Strawberry Ice Cream

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Super easy and delicious, this homemade Strawberry Ice Cream recipe requires no eggs or cooking and is so wonderfully creamy! Whether smooth or chunky, fresh or frozen berries, you’re going to love this burst of summer goodness!

We planted our strawberry patch four years ago and the following year we enjoyed our first harvest. It was a terrific harvest of five different varieties.

I wish I could say the subsequent harvests have been equally good but alas, the squirrels have exhibited as much or more excitement for strawberry season as we have. Along with a penchant for our peaches, pears, apples, plums, persimmons, figs and muscadines. Anything edible, they take it! This year we’ve put out some buckets of seeds and corn far away from the orchard to hopefully distract and keep them content. Fingers crossed!

When we’re able to beat the squirrels to the strawberry harvest, we celebrate by making lots of yummy things with our homegrown strawberries like strawberry rhubarb jam, strawberry rhubarb upside down cake and strawberry poppy seed dressing, or a Victoria sponge cake featuring fresh strawberries and homemade strawberry jam.

And, of course, who can resist homemade strawberry ice cream made from fresh strawberries for a burst of sweet summer flavor? Not me!

Strawberry Ice Cream Ingredients

Unlike the long lists of “ingredients” on the ice cream labels at the store that consist more of chemicals than actual edible food, you need just 7 ingredients to make this homemade strawberry ice cream. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Strawberries: The star of the show, select the ripest, sweetest strawberries you can find. You can also use frozen strawberries. You can blend the strawberries for smooth texture or, if you prefer fruit chunks in your ice cream, you can chop up the strawberries and just blend part of them.
• Heavy Cream and Whole Milk: For even creamier results you can use half and half. Can you use 2% milk? Yes, but it won’t be as luxuriously creamy. And as we say in Germany, “Wenn schon, denn schon”, meaning if you’re going to do it, do it all the way. We don’t eat a lot of carbs or sugar in our home and dessert is very infrequent, but when we do it, we’re going to enjoy it.
• Sugar: Just regular granulated sugar. For a diabetic-friendly option you can substitute a sugar alternative.
• Vanilla Extract: Use quality, pure vanilla extract. I make my own (it’s so easy!) and any given batch is aged at least 3-4 years (see my tutorial on How to Make Vanilla Extract). But for store-bought brands I love and recommend Nielsen Massey vanilla extract.
• Salt: Just a small pinch. Salts actually enhances the sweetness of sugar and sweet foods.

Ice Cream Makers

To make this strawberry ice cream you’ll need an ice cream maker. Cuisinart makes some of the best and most affordable ones on the market. Their basic model has been a bestseller for years and remains a solid choice. I’ve had mine for over 15 years and it’s still going strong. Their deluxe model comes with a steep price tag but has the convenience of a built-in compressor, which means you don’t have to pre-freeze the ice cream bowl, so no pre-planning required. Hello, spontaneity. I’ve likewise had their deluxe model for nearly 10 years and I love it. Whichever brand or model of ice cream maker you have, just follow the manufacturer instructions on your particular machine.

Strawberry Ice Cream Recipe

To make this ice cream you’ll start by combining the chopped strawberries and half of the sugar in a bowl and let it sit for about 15 minutes to allow the strawberries to release their juices. Pour the strawberries and juices in a blender and puree. If you want fruit chunks in your ice cream, reserve about 1/3 of the chopped strawberries and puree the rest.

In a large mixing bowl combine strawberry mixture, heavy cream, whole milk, remaining sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Cover and chill for at least an hour.

Give the mixture a thorough stir to make sure the sugar is dissolved. Pour the mixture into the ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer instructions. Once thickened, spoon the ice cream into a freezer-safe container and freeze for at least 4 hours, or until firm, before serving. For the best flavor and texture results, freeze overnight. I highly recommend waiting until the next day, it’s worth the wait!

Scoop and serve in bowls or waffles cones!

Enjoy!

Strawberry Ice Cream Storage Tips

Here are a few tips for how to best store your homemade strawberry ice cream:

• If you’re not going to eat the ice cream within a few days, press a piece of plastic wrap on top of the surface of the ice cream followed by the lid to help prevent ice crystals from forming when the ice cream is exposed to air.
• To prevent it from warming every time the freezer door is opened (this will cause ice crystal formation), store the ice cream container towards the back of the freezer.
• Homemade ice cream is best eaten within 2 weeks, after that the texture will start to degrade.

For more homemade ice cream recipes try my:

• Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
• Cookies and Cream Ice Cream
• Honey Lavender Ice Cream
• Cherry Ice Cream
• Pumpkin Ice Cream
• White Chocolate Cranberry Pistachio Ice Cream