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 – FLAVOUR MONEY CAN’T BUY!
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!
THIS NO CHURN BUSINESS
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 A couple more recipes that use a mound of fresh strawberries – Upside Down Strawberry Cake and Strawberry Bars. 🍓
PPS Also – no churn Mango Ice Cream. The flavour…. swoon…
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
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.😂
This is the best strawberry ice cream I’ve tasted and the whole house smelt divine while they were roasting. Thank you.
That’s wonderful to hear Jane! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi, I made many of your recipes and they have all turned out great, except this one. I didn’t get “creamy and scoopable”, but instead got very rock hard, and impossible to scoop. Maybe my peaks weren’t stiff enough? I didn’t over mix, still have white streaks in it. Maybe freezer is to cold (-20 Celsius)? Could or should I have gone back and beat the cream again after adding the flavouring, to try and “fluff” it up before putting it the freezer container? Any suggestion or help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
hi Nagi, I love it that you take the trouble to actually go into specific details for each recipe, so it is a no fail for anyone trying it out. I have tried several very successfully, including the strawberry ice cream. Can you advise how I can make a no churn for coffee ice-cream?
Hi Mary! I’m so pleased you enjoy my recipes, thank you! To make coffee ice cream just skip all the strawberry steps and just make some form of very concentrated coffee with just a tiny bit of liquid and whip it with the condensed milk. Put in as much as you want – go by taste. Then fold into the whipped cream per this recipe. 🙂 N x
Made this while the in-laws were here, always good to try and impress with something new! 🙂 The flavour is awesome but it’s VERY rich, so you only need a small amount of ice cream, so it goes a long way! I had at least 10 portions out of this batch. Thank you so much for your gorgeous recpices!
Thanks, Nagi, I will definitely give it a try…
It’s season of peaches here in Europe so I made ice cream from peaches. I used 1,2 kg, pit them and cut in chunks first, then continued following the recipe. The ice cream is wonderful! The taste is sooo delicate! Thanks fór great recipe.
Terrific to hear you enjoyed this Natasa!! Thanks for taking the time to come back and let me know – N x
This turned out great. A drizzle of regular balsamic vinegar, or white coconut-flavoured balsamic were nice additions to balance the richness and enhance the strawberry flavour. Thanks, Nagi.
That’s great Bea! Thanks for letting me know! – N x ❤️
I made this with the strawberries and it was good even though I did not roast the strawberries for long enough to lose all of the water. I wanted to try it with peaches now but the note where you tell what you would do got cut off at “I’d probably”. Could you tell me how you would do this with the peaches?
Did I fall asleep mid typing?? 🤔 Finished! Basically, cut into chunks then follow recipe N x
WOW!! The flavour in this ice cream is phenomenal! Like actually SO. GOOD. It gives my good old favourite, boysenberry, a run for its money 😉
Mine was a little icy , but possibly due to me freezing it in molds (more like a semifreddo really). I think if I scooped it, it would probably break through the iciness.
I’m so glad I made this, nothing could beat that flavour!
Glad you enjoyed it Lauren! Thanks for letting me know! N x
Hi Nagi, My strawberries must have been very watery, as there was still a lot of liquid. Would have left it as is?
Or Keep baking until liquid is reduced, or reduce on stove top? I did both bake then reduce on stove top.
Have not tasted yet, would love your input.
Hi Sameera – yes keep cooking until it’s the sludgy consistency shown in the video!
Dear Nagi
Please help.
I was so looking forward to making your strawberry ice cream. I have had 2Kg in the oven at 190C for nearly three hours now. I have turned the temperature up every hour in the hope that some of the juice will evaporate but so far all I have is a pan full of strawberries in “watery” juice (I did not wash them so it is not water)
I hope you can help me to salvage this expensive experiment.
How I long for English strawberries instead of the “bullets” we get here in Melbourne.
If you wanted to make a low cholesterol version is their substitutes for the condensed milk and the cream?
I’m sorry Sharon, they are both key ingredients in this. I’d suggest making a sorbet 🙂 (I don’t have a recipe on my site unfortunately) N x
Both my long haired dogs (newfie mix and collie mix) had gastro issues for a couple of days each and I gave up on the “man buns” and chopped off a whole patch in that region – so hoping Dozer is feeling better soon – gastro issues are no fun!
But – NO CHURN HOMEMADE strawberry ice cream is tons of fun! Thanks for the tip about getting the water out of the strawberries by roasting – I so need to try that next time…
I was so tempted to hack away at it but thankfully his Man Buns held up well and he’s all nice and dried up again!!!
Hi Nagi,
I was wondering I could use frozen strawberries. The reason I’m asking is that strawberries here in Malta come in season in Spring. By June they become so ripe they don’t last more than a day it’s so hot here so ifreeze them asap. And they are so sweet too. I’ve got a drawer full 😅😅.
Thank you
Hi Nagi,
Your strawberry and mango ice-creams looks absolutely divine … I can’t wait to try it. Have you tried making coconut ice cream – this is my absolute favourite but it’s not easy to find a store bought one that suits my taste. The ice-cream has to be light and not too milky/creamy and have bits of coconut flesh in it. I would to make one at home but I don’t have an ice-cream churner. So if you’ve figured out how it’s to be done, I would love to learn from you. Thank you.
OOhhhhh, this looks delicious and need to try this ASAP! I may also try it with peaches. I live in South Carolina, USA, and peaches are in season all summer long here and they are so good. Nothing like a home made batch of peach or strawberry ice cream. With our hot, humid summers here, ice cream is always a nice treat on a hot day. Thanks for this easy recipe!
Poor Dozer with the “rumbly tumbly”! Hope he is better soon and can get rid of the braided man buns!
Made this today and it’s delicious! Love that it’s smooth and creamy but not sickly sweet 😋
Hello Nagi
Do you think this would work with Mulberries? We don’t have any right now but they come into season in Sept. They have a high water content but they are plentiful. I make lots of jam, crumbles and cakes with them but another use would be great.
I think it will work great!! Keep them whole 🙂 N x
Hi Becca, don’t mean to but in I am from Toronto Ontario and will be going to Vineland in the niagara region for our wonderful peaches yum. . So I am interested to read the advice from Nagi before shopping .
Dozer what have you been doing to have gastro?
I’m wondering that myself!!
It’s not butting in! This is what it’s all about: chatting with each other and cooking awesome food (thanks to the amazing Nagi!) Have you ever checked out the Winona Peach Festival? It’s a celebration of all things peaches the last weekend of August. (If you go, try the panzeroli truck! Tiny little pizza nuggets of goodness– I take home 6 extra orders to freeze, they’re so delicious; and of course the peach sundaes!).
Cheers!
Becca
Hi Nagi,
How many peaches would you sub in for strawberries? I’m lucky enough to live in the peach capital of Ontario and we’re just coming into peach season with the juiciest, plump, most flavourful and delicious piece of food that you can eat (seriously, until you’ve tasted a Niagara peach, you don’t know how good this fruit can be).
Thanks!
Becca 🙂
I;m jealous! Our peaches are hit and miss over here. I would use 1 kg / 2 lb of peaches, then pit them so probably end up with just shy of that. N x
Awesome, thanks Nagi!
Peach season is my favourite time of year. One year for Christmas I asked for peaches (I think I was about 7) and my mum told me I wouldn’t like them (no Niagara peaches in December!) but I was sure Santa would deliver… he did, but they were the worst peaches I’ve ever tasted– I even wrote Santa a letter back telling him so lol.
We really are lucky in the Niagara greenbelt!
BA HA HA!!!! That is TOO funny! (PS What kind of kid asks Santa for PEACHES???!! 😂)
Your strawberry ice cream recipe is is spot on for us Poms as it is summer here and British strawberries are at their best right now. Plus I love strawberries.
As for Dozer ….. what can one say?
I once had a long haired dog who had a regular upset tummy when he was a young dog and I trimmed his rear end fur to make it easier to hose down.
Hopefully Dozers tummy problem will settle down soon.
I have to say, to this day, British strawberries are the BEST I have ever had in my life. Specifically…at Wimbledon…