This 5-ingredient Paleo ice cream only takes 5 minutes to prepare and hits the easy button on dairy-free ice cream! Dairy-free ice cream is $5 a pint and often has ingredients I don’t totally love (like cane sugar and unpronounceables). This one has ZERO refined sugar – and is only sweetened by honey. That was pretty dang exciting to me as a mom. No ice cream maker required, though you can use it to get faster results if you’ve got one. And this ice cream is creamier than most store bought dairy-free ice creams I’ve tried so far (which is a lot). You’re going to love this one!
Paleo Chocolate or Vanilla Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1 cup coconut cream **see note below
- 1/2 cup almond or other dairy-free milk*
- 1/4-1/2 cup honey 1/4 cup for vanilla, 1/2 cup for chocolate
- 1/3 cup cocoa leave out for vanilla
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla*
Instructions
- In a blender, combine all ingredients except chocolate chips. (See notes on coconut cream). Blend at a low speed, as high speeds will over mix and make it chunky. If this happens, there is no going back, so easy does it. This liquid should be smooth and combined.
- Pour combined liquid into a freezer-friendly dish (if using ice cream maker, skip to below step). Sprinkle in chocolate chips, if using. Seal and freeze until firm, about 4-5 hours.
- If using ice cream maker, pour combined liquid instead into the ice cream maker and add chocolate chips. Turn on ice cream maker and mix for 25-30 minutes. This will result in a soft-serve texture, which we love! If you want something more firm, put in freezer for 30 minutes to firm it up.
- Serve right out of freezer and enjoy!
Notes
**Coconut cream must be used in the recipe, NOT just coconut milk. They sell cans of coconut cream in some natural food stores. You will need just one can of coconut cream. Make sure you use just the cream and not the liquid from the coconut cream can. I keep my coconut cream in the fridge, as the cream only separates from the liquid when it's cold.
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If you can't find coconut cream: take 2 cans full-fat canned coconut milk and place it in the fridge overnight. Remove from fridge and open, pouring out the liquid and keeping only the solid cream. And sadly, I have found a few brands that due to some kind of stabilizer (not sure which ingredient or fully why), it will never solidify in the fridge, so if that happens, it's not you ; ). I have had good consistent success with Thai Kitchen brand.
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VANILLA VARIATION: If there was a time to use real vanilla (I often use imitation for cost), THIS is it! It's also fantastic with Vanilla Nutpods instead of the almond milk.
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COOKIES AND CREAM VARIATION: Stir in 1 cup crushed GF/DF Oreos into vanilla ice cream batter after blending. (Do not blend with the batter in the blender, as it will turn into grey cookie puree!). I use Glutino brand cookies that I find at Walmart. Put in ice cream maker or freezer, same as with other flavors.
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If you can't find coconut cream: take 2 cans full-fat canned coconut milk and place it in the fridge overnight. Remove from fridge and open, pouring out the liquid and keeping only the solid cream. And sadly, I have found a few brands that due to some kind of stabilizer (not sure which ingredient or fully why), it will never solidify in the fridge, so if that happens, it's not you ; ). I have had good consistent success with Thai Kitchen brand.
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VANILLA VARIATION: If there was a time to use real vanilla (I often use imitation for cost), THIS is it! It's also fantastic with Vanilla Nutpods instead of the almond milk.
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.COOKIES AND CREAM VARIATION: Stir in 1 cup crushed GF/DF Oreos into vanilla ice cream batter after blending. (Do not blend with the batter in the blender, as it will turn into grey cookie puree!). I use Glutino brand cookies that I find at Walmart. Put in ice cream maker or freezer, same as with other flavors.
Have you ever tried using some nutpod creamer? Could that replace the coconut cream? Thanks!!!
Nutpods are great instead of the almond milk but don’t have enough thickness to them to swap for the coconut cream. Hope that helps!
Just got an ice cream maker for prime day and I’m so excited to try this! Can you sub maple syrup or another sweetener for honey?
Good question. YES, you can use maple syrup instead, it just will leave a more noticable flavor (i.e. your vanilla ice cream will taste a bit like maple syrup). Enjoy that ice cream maker!
My 14yo son and I made this tonight with our new ice cream maker and it was fabulous! We made the vanilla recipe, substituting strawberry extract for the vanilla and adding in frozen strawberries. Everyone, including our non-dairy free family members, loved it.
Sounds delicious and I adore that your son made it. So glad it was a family win, thank you!
Do you have an ice cream maker that you recommend?
Yes! I love my Cuisinart one – so easy! Not sure if links work in comments, but here’s the link https://amzn.to/2Z4SAQx
My husband is dairy free and I’m an ice cream lover, so this fits the bill for both of us! I bought the ice cream maker just for this recipe and I’m not sorry! 🙂
Wahoo that this is a new favorite and worth the ice cream maker! Thank you!
Love the ease of this recipe. I made the vanilla and it was a great consistency!
So happy you enjoyed it and YES to the creamy consistency of this! Thank you!
I’ve made this several times now, adding in different fruit depending on what we have! We just use full fat coconut milk (not the cream) in place of almond milk because of my wife’s allergy and it comes out perfect. 🙂
I’m so happy this one has been a win for your family! Thank you!
Excited to try this during my Food Freedom! Do you prefer a certain kind of cocoa? You’re talking about cocoa powder correct? Thanks!
Correct, cocoa powder, and any kind from Hershey’s to 100% cacao is great – whatever is accessible to you! We usually just use the Hershey’s or store brand of cocoa powder. Hope it’s a new easy favorite!
I made this tonight with agave nectar instead of honey and it turned out amazing! I made the vanilla. So easy and with minimal ingredients – I will be making this again!
I’m so happy you enjoyed this easy recipe and thank you for letting us know the agave worked!
I have made this recipe so many times and my family loves it! I am an ice cream fan and needed something healthier! I even got the ice cream maker for my birthday just so I could make this recipe! Chocolate is the favorite!
I love that you have made this often and even got an ice cream maker! Yay!
My family now has a little tradition of making this ice cream recipe every weekend. Sometimes we spice it up and add GF/DF Choco cookies too
I just LOVE that this has become part of a family tradition for you – that’s so sweet! And YES to doing all kinds of add-ins, it’s such a great base for so many options!
I love this! However, my boys do not. The ice cream has a strong coconut undertone. The good news – they leave my ice cream alone!
The variations are seriously endless!
Lol, glad you don’t have to share this one?! ; ) My boys did prefer at first the mint variation, as it hides the coconut flavor a bit more.
I made this with some vegan cookie dough in it 😆 this is the only dairy free ice cream my husband likes! So good
Oooh, cookie dough ice cream – great idea! So happy it was a win even for the hubby. Thank you!