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Delicious and easy 3-ingredient Vegan Ice Cream made in less than 30 minutes! Enjoy this dairy-free and vegan take on traditional ice cream with this plant-based ice cream recipe using just coconut cream, sugar and vanilla. Add your favorite toppings for the ultimate summer treat!
Ice cream is just the best. Whether it’s a hot summer day or a cold winter night, I could eat ice cream all year round!
Today, I’m going to show you how to make the easiest homemade ice cream of all time – 3-ingredient Vegan Ice Cream.
Sound too good to be true? It’s not! If you haven’t tried coconut cream ice cream yet, you’re about to fall in love. This simple dessert will satisfy those ice cream cravings with no dairy ingredients!
What is Vegan Ice Cream?
Vegan ice cream recipes can be made several ways – ‘nice’ cream made with a base of frozen bananas, using soaked cashews as the base or with full-fat coconut milk or coconut cream. My absolute favorite way to enjoy nondairy ice cream is using a base of canned coconut cream that has been refrigerated. Coconut cream has a higher fat content than regular coconut milk, and the more fat content in the ice cream, the creamier and more delicious it will be.
This vegan ice cream recipe uses one full can of coconut cream (the thick white part and the liquid) and then only the thick white part from a second can. It’s blended in a high-speed blender along with sugar and vanilla, and then whipped in an ice cream machine for just about 15 minutes to create a thick, smooth, soft-serve-like ice cream.
If you’re a fan of normal ice cream texture rather than soft-serve, you can simply freeze the vegan ice cream in a loaf pan!
Ingredients:
When I say three ingredients, I mean just THREE simple ingredients. Plus, any favorite toppings you might want to add. All you’ll need is:
- Canned coconut cream. the base of this vegan ice cream. Make sure to use coconut cream, not a low fat or light coconut milk. We want full fat for a super creamy treat!
- Sugar. I use granulated sugar to sweeten the ice cream, but you could also use brown sugar, honey, or a sugar substitute.
- Vanilla. vanilla bean paste gives the ice cream a rich vanilla flavor while also adding little specks of vanilla bean. However, if you don’t have vanilla bean paste, you can substitute with 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract.
How to Make Vegan Ice Cream:
This dairy-free ice cream recipe is incredibly simple to whip up. Grab your blender, ice cream maker and coconut cream, and let’s go!
- Freeze base of ice cream maker. If your ice cream maker requires a pre-frozen base, make sure to put it in the freezer 24 hours before you plan to make this recipe.
- Blend ingredients. Add coconut cream, sugar, and vanilla to a high-speed blender and blend until smooth, about 30-45 seconds.
- Churn ice cream. Transfer the mixture to the ice cream machine and churn. In my ice cream maker, it took 15 minutes to churn to a thick, smooth ice cream.
- Serve & enjoy! Serve immediately as soft serve or transfer to a loaf pan and wrap in plastic wrap. Freeze for at least four hours and then scoop and serve.
Tasty Toppings:
We love this coconut cream ice cream recipe straight out of the ice cream maker, but feel free to add fun toppings. Here are some delicious options:
- Homemade granola
- Mini chocolate chips
- Shredded coconut
- Fresh berries
- Chopped nuts
- Sprinkles
- A drizzle of nut butter or chocolate sauce
Serving & Storing Recommendations:
Store the ice cream in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. I recommend storing the ice cream tightly covered or you can wrap the loaf pan in plastic wrap to keep it fresh and avoid freezer burn.
Vegan ice cream can get pretty hard after being frozen. You will probably want to allow the ice cream to thaw 10-15 minutes before serving. You can serve scoops of it in a bowl, in cones, or as part of an ice cream sundae or milkshake.
As usual, please let me know if you end up making this recipe and how you like it. You can come back here to leave a comment or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram @foodwithfeeling! I always love to see what y’all are making from the blog!
More frozen treats to try:
- Healthy Ice Cream Pie
- Chocolate Peanut Butter ‘Nice’ Cream
- Blackberry Ice Cream
- Margarita Popsicles
- Kiwi Watermelon Popsicles
- Strawberry Milkshake
- Cotton Candy Ice Cream
Vegan Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 2 15-ounce cans full fat coconut cream, chilled (see notes)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste*
Instructions
- If your ice cream maker requires a pre-frozen base, make sure to put it in the freezer 24 hours before you plan to make this recipe.
- Add one whole can of coconut milk, the cream from the top of the second can (but not the liquid), granulated sugar, and vanilla bean paste to a high speed blender and blend until smooth– about 30-45 seconds.
- Transfer the mixture to ice cream machine and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions (or until your desired consistency). In my ice cream maker, it took 15 minutes to churn to a thick, smooth ice cream.
- Serve immediately as soft serve or transfer to a loaf pan and wrap in plastic wrap. Freeze for at least four hours and then scoop and serve.
- Store any leftover ice cream in an airtight container in the freezer for up to two weeks.
Notes
- Make sure to use coconut cream, not a low fat or light coconut milk. The more fat content in the ice cream, the creamier it will be! We use one full can of coconut cream (the thick white part and the liquid) and then only the thick white part from the second can. You can always save the liquid from the second can for smoothies!
- I used granulated sugar to sweeten the ice cream but you could also use brown sugar, honey, or a sugar substitute.
- Vanilla bean paste gives the ice cream a rich vanilla flavor while also adding little specks of vanilla bean. You can substitute the vanilla bean paste with 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract.
