Coconut Milk Ice Cream Recipe

Image: The container bin of an ice cream maker filled with coconut milk vanilla-flavored ice cream.

Description: Looking for a quick, and easy dairy free ice cream? This simple coconut ice cream recipe is done in 30 minutes using a home ice cream maker, and comes out perfect and delicious every time!

Yield: makes 5 – 6 servings

Ingredients

• 2 cups canned Full Fat coconut milk

• 1/2 cup sugar (or sweetener of choice)

• 1/8 tsp salt

• 2 Tbsp pure vanilla extract

Equipment:

• Ice cream maker

• Blender or mixing bowl

Instructions

Add all ingredients to a blender and blend for a few seconds to quickly combine. Transfer the mixture to your ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer’s directions for your specific machine.

Either eat the ice cream straight from the machine or freeze a few hours for a firmer texture. While homemade ice cream is best the day it is made, you can technically keep it frozen for up to a few weeks and thaw before eating.

Notes:

Be sure to use either full-fat canned unsweetened coconut milk, or coconut cream (which has even higher fat content that canned coconut milk). Do not use lite coconut milk or any pre-mixed, thinner, refrigerated coconut milk beverage as these do not have enough fat content to create the smooth ice cream texture you expect from ice cream. You need the high-fat content for this recipe for the smoothest texture and best flavor. I have used Native Forest Classic Coconut Milk and 365 Brand Coconut Milk with great success.

I use this Cuisinart Ice Cream maker from Amazon that I purchased back in 2022 to make ice cream. As of this writing, it looks like this particular model is no longer offered, but any cheap ice cream maker on Amazon will work just fine.

I have only tried making ice cream using an ice cream maker. I have not tried any other alternative methods of ice cream making. If you have tried alternate methods, please leave a comment about which method you used and how that worked for you.