This creamy coconut ice cream recipe is an easy vegan and dairy free dessert you can make at home, with no ice cream maker required!
The best coconut ice cream recipe
You need just four ingredients for this simple coconut milk recipe: vanilla extract, sweetener of choice, a pinch of salt, and a can of coconut milk.
In just a few steps, and with many different flavor options, a luxurious bowl of rich homemade coconut milk ice cream can be all yours.
I make a batch of this nondairy dessert at least once a month. Even my non vegan friends and family love the recipe.
Once you see how easy it is to make your own coconut ice cream at home, you will never want to buy another pint at the store again!
I also love this frozen Dole Whip Recipe
Can you really make ice cream with coconut milk?
Yes, you absolutely can!
If you are vegan or have dairy allergies, or even if you just want to try something new and delicious, coconut milk is the perfect ingredient for a rich and creamy ice cream without any actual heavy cream.
Many big brands are getting on the dairy free coconut ice cream bandwagon. Haagen Dazs, So Delicious, Ben & Jerry’s, and Halo Top now all offer vegan or coconut based frozen desserts.
However, by making your own ice cream at home, you control the ingredients to include. Add less sugar, no corn syrup, and no gums or preservatives if you wish.
You also get to choose what flavors to create, at a fraction of the cost of store bought plant based ice creams.
Try making multiple flavors from the same base. Have fun experimenting!
*Side Note: If you want a dairy free and low fat ice cream alternative, check out the following healthy recipe for banana free Nice Cream.
Coconut milk ice cream recipe video
Above, watch the step by step video
Chocolate coconut ice cream
To turn the vanilla version below into a dark chocolate coconut milk ice cream instead, simply add one fourth cup of cocoa powder at the very beginning.
Or make Nutella coconut ice cream. Stir three to four tablespoons of chocolate hazelnut spread or this Homemade Nutella Recipe into the chocolate base.
You can use regular unsweetened cocoa powder, Dutch process cocoa, raw cacao powder, or powdered hot chocolate mix for the chocolate ice cream.
For a low carb version, try this Keto Ice Cream
Coconut ice cream flavors
- Coffee Ice Cream: Use the basic coconut ice cream recipe below. Add two teaspoons of regular or decaf instant coffee to the liquid ingredients.
- Peanut Butter Ice Cream: Stir one fourth cup peanut butter into the liquid ingredients. Add some mini chocolate chips if desired.
- Cookie Dough Ice Cream: Use the basic ice cream recipe included below. Stir in chocolate chips and small spoonfuls of this Chickpea Cookie Dough Dip. Or stir pieces of your favorite eggless cookie dough (or the dough from any of my healthy cookies recipes) into the ice cream after blending.
- Strawberry Ice Cream: Add one cup strawberries, stems removed, to the basic recipe before blending. Omit the extra half cup milk of choice.
- Salted Caramel Ice Cream: Swirl in store bought or homemade Coconut Caramel. Sprinkle on a quick garnish of sea salt and optional shaved chocolate.
How to use a can of coconut milk
Canned coconut milk is one of my favorite ingredients to use in recipes.
It is a fantastic substitute for heavy cream in both sweet and savory dishes such as smoothies, milkshakes, pies, puddings, soups, or curries.
You can make Coconut Curry or my homemade Chocolate Truffles.
Use it for fancy Coconut Whipped Cream. Or you can even add coconut milk instead of cow’s milk to this reader favorite dessert recipe for Chocolate Banana Bread.
Statistics list over 60-75% of the world’s population as being lactose intolerant. My guess is that in the coming years, we will start to see more coconut milk recipes, as well as more products on the market made with coconut milk instead of dairy.
Extra coconut milk? Make Vegan Chocolate Mousse
Recipe tips and tricks
- Be sure to use full fat canned coconut milk for the recipe, not lite coconut milk.
- Do not substitute a carton of refrigerated coconutmilk beverage, because this is not the same product. Refrigerated coconutmilk does not contain enough fat to yield a creamy ice cream.
- Culinary coconut milk usually comes in a can. Some popular brands of coconut milk include Thai Kitchen, Whole Foods, Goya, Chaokoh, or Native Forest.
- Due to the lack of preservatives and gums, homemade ice cream is best the day it is made. This is when it will have the creamiest texture.
- However, if you do not mind a bit of an icy texture, you can technically store leftovers frozen in a covered container for up to a few weeks. Thaw for at least fifteen minutes before eating.
- For that rounded classic ice cream appearance, I like to scoop out the frozen dessert with an ice cream scoop instead of a spoon.
Coconut Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup canned coconut milk
- 1/2 cup additional coconut milk or milk of choice
- 1/3 cup sweetener of choice, such as sugar or pure maple syrup
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- optional ingredients for different flavors (see flavor ideas above)
Instructions
- *Be sure to use full fat canned coconut milk, not lite or coconutmilk beverage. Sweeteners that work include pure maple syrup, regular sugar, coconut sugar, honey, agave, brown sugar, or xylitol for an added sugar free ice cream.To make coconut ice cream, stir all ingredients, minus optional add ins, in a bowl. If you have an ice cream maker, simply transfer the mixture to your ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer’s directions for your specific machine. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can freeze the mixture in ice cube trays, then blend the frozen ice cubes in a high-speed blender such as a Vitamix. Either eat the ice cream straight from the machine or freeze a few hours for a firmer texture. While homemade ice cream is best the day it is made, you can technically keep it frozen for up to a few weeks and thaw before eating.View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
More Ice Cream Recipes
Would coconut cream work better than coconut milk in this recipe?
Absolutely! Coconut cream would be fantastic here.
Thank you for answering. I bought canned coconut cream awhile ago but I’ve forgotten why! ☺
Just be sure to check the fat & sugar content. I add 1/4 can of coconut cream to my 14oz. can of coconut milk for sweetness as 1 can has 22g sugar. It only has 4g fat so not sure how creamy it might be.
Love this!!!! I used sweetend condensed coconut milk( omitted sweetner)and coconut cream instead of coconut milk… Totally delicious!!! Using cream instead of milk, helps keeps it from become icy if stored and not eaten the same day.
I checked the fat content on coconut cream vs coconut milk, because I thought the sane thing. I was surprised to find that coconut milk has a higher fat content than coconut cream.
Make sure the serving sizes are the same. Trader Joes has both types of cans and the serving size for cream is half of that for milk.
Coconut cream is pure fat. check portion size. I prefer using coconut cream. I make my own coconut milk. I’ll pay extra for some recipes and get the cream.
How do you make coconut milk?
Get the „ old coconuts“ the ones you see in the market all dehusked with brown hard shell. Do nut buy the green whole coconut. Break the coconut shell carefully to obtain the very firm to hard coconut „ flesh“. Make sure you get large pieces for grating. Grate in a Food processor until fine. Do not add water! Remove into a muslim cloth ( use a baby drool cloth, that will work) or a very fine sieve And squeeze the milk out. You can get a milk drink from the second squeezing by adding half cup of water to the grated coconut and squeeze into another container. Do not use this as it will be too diluted. You can use the second squeezing for cooking or drink. Put a pinch of salt if desired.
Don’t forget to check the serving size when you read the label!!
I made the mistake of following the directions a bit to literally. The cuisinart ice cream maker suggests est using all ingredients chilled so I had put the coconut cream in the fridge for a couple hours. Oops! It had such big hard chunks they never softened and became a smooth consistency. additionally, if you choose to add strawberries, cut them up small first as they will also lodge in the ice cream maker preventing churning. Flavor was great, texture was a real fail.
I was told (and it works) Put a tsp of vodka as you churn it will keep it from freezing into a huge brick.
So much better with a tsp of Vodka! Was even way creamier after a week!
Yes, I think so. CocoGoodsCo Coconut Cream is the best and creamiest in the industry from what I’ve found.
Thays because you dont have Ayam Brand pure coconut cream. Its.insanely.perfect
Sadly I’m in the UK now and ita importation is too expensive and I’ve.not found a local brand compsrable
I used this as a base for german chocolate ice cream in my ice cream maker. Followed the above ingredients but used a whole can of full fat coconut milk, boxed coconut milk in place of regular milk, omitted the salt, added 1/3 cup sweetened shredded coconut, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, and 1/4 cup pecan pieces. Very yummy!
Since I couldn’t see the replies, I’m going to ask this question again. Sorry to be repetitious, but what happens when you use coconut cream instead of coconut milk? Thanks.
That is fine 🙂
My version with coconut cream was delicious!
Coconut cream is a great option, because it’s even thicker than coconut milk.
I can’t have nuts, coconut or bananas. Is there some way to use apples to make nice cream?
Another fruit?
You can definitely do roasted frozen sweet potatoes to make “nice” cream instead of banana. Or this one can be done with any milk, not just almond: https://lett-trim.today/2018/08/06/almond-milk-ice-cream-recipe/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Frozen dates and/or bananas.
Have you tried oat milk or pea milk?
Avocado should work
Maybe try frozen avocado?
I have made ice-cream using cooked (without salt) parsnips, blended smooth. I added flavor to this and it was scummy.
Frozen mango chunks work wonderfully but it’s a sorbet. Frozen avocado chunks are a good base to chocolate to.
Also, avocados, they’re full fat & creamy. I’ve used them to make smoothies & it’s terrific!
I would think so. I’ve seen other recipes that call for coconut cream.
The fat ratios of a typical ice cream mixture (2c heavy cream, 1c half&half) is 28%
The fat ratio of coconut cream is about 24%, coconut milk is about 17%
Coconut cream would give you a more similar fat percentage to standard ice cream base. However coconut milk has starch, fiber, carbs, and protein that cream does not have. This makes coconut milk inherently thicker than cream, even at lower fat ratios. So it’s a little bit apples to oranges, it can make sense to strive for the same fattiness, but it’s also not gonna behave the same way
If youre going to increase the fat, I would recommend some additives to help keep the texture soft, coconut milk can freeze very hard. 2 tbsp of booze helps and can add fun flavors. 1/4-1/2 tsp xanthan gum or locust bean gum can also help, but you need to mix it into dry ingredients before adding it to the liquid base or it will clump up
Love coconut flavor! I think I might add a little lemon zest in fro a citrus punch. Yum!
That sounds delicious!
I can’t eat coconut…do you think cashew cream would work?
Sure! Just use this recipe instead: https://lett-trim.today/2013/07/05/ice-cream-recipe-healthy-vegan/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
I love coconut ice cream but I never even thought about making my own. I should try it!
This looks insanely delicious! My husband is a coconut addict and will love this! I want to try the coffee flavor ASAP 🙂
xo,
Em
Can I substitute coconut cream for the coconut milk?
Yes!
This sounds incredible! I just tired coconut milk for the first time recently and am in love with it! This reminds me of banana ice cream but with more flavor choices. I can’t wait to try it!
Caitlin
wandererandwolf.com
Hi! May I ask if coconut ice cream has a slight taste of coconut? Or does it have a plain kind of flavor..? Thanks!
I thought it was more plain with a slight coconut flavor. If you want more coconut flavor, you can look for coconut extract at most grocery stores, but just use a little because it’s strong. If you don’t want any coconut flavor, then add a little peppermint extract or peanut butter or coffee or something like that to mask any slight coconut taste.
i can’t even believe how easy and simple this recipe is, but SO genius!!!! coconut milk is one of my new favorite pantry staples so i cannot wait to make this! love that there are flavor options too – thank you for sharing, this one’s a game changer 🙂
This looks amazing – and so creamy!
Izzy | Pinch of delight
This looks amazing! I love coconut milk and have a can sitting in my pantry right now! Must try this! 🙂 Lisa