Homemade Vegan Ice Cream with Coconut Milk
No Churn Homemade Vegan Ice Cream – 4 Flavors!
How to Make Vegan Coconut Ice Cream without a Machine
This sweet, satisfying, homemade vegan ice cream requires only 6 main ingredients and NO ice cream machine! With a rich base made of coconut milk and your choice of almond or cashew milk, it’s irresistibly creamy and so simple. Learn how to make vegan coconut ice cream with no churning needed, in 4 tasty flavors: vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and cookies & cream!
Often, homemade vegan ice cream turns out not-so-creamy and/or too icy. And typically, this is because the water content is too high, and it’s missing the rich fat content found in traditional dairy ice creams. On top of that, when you’re working with a NO CHURN vegan ice cream recipe, there’s no mechanical help to create that creamy texture we all crave.
But, even without churning, that creaminess is possible with the help of coconut milk! This vegan coconut ice cream includes full-fat coconut milk combined with either almond or cashew milk. The result: a thick, fat-rich base that becomes deliciously creamy upon freezing.
Yes, this vegan coconut ice cream does still taste like coconut. But, combining the coconut with another nut milk helps to mellow out the flavor, so you can have fun creating your favorite ice cream flavors! I’ll show you how to make homemade vegan ice cream without a machine, in just a few minutes of prep and a few hours in the freezer.
No Churn Vegan Coconut Ice Cream Base
⅓ cup JOI almond base or cashew base*
⅓ cup water
1 can (15oz) full-fat coconut milk
⅓ cup maple syrup
1½ Tbsp coconut oil
¼ tsp salt
add desired flavorings & mix-ins
My Go-To Nut Milk for No Churn Vegan Ice Cream
Yes, there are loads of nut milk options at the grocery store. But, so many contain preservatives and unnecessary additives, and they don’t retain much of the actual nutrient content from the nuts because they’re so watered down. And, for a homemade vegan ice cream recipe, that added water and reduced fat aren’t ideal.
So instead, I use JOI’s almond or cashew plant base to make my own nut milk at home, just by blending the nutbase with water! JOI stands for Just One Ingredient, because each plant base is made with just almonds or cashews. And, I can adjust the ratio of nutbase-to-water so my nut milk turns out as thick, creamy, and fat-rich as I want for making ice cream!
To use a store-bought nut milk instead, simply substitute JOI plant base and water for ⅓ cup of your nut milk. But, just know that the texture of your vegan coconut ice cream may be different due to a lower fat content and higher water content. So, I highly recommend giving JOI plant bases a try, and you can enter the code “MINDOVERMUNCH10” at checkout for 10% off!
How to Make Vegan Ice Cream with Coconut Milk, No Machine
- Freeze Loaf Pan: First, be sure to place a clean loaf pan into the freezer at least a few hours before preparing your ice cream. The loaf pan must be FROZEN before pouring in your vegan coconut ice cream base in order to get the best texture!
- Blend Base Ingredients: Easy peasy, blend all of your ingredients (except for any mix-ins like crushed Oreos) for at least 1 minute. You want this super smooth!
- Freeze: Then, grab that pre-frozen loaf pan, pour in your homemade vegan ice cream mixture, and pop it into the freezer for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Mix-Ins: If you’d like to add any mix-ins, stir them into the ice cream after it’s spent about 1½–2 hours in the freezer. Sure, crushed Oreos are a classic, but you could also add chocolate chips, walnuts, Reese’s cups, mini marshmallows, cookie dough, or anything you like!
THE BEST Cashew & Almond Milk Ice Cream Recipes!
For even more frozen fun, check out my homemade dairy free ice cream maker recipes that taste just like REAL ice cream—even better than store-bought!
Homemade Vegan Ice Cream Recipes
Below, you’ll find the basic recipe for my homemade vegan ice cream with coconut milk, starting with a classic vanilla bean flavor. But, you can also use the same vegan coconut ice cream base to create different flavors! Just replace the vanilla flavoring ingredients with the chocolate, strawberry, or cookies & cream flavorings as listed at the bottom of the recipe.
Vanilla Homemade Vegan Ice Cream Recipe
Ingredients
Vegan Coconut Ice Cream Base
- ⅓ cup JOI cashew base or almond base
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 15-oz can full-fat coconut milk
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- 1½ Tbsp coconut oil
- ¼ tsp salt
Vanilla Ice Cream Flavorings
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste, or 1 vanilla bean, scraped
Instructions
A few hours before preparing ice cream:
- Place a clean loaf pan (8×4” or 9×5”) in the freezer to chill.
To prepare ice cream:
- Add all ingredients into a blender and blend for at least 1 minute, until super smooth. (It shouldn’t be gritty at all.)
- Pour mixture into frozen loaf pan and cover.
- Freeze for 4 hours or overnight.
- Option: After 1½–2 hours in the freezer, stir in any desired mix-ins (i.e., crushed Oreos).
- Thaw for 5-10 minutes before scooping and serving.
- Yields 2 pints homemade vegan ice cream (~4 cups)
Notes
Alternative Flavoring Options
Use the same no churn vegan coconut ice cream base recipe with different flavors! Simply replace the vegan vanilla ice cream flavorings with the ingredients listed below to create chocolate, strawberry, or cookies and cream flavors. Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream vegan coconut ice cream base1 tsp vanilla
¼–⅓ cup cocoa powder Vegan Strawberry Ice Cream *vegan coconut ice cream base—made with ¼ cup water, instead of ⅓ cup
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 cup strawberries Cookies and Cream Vegan Ice Cream vegan coconut ice cream base
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or 1 vanilla bean, scraped)
2-2 ½ cups Oreo cookies, crushed (add after 1½–2 hours of freezing)
6 Comments on “Homemade Vegan Ice Cream with Coconut Milk”
Honestly better than any store-bought ice cream i’ve ever had.
Joe, so glad that you enjoyed this homemade vegan coconut milk ice cream recipe! Thanks so much for giving it a try 🙂
What if you can’t use nut-milk? Could you use oat milk instead?
Hi Jessie, great question! We haven’t personally tried making this homemade vegan ice cream with coconut milk and oat milk, so I can’t speak to how it might turn out.
If you’re still using coconut milk, and you’re just replacing the almond/cashew milk with oat milk, I think it might work! I’d just recommend looking for a quality oat milk that contains some fat. (Our favorite oat milk is from Simple Truth and it contains 5g of fat per 1 cup.) That fat content will improve the texture of you’re ice cream!
However, if you’re wanting to make this recipe with just oat milk alone, I fear that may not work so well as a no churn recipe. I hope these ideas can be helpful 🙂
Wow I am in love with this vegan coconut milk ice cream recipe!! It’s so easy, I love that there’s no churning, and it’s really delicious with no iciness. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Hi Milly, so happy to hear that you’re enjoying this homemade vegan ice cream! We love it too, especially how quick and convenient it is to make 🙂 Thanks for trying out the recipe!