The fresh strawberry flavour in this will blow your mind! A no churn Strawberry Ice Cream that’s incredibly creamy, no ice crystals and perfectly scoopable. 5 ingredients, easy to make, no ice cream maker required!
HOMEMADE STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM
OK, so you might know an ice cream specialist or a fancy pants restaurant that makes a stellar strawberry ice cream with fresh strawberries, and it really truly tastes of strawberries. So it’s a bit bullish to say this homemade strawberry ice cream recipe has flavour money can’t buy.
But if we’re talking about everyday strawberry ice cream sold in tubs at supermarkets and even gourmet stores, then this is off the charts compared to them.
And the reason is simple. The flavour and colour in this recipe relies solely on a whole heap of fresh strawberries that is intensified with roasting. Whereas supermarket ice cream uses artificial flavouring – and artificial colouring!
No churn ice cream
A traditional ice cream starts with a sweetened mixture of cream and eggs which is then poured into an ice cream machine which churns as the ice cream gradually freezes.
This no churn version is made with condensed milk and cream that requires no ice cream maker and yields an ice cream remarkable similar to churned ice cream. To read more about this no churn method, including the difference between No Churn and ice cream made using an ice cream maker, pop over to the no churn Mango Ice Cream recipe I’ve previously shared.
Iciness is the bain of fruit ice creams
If you’ve ever tried a homemade strawberry ice cream recipe before and been disappointed by the crunch of ice crystals from the strawberry juice, be prepared to jump for joy because this is the recipe of your dreams!
Avoiding this problem is actually quite simple – just roast the strawberries. Not only does it remove water which causes the ice crystals, it actually intensifies the strawberry flavour (oven trumps stove for flavour).
And the added bonus for strawberry ice cream is that the caramelisation of the strawberries deepens the pink colour of the ice cream!
How to make no churn strawberry ice cream
Here’s a summary of how to make this magical strawberry ice cream – the numbers correspond to the process photos above and below:
1. Halve strawberries, sprinkle with just a bit of sugar (just to kickstart the juicing process), then roast on a low heat for 1 hour.
2. Scrape into a food processor and blitz. Do not – I repeat, DO NOT taste test. Every drop is precious and I don’t trust you to stop at one tiny taste! 😂 (OK, I mean me, not you)
3 & 4. Once cooled, whip with condensed milk and vanilla to combine and aerate.
5 & 6. Whip cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the strawberry and cream mixture together – do not beat furiously and destroy all the fluffiness!! Watch video for folding technique (pretty please!)
7 & 8. Pour into container then freeze for 12+ hours.
What comes out of the freezer is quite extraordinary. It looks like store bought ice cream. It scoops like store bought ice cream. It’s creamy like store bought – no ice crystals at all.
It even holds its shape when it softens like store bought ice cream – unlike other shortcut ice creams that seem to go from rock hard to a puddle of liquid in an instant with only a split second window of opportunity when it’s scoopable.
But most of all for me, the thing that makes homemade strawberry ice cream so precious is that true taste of strawberries which, in this world of artificial flavourings, is actually quite rare.
The flavour of this really will blow your mind.
REAL strawberry flavour – in vast quantities. When was the last time you tasted that – other than eating fresh strawberries?? – Nagi x
PS Also – no churn Mango Ice Cream. The flavour…. swoon…
More strawberry recipes 🍓🍓
- Strawberry Cheesecake
- Chocolate Covered Strawberries
- Fresh Strawberry Bars
- Strawberry Crumble
- Upside Down Strawberry Cake
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Strawberry Ice Cream (No Churn)
Ingredients
- 1 kg / 2 lb strawberries , ripe, hulled and halved
- 1 tbsp white sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk (395g / 13 oz)
- 2 cups / 500 ml cream , full fat, for whipping (Note 1)
Instructions
Roast Strawberries:
- Preheat oven to 160C/320F (standard) or 140C / 285F with shelf in the middle.
- Pile strawberries on a tray. Sprinkle over sugar. Toss through, then spread strawberries out on tray.
- Roast for 45 minutes, rotating tray halfway. Remove from oven, toss strawberries, then return to oven for 15 minutes. Keep an eye on it - don't want juices to become toffee and stick to tray.
- Remove from oven, use spatula to scrape into a food processor, being sure to get all the juices and caramelised bits off the tray.
- Blitz until smooth as possible (caramelised bits won't blitz smooth), scrape into bowl then cool completely.
Ice Cream Mixture:
- Add condensed milk and vanilla into strawberries. Beat well for 1 1/2 minutes on high to aerate and combine.
- Place cream in another bowl. Use electric beater to beat into stiff peaks - about 3 minutes on high.
- Add a dollop of cream into the strawberry mixture. Fold through gently, don't beat in furiously (see video for technique). When mostly mixed through, add another dollop and for through about 5 times.
- Tip strawberry mixture into the cream bowl. Gently fold through until it's a uniform pink colour - about 15 to 20 folds max. Some streaks is ok.
Freezing & serving:
- Pour mixture into a container (preferably glass with airtight lid), smooth top.
- Place sheet of baking paper on surface and press out air bubbles (stops icicles forming). Cover with lid, freeze 12+ hours.
- Remove from freezer, remove paper. Scoop with ice cream scooper and serve in cones or bowls!
Recipe Notes:
LIFE OF DOZER
If you’ve ever had a long haired dog with gastro 💩, you will totally understand the Man Buns and French Braid situation going on here. The amusement is an added bonus.😂
Made this whilst in lockdown due to the covid-19 crisis. Can honestly say this is the best strawberry ice cream I have tasted. Can’t wait to try the mango ice-cream🍨
Hi! Can I use a blender instead of a food processor? TIA
Sure can Abi! N x
This is the most delicious ice cream ever! Easy to make and roasting the strawberries makes for such an intense flavour. Thank you for this recipe
You’re so welcome Nicola!! N x
Made this yesterday and it turned out really well! The strawberry flavor really came through and texture was great.
Wahoo! Perfect Jessica! N x
Hi Nagi
Can I make this without roasting the strawberries?
Hi Mariya, you really need to roast them to reduce the water content otherwise you’ll end up with icy icy cream! N x
Hi Nagi! My 8 year old daughter and I made this icecream and it was truly out of this world!! It was so much fun and so easy to make. The wait of 12 hours was totally worth it☺️Thank you so much for sharing such a fabulous recipe.
We are going to give this a try. I am wondering if you have something like this for blueberries or blackberries?
Love your site!
Hi Thomas, you can use the same principal and sub in any fruit really!
Hi Nagi,
Another winner! Am I right in thinking I can do this with blackberries too? I’d probably have to tweak the amount but I think it’s doable!
Thanks for all your hard work giving us these excellent recipes!
Yes definitely Jamie! There are so many possibilities!!
Hi Nagi,
I made this straight after we polished off the mango version. Very natural, fragrant sweet, strawberry flavours abound it was so delicious. Even the light crunch of the seeds was appealing. I wasn’t convinced my strawberries were flavoursome enough once out of the oven and I had read another comment here to drizzle balsamic vinegar to set it off so I did this just in case. And not for a moment was I going to add extra sugar with condensed milk in the mix.
It ended up not too sweet for me at all. I did find more ice crystals than the mango version but nothing to make it unappealing. Next time I will try the stove top method and compare. So curious to try banana and see if I can a get a ‘natural’ Barney Banana flavour going. And I will try blueberries too. Such a great go-to method when you don’t have time to make custard base, cool it down and freeze up the ice cream churn bowl. And the results are so comparable its crazy. Thanks from the bottom of my ice cream bowl and from a very dedicated ice cream fan.
Yes definitely a great all rounder recipe that you can adapt to so many flavours!!
I made this recipe but subbed frozen blueberries (didn’t have fresh) for the strawberries! I used about 1.8 pounds of frozen. The only difference with roasting the blueberries was that it took about an hour longer for them to look syrupy like the strawberries. So good and perfect level of flavor and sweetness! Easy! Thank you!
Sounds amazing Morganne, there’s so many possibilities that we could do with this base!
Soooo good, easy to much, many thanks Nagi
You’re so welcome Ai, I’m so happy you loved it!
Hi Nagi, do you think this would work with frozen strawberries? Strawberries are out of season for me.
Cade
Should work the same way, just thaw and prepare as per the recipe – N x
Hi Nagi!
We have an ice cream maker. Can the recipe work using one?
Hi Catherine, sure will!
This is DELICIOUS!!!! I had fresh cream vs store bought and that probably made it even better as well…but it is the BEST EVER!!
I’m so glad you love it Dee!