Homemade No-Churn Ice Cream Recipe
This homemade no-churn ice cream recipe delivers creamy, delicious ice cream every time. Simple ingredients with tons of flavor combos makes it a treat the whole family loves. No bulky ice cream machine needed!
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Homemade Ice Cream
We had family come to visit and wanted to do something fun. It’s summer and we live in Texas which means it is H O T!!! So we made homemade ice cream.
No-churn ice cream only takes a few minutes to make and an hour or so to freeze. It’s SO simple too and easily customizable to accommodate everyone. What’s not to love about that?!
What Does No-Churn Ice Cream Mean?
Did you know you can make ice cream at home without an ice cream maker. That’s right, you don’t need another appliance you barely use taking up space in your kitchen cupboards. You do however need a mixer but most people have one.
Ice cream makers churn the prepared mixture as it’s freezing it. This churn method helps add air to the mixture as it freezes which keeps the ice crystals small, making a nice smooth ice cream that’s ready to eat immediately.
This is a no-churn ice cream so the mixing happens before the ingredients are frozen. But don’t worry, the sweet condensed milk in this recipe helps make this ice cream super smooth without the churn.
Here’s What You Need
You only need 5 simple ingredients to make delicious, creamy ice cream at home. At least three of the ingredients you’ll most likely have at home.
This recipe is for a classic vanilla ice cream. I love to make vanilla ice cream because it’s so easy to customize with add-ins. The add-ins are what takes this no-churn ice cream over the top so additional ingredients will be needed for those.
- 32 Oz Heavy Whipping Cream
- 2 14 oz Cans Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 Tablespoons Melted Butter
- Pinch of Salt
You’ll also need a stand or hand mixer or a blender and some freezer safe Tupperware or some freezer paper, plastic wrap, and a loaf pan.
How to Make Ice Cream at Home
This is so simple to make which makes it a fun project for the whole family. Young kids can definitely help make this homemade ice cream. You get a fun activity together and then get to eat ice cream after. Sounds perfect to me.
- Start by dumping your heavy whipping cream in a kitchen aid mixer (or you can use a hand held mixer) and whip the cream on high for several minutes until stiff peaks form. Basically, you want to stop right before it turns to butter.
- In a separate bowl, stir the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and melted butter until combined.
- Next. fold the condensed milk mixture into the whipped whipping cream.
- Once everything is all mixed together you have your ice cream, well after you freeze it. Easy right?
From here you have two options. You can freeze the mixture now for yummy vanilla ice cream. Option two is to flavor your ice cream before you freeze it. Sometimes we flavor it before but most of the time we do it after.
My FAVORITE thing to do is take a graham cracker pie crust and crumble it up. Then, I sprinkle this into my ice cream just like they do a Cold Stone and other ice cream places. My kids don’t like that as much so we usually divide the ice cream up into a few containers so everyone can do what they like.
If you do not have any kind of mixer, kitchen aid or hand held, you can just put all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until everything is combined. I haven’t tried it this way but I heard it was just as good. Sounds even easier so I think I will give it a try next time I make it.
You need to freeze your mixture for 1 – 3 hours but I prefer to do it over night. To freeze your mixture you poor everything into a freezer safe tupperware. Pop the lid on and place it in the freezer. Another option is to line a loaf pan with freezer paper, add the mix and cover with plastic wrap. Use which ever option works best for you.
No-Churn Ice Cream Add-ins
- Sprinkles
- Graham cracker pie crust
- Caramel
- Peanut butter
- Nutella
- Cocoa
- Chocolate chips
- White chocolate chips
- Peppermint extract
- Fresh fruit (especially strawberries and bananas)
- Instant coffee
- Crushed cookies or candy bars
Homemade No-Churn Ice Cream Recipe
Ingredients
- 32 oz heavy whipping cream
- 28 oz sweetened condensed milk buy two 14 oz cans
- 2 TBSP butter melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 handful add-ins optional
Instructions
- Start by pouring your heavy whipping cream in a kitchen aid mixer (or you can use a hand held mixer) and whip the cream on high for several minutes until stiff peaks form. Basically, you want to stop right before it turns to butter.
- In a separate bowl, stir the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and melted butter until combined.
- Next. fold the condensed milk mixture into the whipped whipping cream.
- Once everything is all mixed together you have your ice cream. Easy right?
- From here you have two options. You can freeze the mixture now for yummy vanilla ice cream. Option two is to flavor your ice cream before you freeze it. Sometimes we flavor it before but most of the time we do it after.
- To freeze it, pour mixture into some freezer safe Tupperware or a large loaf pan lined with freezer paper. Pop your lid on or cover in foil or plastic wrap and pop in the freezer for at least 3 hours. I prefer over night.
- Scoop into a small bowl, add your favorite toppings, and enjoy!
