Let it be known that this is the summer I fell in love with no-churn ice cream! Up until now I’ve hesitated to try making ice cream, mostly because I’ve heard traditional ice cream recipes can sometimes turn out with an eggy taste. Maybe someday I’ll end up trying one of the more complicated recipes but for now, the no-churn method is totally rocking my world. It started with this mint chocolate chip ice cream recipe and now I’m over the moon for this no-churn strawberry ice cream. It’s so easy and absolutely delicious!
This strawberry ice cream only requires a handful of ingredients and is so simple to throw together. You’ll essentially whip up some heavy whipping cream until it reaches stiff peak status, then fold in a mixture of sweetened condensed milk, freeze dried strawberry powder, some strawberry preserves, and a little vanilla extract. After a 6 hour stay in the freezer, you’ll have the creamiest, most refreshing strawberry ice cream with unbelievable flavor. Trust me, this is a must try!
I tried two different approaches to flavoring this ice cream. First, I tried using fresh strawberries that I purèed, then reduced to get rid of most of the liquid and make the flavor more powerful. This way worked just fine, but the strawberry flavor was subtle. For the second batch, I used freeze dried strawberries that I ground into powder before adding it to the ice cream mixture. The results were stunning. Powerful and refreshing strawberry flavor throughout!
To make extra sure, I made my husband do a blind taste test and he chose the freeze dried strawberry version, so that’s the one you’ll find here. Since fresh strawberries will work as a substitute, I put that version in the recipe notes. Just know that fresh berries will produce a more subtle (but still very delicious) strawberry flavor.
I’m already dreaming about using this no-churn strawberry ice cream in an ice cream cake recipe (similar to what I did with this mint chocolate chip ice cream cake). I’m just a tad obsessed with blending my two loves: cake and ice cream. Stay tuned for more ice creamy recipes because I can’t stop!
No-Churn Strawberry Ice Cream Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Cups (60g) freeze dried strawberries*
- 2 Cups (480ml) heavy whipping cream
- 14 Oz sweetened condensed milk
- 2 Tbsp strawberry preserves
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Place a large metal or glass bowl into the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes to chill before you get started. Using a food processor, grind the freeze dried strawberries into a semi-fine powder (it's okay if there are some larger pieces). You'll have about 1 Cup of powder after grinding. Set aside.
- Add the heavy whipping cream into the chilled bowl, then whip it with a hand mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form, 2-3 minutes. You can alternatively use a stand mixer with the whisk attachment for this part.
- In a separate medium bowl, add the sweetened condensed milk, freeze dried strawberry powder, strawberry preserves, and vanilla. Whisk together until combined. Gently fold the strawberry mixture into the heavy whipping cream with a rubber spatula.
- Pour the strawberry ice cream into a 9x5x3 inch metal loaf pan, cover with aluminum foil, and freeze until solid and scoopable, 5-6 hours.
Notes
Did you make this no-churn strawberry ice cream? I want to know how it went! Let me know in the comments below and feel free to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram to show me. I love to see what you create with my recipes!
I made this with the freeze-dried strawberries. I was a bit confused with how many ounces I needed and ended up purchasing way too many bags, 16oz worth at $7.50 each! One thing to note is the amount of freeze-dried strawberries needed for this recipe is only 3oz total unground! The bags are sold by weight, not volume, so that’s where I was confused and made an error there. I’m not sure how online bulk products are sold, but something to keep in mind if buying by the bag.
It works out like this: Since 2 cups sliced = 1 cup ground, keep in mind the bagged freeze-dried strawberries come in both 2oz (Target) and 1oz (Walmart). For this recipe, you only need 3oz to make 1 cup ground, so you will need one 2-ounce bag + one 1 oz bag = 1 cup ground. Your kitchen smells like cotton candy when you pulse up the strawberries in the processor! Heavenly!
I regret leaving such big chunks when I processed them in the food processor, as I found the larger pieces to be too chewy once set. So I will ground them to a complete powder next time. It took 5 hours to freeze in the loaf pan. We loved the flavors but I missed that ‘real’ ice-cream frostiness and flavor of real churned ice-cream in general plus we found the amount of heavy cream (Publix brand) to be too rich and creamy for our tastes.
A great recipe that’s quick and easy! I’m going to see how well this finished ice-cream confection works to make a strawberry shake.