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Simple Coconut Ice Cream

You’re going to laugh at how simple this vegan ice cream is to make. Scoop up coconut cream from the can, add sweetener and vanilla, whip and freeze. The result is super creamy simple coconut ice cream that is perfect with some fresh fruit for a delicious, refreshing treat.
Click here for the printable recipe.
simple-vegan-coconut-ice-cream-cherries

Over the past few years, I have tried many vegan ice cream recipes. Some cashew-based, some soy-based, some coconut-based or some combination of the above. With or without an ice cream maker, they never really turned out very ice cream-ish in my opinion. Some of them were closer than others. But they were never to the standard that I would prefer them over fruit-based ice creams. A.k.a. nice creams or sorbet. I had pretty much given up on making vegan ice cream myself at this point. Especially since there are a few really good vegan ice creams on the market that actually taste amazing. Perhaps I’ll write about my favourites in another post. Please let me know if you’d like to see that.

How to Make Coconut Ice Cream (by accident)

I made this ice cream by mistake. I was trying to make coconut whip for dipping strawberries in. Because the strawberries that I had on this day were very sour. But when I opened my can of coconut milk that had been sitting in the fridge for a week, I found that the coconut cream and water had not separated as well as I would’ve liked. When you make coconut whipped cream you have to be very careful not to allow too much of the water to taint the cream otherwise it won’t whip up properly. And that is what happened here. So I did what any hungry person in their right mind would do, stick it in the freezer and forget about it! And then get another snack.

I left it in there for a few days having forgotten about it. I rediscovered it after going to the freezer for some So Delicious ice cream that I had stashed there. But then I saw this bowl of frozen whipped coconut cream and thought, ‘What the hey let’s give it a try’. I was surprised to discover it scooped up easily, with and very ice cream-ish texture. And because it was made with just coconut cream, vanilla extract, and sugar, it tasted like delicious coconut-flavoured ice cream . No iciness at all. This ice cream is incredibly rich because, duh, it’s made almost completely of coconut fat. So it’s really good if you add fresh fruit to cut through the fat.

simple-vegan-coconut-ice-cream-cherries-closeup

Please let me know if you try this out and what you would add to your simple coconut ice cream.

Printable recipe for Simple Coconut Ice Cream

Yield: 4 servings

Simple Coconut Ice Cream

Simple Coconut Ice Cream

Creamy coconut ice cream is easy to make with just 3 ingredients. This vegan ice cream is is rich, creamy and not icy at all with a hint of vanilla and fantastic coconut flavour. Top it with fresh fruit to balance the richness of this dessert.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Freezing Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 14oz can of coconut milk (chilled, full fat variety) (400ml)
  • 1/2 cup icing sugar (or to taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (or to taste)
  • Optional sweet fresh fruit topping

Instructions

  1. Scoop the solid cream from the can of coconut milk in to a mixing bowl, avoiding the coconut water. Whip this for a couple minutes with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. If you were not able to avoid getting some of the coconut water in the bowl, it may not whip up to the texture of whipped cream. That's OK. If you were able to avoid the water and now you have fluffy whipped cream on your hands, add a couple of tablespoons of the coconut water into the bowl and mix it in. The cream will deflate a little bit.
  2. Stir in the vanilla extract and icing sugar. Mix on low for a few seconds until completely incorporated. Taste and add more sugar or other flavourings if desired.
  3. Freeze for two hours or until hardened. Your coconut ice cream is ready to serve!

Notes

Do not use coconut beverages for this recipe. You need full fat coconut milk like this type.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 276Total Fat: 21gSaturated Fat: 19gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 15mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 0gSugar: 16gProtein: 2g

Nutritional Information automatically calculated by a plugin and may not be correct.

Did you make this recipe?

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Showing 7 comments
  • Sean Lumly
    Reply

    I’m eager to try making this, but I stay away from canned foods due to the plastic lining on the inside of the can — it often contains BPA and other highly toxic chemicals that leech into the food. Sadly, coconut cream in glass jars seems to be something of a rarity.

    I would *love* it if you knew of a way to get coconut cream without a can, and shared it as you did with tofu, french bread, soymilk, and aquafaba recipes! Is it as easy as buying a certain type of coconut? Do the innards need to be prepared a particular way?

    You are my favourite vegan food blogger/youtuber! Keep up the great work!

    • Mary
      Reply

      Thanks for the kind words, dear. I believe you can process fresh coconut meat by pulverizing in a blender, then straining it. That is what coconut cream is made out of. I haven’t done it myself though. With my current hand constraints I probably won’t try for a while. Please let me know if you decide to experiement though! 🙂 Good luck!

  • randa beirouti
    Reply

    Made this today (with coconut cream because thats all that I had) and just had a bowl with stewed plums. It was just the best. Will be making again and again!!!! Thank you

    • Mary
      Reply

      Awesome! You’re welcome 🙂

  • Catherine
    Reply

    Can I start with canned coconut cream? We have a brand in a blue can that while $1 more than the brown on you show, I have seen it in most mainstream grocery stores. Also, following previous comment, I can get unsweetened dry coconut bits. I have been doing 1:1 with water (soaking overnight) in the blender, through fine mesh strainer for coconut mylk. Don’t think that would work here…

    • Mary
      Reply

      I believe that canned coconut cream is the same as the one that I mentioned only they don’t include the water. IF that’s the case, then you can use it. 🙂

  • Catherine
    Reply

    Can I start with canned coconut cream? We have a brand in a blue can that while $1 more than the brown one you show, I have seen it in most mainstream grocery stores. Also, following previous comment, I can get unsweetened dry coconut bits. I have been doing 1:1 with water (soaking overnight) in the blender, through fine mesh strainer for coconut mylk. Don’t think that would work here…

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