right away for the creamiest texture, or transfer to an airtight container and store it in the freezer for a more firm ice cream.
Note: This vegan ice cream is the most “scoop-able” within 2 to 4 hours of freezing. After that, it will develop a harder, icier texture. It’s still delicious, just a little more crumbly to scoop. Let it thaw on your counter for 10 to 15 minutes if you freeze it overnight, to help it soften up a bit.
No Ice Cream Maker? You can also simply pour this mixture into an airtight container and freeze until firm, stirring about every hour or so, to help incorporate air, the way an ice cream maker does.
The resulting ice cream is usually slightly icier, but totally delicious.
Tips for Making the Best Vegan Ice Cream
- Make “less-icy” ice cream. Chill the cans of coconut milk in the fridge, and use only the solid cream from the can of coconut milk. You can reserve the liquid to use in a smoothie recipe later. I rarely have the patience to plan ahead for this step, so I just use the whole can and I still think it turns out great! In this case, your blended mixture will be thicker.
- Use fresh or frozen fruit. Frozen berries tend to be more affordable and are already prepared for you– no slicing required! I use frozen strawberries here, but you can use fresh if you have them on hand. It may take slightly longer to process the ice cream in that case.
- Don’t use “lite” coconut milk. The fat from the coconut milk is what provides the creaminess here, so using lower-fat coconut milk will result in a more-icy texture.
- Make it even creamier. You can add raw cashews to this recipe to make it even creamier. I’d start with just a 1/2 cup, but you can add a full cup for even creamier results.
I hope you’ll love this vegan strawberry ice cream as much as we do! For an extra-decadent treat, try topping it with Peanut Butter Magic Shell, for an ice sundae that tastes like a PB&J.
Vegan Strawberry Ice Cream
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound strawberries (fresh or frozen)
- 1 (14.5 oz) can full-fat coconut millk
- 1/2 cup maple syrup (155 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5 grams)
Instructions
- Be sure to freeze the bowl of your ice cream maker at least 24 hours in advance, if your ice cream maker requires it. In a blender, combine the strawberries, coconut milk, maple syrup, and vanilla. Blend until very smooth.
- Pour the mixture into the frozen bowl of your ice cream machine, then process until thick and creamy, about 30 to 35 minutes.
- Once the strawberry ice cream is thick, it's ready to serve right away. You can store the leftovers in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. It will become harder to scoop when you freeze it overnight, but it will soften if you let it sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes first.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
If you try this Vegan Strawberry Ice Cream, please leave a comment below letting me know how you like it. And if you make any modifications, I’d love to hear about those, too.
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Reader Feedback: Which ice cream flavor would you like to see next?
This ice cream is SO DELICIOUS!!! So great to know you can have healthy ice cream in 30 min! Thank you !!!
This was the best dairy free ice cream I’ve had/made yet! I was very impressed. Thanks for this; I’ve been craving ice cream for a while! I hope you come out with a vanilla version too with cashews 🙂 thanks !
So yummy! And so glad I found an alternative to dairy because the older I get, the less I can tolerate it. I LOVE ice- cream so this is awesome!
Bought the ice cream maker on Friday made the coffee ice cream on Saturday and this recipe on Sunday (used black sweet cherries since I had those in the freezer). Both recipes were simple to make and delicious. Thank you for being a food chemist. Love everything you do!
My three year old and I really enjoyed making and eating this ice cream! We used strawberries from the local farm and it turned out so good! I was wondering if we could follow the same recipe but sub in other fruit? Like frozen mango or other berries?
My new favorite treat!!! I haven’t had ice cream in years! Finally, I can enjoy this delicious treat!!!
If I add the cashews, do you soak first?
In the ‘prep” time it says “Cook Time: 30 minutes”, but in all the previous information, there is nothing said about COOKING the mixture. it says once it’s thick it can be served right away. Should the mixture be cooked then cooled, then churned? then frozen?
I find the directions quite confusing. But the recipe looks great.
Definitely no cooking required for this recipe! The 30 minutes is for processing the mixture, so you know how long to expect this recipe to take before eating it. Hope you enjoy!
So the flavor is phenomenal. I must not know how to make ice cream though, LOL! I bought the cuisinart ice cream maker because I wanted to try your vegan ice creams. This was the first one I made. I put the freezer container in the freezer for well over 24 hours before I used it. I ran the machine with all of the blended ingredients for about an hour or so. But it never turned into anything more than soup. I will keep trying. Just wondering if there is some tips or tricks I am missing to using the machine.
My guess is that your mixing blade was in upside down and it wasn’t actually mixing, check the manual for how it should look.
Do you have to have an ice cream maker or can you just use a blender or Nutra bullet?
I had the same problem (different recipe though) the first time I used that ice cream maker! We had to get a thermometer and turn our freezer temperature way down until it got to 0 degrees so the bowl would be cold enough. Now it works!
This recipe is the most perfect summer treat!!!!! How can four ingredients taste so good?!?? My family of five devoured it! Absolute staple in our house from this point forward! Thank you!!!!!
Can I use freeze dried strawberry powder to sun fresh strawberries?
This recipe is soooo easy and it tastes sooooo good!!! I’m going to try it with peaches next!! Since I had to switch to dairy-free, I’m excited to find recipes like this! Store-bought dairy-free ice cream is expensive!!
One tip I have used to make the ice cream easy to scoop is to add 1 tablespoon of Vodka to the mixture in the ice cream maker. It doesn’t change the flavor at all but it keeps high water content plant-based milks from freezing so hard. It works for any kind of ice cream in my experience.
This recipe was great, I also added a bit of strawberry vegan protein powder and the flavor really popped.
My only question is- What can I do to prevent graininess from coconut milk. I buy these cans of full fat coconut milk from Costco and it doesn’t have any additives. It still caused graininess even at room remember. Any tips?
Thank you so much