This vegan strawberry coconut milk ice cream is creamy, packed with strawberry flavor, and requires just 5 ingredients. Roasting the strawberries before mixing them into the coconut milk ice cream base ensures the perfect strawberry flavor.
I love strawberry ice cream, but it’s SO HARD to find one that has real stawberry flavor without feeling artificial or disappointing! So, I tested and came up with a recipe that I really love and now you can enjoy it, too. The key to great strawberry flavor? Roasting the strawberries first until they get nice and jammy and the flavors become more concentrated. Once the strawberries are roasted and cooled, they can be churned into the vegan ice cream base. Not only do they add gorgeous flavor, they give the ice cream a beautiful pink color! Once you try this vegan ice cream, make sure to check out these other flavors: blueberry peach crumble, toasted pecan and date caramel, and this dairy free honey sage.
Notes on Ingredients and Subs
Since the ingredient list is short, there’s not much wiggle room here with subs. While fresh strawberries will yield the best flavor, you can use thawed frozen strawberries here as well. Full fat canned coconut milk makes the bulk of the creamy ice cream base. I do NOT recommend subbing in a different milk or a lowfat version because you’ll have more of an icy texture than a creamy one. Adding just a tablespoon of vodka, rum, or any other alcohol helps prevent the formation of ice crystals (and thus an icy texture) so don’t skip it! You won’t taste the alcohol in the finished ice cream.
Tips for Timing
Since the dairy free ice cream base needs to heated then fully chilled and the strawberries need to be roasted then fully chilled before being churned, I highly recommend doing both of these things the day before you’d like to enjoy the ice cream. It takes roughly 35 minutes to roast the strawberries and 5-10 minutes to make the ice cream base. Both are completely fine if left to chill in the fridge overnight! Once you churn the ice cream, it will be a soft serve consistency so I recommend chilling it in the freezer for an additional 2-4 hours to firm up.
Don’t Have an Ice Cream Maker?
Obviously the only drawback to this recipe is that you have to own an ice cream maker. If you don’t have one, you can certainly freeze the ice cream base into popsicles! Here’s a method that uses a loaf pan in case you don’t have actual popsicle molds.
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Vegan Strawberry Coconut Milk Ice Cream
- Total Time: 7-8 hours (includes freezing time)
- Yield: about 1.25 quarts 1x
- Diet: Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Vegan
Description
This vegan strawberry coconut milk ice cream is creamy, packed with strawberry flavor, and requires just 5 ingredients. Roasting the strawberries before mixing them into the coconut milk ice cream base ensures the perfect strawberry flavor.
Ingredients
- 1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved
- 1 tablespoon + 1/2 cup cane sugar, divided
- 2 cans (13.5 oz) full fat coconut milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon plain vodka, or rum
Instructions
The night before you’d like to make your ice cream, you’ll create your ice cream base and roast your strawberries. For the strawberries, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Add your hulled and halved strawberries to a baking dish and toss them with 1 tbsp of the cane sugar. Roast them at 375 until they are softened and their juices are starting to thicken in the pan, about 35 minutes. Put the roasted strawberries in a container, making sure to scrape in every last bit of the syrup. Chill the strawberries in the fridge until you’re ready to make your ice cream.
For the ice cream base, add the contents of the cans of coconut milk to a pot along with 1/2 cup of the sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil, whisking every minute or so to encourage the sugar to dissolve. Once the mixture boils and the sugar has fully dissolved, remove it from the heat. Stir in the vanilla extract and the plain vodka or rum. This is your ice cream base! Put this in a container and place it in the fridge to chill at least 6 hours or overnight.
The day you’d like to make your ice cream, you’ll add the chilled ice cream base to your ice cream maker and process it according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Once your ice cream begins to gain a bit of volume and thicken (this took about 10 minutes with mine), you’ll add the roasted strawberries. When your ice cream is ready (it will be closer to a soft serve consistency straight from the machine), you can either enjoy it then, or place it in an airtight container in the freezer to fully solidify. This will take from 2-4 hours depending on the container.
For the best scooping consistency, let the ice cream sit out at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before scooping and serving.
The ice cream is best is enjoyed within 1-2 weeks.
Notes
- The vodka/rum listed with the ice cream base helps to create a smoother texture with less ice crystals as the ice cream freezes. It does not affect the flavor in any way. If you don’t have vodka or rum, any plain alcohol will work.
- If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can make this into popsicles. Once the ice cream base and strawberries have cooled off, you can mix them together and place them into popsicle molds. Or, use this tutorial if you don’t have molds.
- I recommend enjoying keeping the ice cream in an airtight container to prevent freezer burn.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Dessert
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