Creamy vegan strawberry ice cream packed with strawberry flavor. Perfectly textured, smooth, and the prettiest pink color!
So you know there is that kind of vegan strawberry ice cream that is super wholesome and is made with just like strawberries and frozen bananas?
Well, this is not that recipe. 
I really wanted to go for a strawberry ice cream that tastes similar to what you would buy in a tub at the store!
For my first try I reduced strawberry purée by half on the stove first and then blended that into the ice cream mixture. I thought that might intensify the strawberry flavor.
But the end result had way too much tartness and also had more of that frozen fruit texture, which surprised me since it was a strawberry reduction, but you know… okay then!
So then I tried it with some strawberry purée, no reducing at all, just fresh purée, and a little strawberry extract to kind of get that fake strawberry flavor in there to more closely mimic the strawberry flavored goodies you would buy.
And then there it was, really really good strawberry ice cream!
How to make vegan strawberry ice cream
I made this ice cream much the same way I always make ice cream because it just works so well.
Add a can of coconut milk and a can of coconut cream to a pot along with some sugar and some syrup.
Bring that to a simmer stirring constantly.
As soon as it reaches a simmer, remove it from the heat and add in the puréed strawberries, a little salt and some strawberry extract.
Then use an immersion blender to blend everything smooth. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you could let the mixture cool down a bit and then blend it in your regular blender.
Then move the mixture to a storage container or jug and place into the fridge to chill. I usually just let this chill overnight, but if you’re in a hurry you can let it chill in the freezer for an hour or so, you need the mixture to be very cold before churning.
And then you just churn it in your ice cream maker until it reaches a soft serve consistency. Depending on the kind of ice cream maker you have, this could be anywhere from around 20 minutes to 45 minutes.
We use a Cuisinart ice cream maker which we love and usually gets the job done in 20-25 minutes.
Once the ice cream is churned, smooth it down into a loaf pan and cover with foil. Place it into the freezer to set.
So…. as you can tell, it’s not super fast to make this. The hands on time is quick, but with all the waiting time in-between for the ice cream mix to chill and then the churned ice cream to set, it’s not fast. But it is easy!
Making the best vegan strawberry ice cream
The cans of coconut milk and coconut cream create the perfect creamy texture. They are very high in fat which works really well for making ice cream.
Switching these for other plant based milks is not going to work as well because the other milks are not as high in fat.
I used regular granulated white sugar, but you can switch for a different sugar if you want, it will change the color of the ice cream, but brown sugar and coconut sugar are also fine to use.
You can use maple syrup or any syrup for this ice cream. If you have a particular syrup that you like the flavor of, that will be fine to use here. The syrup helps in creating a super smooth texture for this ice cream in the final result.
Heating the basic ice cream mixture and then blending it helps to really smooth out the fats which creates that really good ice cream mouthfeel!
Strawberry extract is optional, but does add that more intense strawberry flavor that you remember from those strawberry milkshakes and strawberry ice creams you’ve had before.
The strawberry purée on its own creates enough strawberry flavor so if you want to you can omit the extract.
So I hope you’ll love this vegan strawberry ice cream recipe! It is:
- Easy
- Creamy
- Smooth
- Perfectly textured
- Strawberry flavored
- Pretty and pink!
Keep it stored in the freezer and ideally enjoy it within a week. Yes, it’s ice cream so theoretically it’s fine to keep longer, but it does start to incorporate some ice crystals the longer you keep it so the taste is best when it’s fresh.
More vegan ice cream
We have some delicious vegan ice cream recipes on this blog. Our vegan vanilla ice cream recipe was our first ice cream recipe and it has all the vanilla flavor you could want!
Our vegan coconut ice cream has a wonderful toasted coconut topping that you will love.
Our vegan salted caramel ice cream is totally divine, as is our vegan peanut butter ice cream.
I’ve always loved everything mint, so the vegan mint chocolate chip ice cream is right up my street, but if you’re all about that chocolate flavor then you’ll love our super decadent vegan chocolate ice cream.
If you want a no-churn option then we have our vegan cookies and cream ice cream which doesn’t require any churning, and our peanut butter banana ice cream is one of those recipes that I was talking about before, you know where it’s just like 2-ingredients and one of them is frozen bananas!
So let us know what you think of this delicious ice cream in the comments and please rate the recipe too, thanks so much!
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Vegan Strawberry Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 14 ounce Can Coconut Cream (400ml) Unsweetened
- 14 ounce Can Coconut Milk (400ml) Full Fat, Unsweetened
- ½ cup White Granulated Sugar (100g)
- ¼ cup Maple Syrup (60ml)
- 1 cup Strawberry Purée (232g)
- 1 Tbsp Strawberry Extract
- ½ tsp Salt
Instructions
- The night before you want to make the ice cream, make sure to place the freezer bowl of your ice cream maker into the freezer so that it's ready to go.
- Prepare your strawberry purée by placing whole strawberries (stems cut off) into a food processor and processing into purée. Set aside.
- Add the coconut cream, coconut milk, sugar and maple syrup to a pot on the stove and bring it to a simmer, stirring gently the whole time. As soon as it reaches a simmer, remove it from the heat.
- Add in the strawberry purée, strawberry extract and salt and then using an immersion blender, blend until smooth. If you don't have an immersion blender then you can do this in a regular blender, just be careful when blending hot liquid.
- Pour the mixture into a container with a lid, and place it into the fridge to chill overnight. If you're in a hurry you can place it into the freezer instead and that will speed up the process, just keep a check on it, and when the mix is very chilled, you are ready to churn it.
- Churn according to manufacturer instructions for your ice cream maker, but it should be in the region of 20-45 minutes until it reaches a soft serve consistency. When it reaches this consistency, transfer the ice cream to a loaf pan and smooth down with the back of a spoon.
- Cover with foil and place into the freezer to set completely (usually at least 6 hours).
- Scoop and serve!
Notes
- The strawberry extract can be omitted if it's hard to find, the strawberry purée is enough to flavor this, but if you can get it, it's great to use since it does add some great flavor.
- Prep time does not include chilling in the fridge or setting in the freezer.
Delucious! Did not taste like coconut to me. I wonder if the person who commented on the coconut flavor possibly used cream of coconut instead of coconut cream. Instead of making strawberry puree, I just added 32 of cleaned strawberries to the liquid then used an immersion blender. Very creamy, great flavor with the extract.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Margie!
How long does the leftover ice cream last in the freezer? Great recipe!
It’s at its best in the first week or two. It is still fine to eat after that but the longer you store it the more likely it is that ice crystals incorporate into it and the texture isn’t as good.
This ice cream is amazing! So creamy and smooth and the strawberry flavor is perfect. Thanks for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed it Janine! 🙂
The coconut cream ruined it for me. Everything else was perfect, except the coconut cream gave it a very strong coconut aftertaste. not subtle at all. If you want strawberry coconut ice cream then this recipe would be perfect, however, that’s not what I was looking for. I may give it another try and just leave out the coconut cream. I’ll update the review at that time.
Trying this today! Looks delicious. Question: why salt? Your other ice cream recipes that I looked at (I didn’t look at all of them) don’t call for salt except for the salted caramel which calls for a pinch. 1/2 tsp seemed like a lot to me…just curious!