Vegan Vanilla Ice Cream (Churn or No Churn)

This is the best Vegan Vanilla Ice Cream recipe! It’s made with 5 easy ingredients and always tastes delightfully rich and creamy. Make it with or without an ice cream maker!

A slice of vegan chocolate cake just isn’t complete without a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Now the two can always be together thanks to this easy Vegan Vanilla Ice Cream recipe! It can be made with or without an ice cream maker and is just as creamy and rich as real dairy ice cream.

Besides vegan chocolate ice cream, having a batch of vanilla dairy free ice cream ready to eat in your freezer is a must at all times. Not only does it make for the ultimate dessert, but it’s also:

• Rich and decadent
• Just as creamy as real dairy ice cream
• Easy to customize with mix-ins, from fresh strawberries to cookie pieces
• Easy to make using the churn or no-churn method

The creamy coconut cream base and a touch of almond extract spruce up this homemade vanilla ice cream. Every spoonful (or lick of the ice cream cone) is almost elegant in a way and slightly nutty. Bonus: you don’t even taste the coconut!

Jump to:

• Ingredients and substitutions
• How to make vegan vanilla ice cream
• Adding mix-ins to homemade ice cream
• Tips for success
• Looking for more vegan desserts?
• Vegan Vanilla Ice Cream (Churn or No Churn)

Ingredients and substitutions

The 5 ingredients in this non-dairy vanilla ice cream are simple, easy to find, and budget-friendly. Here’s what you need:

• Coconut cream - Coconut milk will not work for this recipe. Instead, buy a few cans of coconut cream or use the creamy white part at the top of the can of coconut milk. Coconut cream will give the non-dairy ice cream a rich, creamy, and smooth texture without contributing to the flavor. 
• Dark brown sugar - This is my sugar of choice in non-dairy vegan ice cream, but you can substitute it with maple syrup, granulated white sugar, cane sugar, or demerara sugar.
• Vanilla extract - Pure vanilla extract rather than imitation extract is always best because it has cleaner flavors and will help the ice cream freeze a little less firmly. Vanilla bean paste will work just as well and will speckle the ice cream with black vanilla beans.
• Almond extract - Or leave this out if you don’t want the ice cream to have a subtle nutty flavor (or to make it nut free).
• Salt - To round out all of the flavors and to make the vanilla pop.

How to make vegan vanilla ice cream

I used the churn method to make this vegan ice cream recipe in a 2-quart ice cream maker. If you don’t have an ice cream machine, use the no-churn method using a blender or food processor instead. Both methods are foolproof:

With an ice cream maker (churn method):

1. Whisk the ingredients: Add the ingredients to a mixing bowl and whisk them all together until you have a smooth mixture.
2. Churn the ice cream: Pour the mixture into the frozen base of the ice cream machine. Prepare according to manufacturer settings (about 25 to 30 minutes of churning) until you have soft serve-looking ice cream.
3. Freeze: Transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and use a spatula to smooth out the top. Leave it in the freezer for 2 to 4 hours or overnight to set.
4. Enjoy: Serve the ice cream in bowls or ice cream cones and enjoy! For ingredients and full instructions see printable recipe card below.

Without an ice cream maker (no-churn method):

1. Whisk the ingredients: Add the ingredients to a mixing bowl and whisk them all together until you have a smooth mixture.
2. Freezing and stirring: Pour the mixture into an airtight container or loaf pan and place it in the freezer. Stir it every 30 minutes until it’s frozen solid.
3. Enjoy: Lastly, enjoy a scoop or two when the ice cream is frozen!

Adding mix-ins to homemade ice cream

Simply add the mix-ins of your choice to the homemade ice cream when it’s just about done churning or stir them into the half-frozen blended mixture.

There are plenty to choose from:

• Chocolate chips
• Fresh fruit (like strawberries, raspberries, or peaches)
• Crushed nuts
• Broken chocolate chip cookies or Oreo cookie pieces
• Brownies
• Vegan peanut butter cups
• Macerated strawberries
• Leftover vanilla cake pieces 
• Chocolate sauce*
• Caramel sauce*

*If you want to add sweet sauces, swirl them in by hand once the ice cream is in the container.

Tips for success

• Let the coconut cream come down to room temperature before whisking. This way, it will be less firm and easier to work with.
• Alternatively, if you’re in a rush, blend the cold coconut cream with the rest of the ingredients in a blender.
• Avoid ice crystals on your ice cream by layering the top with a piece of plastic wrap.
• You can reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe if you want but use the tip above to avoid ice crystals.

Looking for more vegan desserts?

• Vegan Lemon Tarts
• Strawberry Shortcake
• Coconut Loaf Cake
• Strawberry Rhubarb Upside Down Cake
• Vegan New York Style Cheesecake

Enjoy everyone! Happy Day! Please feel free to comment below and give this recipe a rating. Your feedback is greatly appreciated!

Follow me on PINTEREST and INSTAGRAM for more tasty Plant Based  & Vegan Recipes❤️

Subscribe here for free weekly recipes delivered right to your inbox! No need to scour the internet. Your one stop shop for recipes is here😊 No spam I promise!

Print